Design Services: Blogger

Please read the following expert from Jeff Rutherford published on SocMedia 101 for more information on using Google’s Blogger as your blogging platform.

If you want to start a blog, Blogger offers a fast and easy way to get a blog up and running. Blogger, owned by Google, is often a starting point for many people when they’re first starting a blog.

Blogger’s advantages:

  • Quick entry to blogging – you can create a blogger account in 3-5 minutes and start blogging immediately.
  • Low cost – you can’t beat Blogger’s price – free.
  • Easy to use – If you’re intimidated by HTML or CSS coding, Blogger has a simple web-based dashboard that allows you focus on the content of your blog without knowing any HTML.
  • Google index – While Google has never confirmed or denied it, many search engine optimization experts believe that Blogger blogs are indexed by Google quicker than other blogging platforms.

Blogger’s disadvantages:

  • URL – Many web branding/marketing experts recommend you focus on developing your personal brand online. When someone sees a blogger URL yourname.blogspot.com, it can take away from your personal brand. However, this disadvantage can be remedied. If you register the www.yourname.com domain, you can set up your Blogger blog to use that unique URL.
  • Visual layout – It’s very hard to move beyond the basic Blogger visual style. Many people focused on building an online brand quickly outgrow that Blogger visual style.
  • Google “juice” – if you start a blog via Blogger and you spend time building readers, in-bound links, and Google Page Rank, it’s a challenge to later move your blog to another blogging platform and keep the Google “juice” of your Blogger blog. Making that change is not impossible, but it’s not simple. If you do start using Blogger, and quickly decide that blogging suits you, then you may well consider moving to a self-hosted blog sooner rather than later.

Jeff Rutherford, a public relations consultant, works with technology, media, and marketing companies to secure press coverage both digitally and in traditional media.

Blogger Makeover: Starting at $175

Features & Upgrades in makeover (not all are included in BASIC $175 Makeover):

  1. Custom header design
  2. Matching background & colors throughout site
  3. Installation of design
  4. 2 or 3 columns
  5. Sidebar titles throughout site for sections like About Me, Blogroll, Search, etc
  6. Menu bar (links to posts that serve as pseudo-pages)
  7. Custom Signature

Convert from Blogger to WordPress: Starting at $125

WordPress offers such a unique platform for blogging and I would love to help move your blog or business to a WordPress Platform. Please contact me for more information on moving your blog to a Self-Hosted WordPress Platform. This service does not include hosting or design services. Includes the following:

1. Maintain your permalinks
2. Move a Google Friend Connect Widget
3. Move all of your posts, comments, images, links and tags
4. Redirect your domain name to your new website


A LA CARTE ITEMS:

HEADER DESIGN…………………………………………..Price Varies
Print Logo Packages………………………………………Price Varies
125 X 125 BUTTON DESIGN……………………………..$35
Hourly Rate for Training or Services outside of Package Pricing……….$45/Hour