Business Blogging Guide Redesign

You may have noticed that I decided to redesign the Business Blogging Guide (once again). I found this template and just loved the clean look of it. I really wanted the tabbed navigation (top right) to get things like archives, categories, and recent posts out of the way and compact into one area.

The template was hard to find and was in Portuguese. I finally figured it out although it took me quite a while to get it just right and now I am using it on 3 of my sites - here, and Shopping Gems and Sweeties Sweeps. I changed the colors and heading so each site has it own unique look. This template isn't as easy to change as most. I had to go into the HTML to change everything, even colors and fonts so I wouldn't suggest it unless you like playing with HTML and spending a lot of time tweaking things. Oh, and yes, it is for Blogger.

Some of you probably know that I have 5 active blogs and a gazzillion (yes, it is an official word) other test and Adsense blogs. Since setting up a blog is free I figure why not! If they don't work out I can always delete them.

If you are new to the site here are some pointers to help you get around the Business Blogging Guide:

Finding Articles by Topic

There are 2 simple ways to find what you are looking for on the Business Blogging Guide - Searching and through Categories. The search box is located at the top right. Click the Categories tab and a list of categories (or topics) will be shown. Click a category and articles pertaining to that category or topic will show on the left-hand side of the screen.

Sign up for free!

To get updates from the Business Blogging Guide when they are posted you can sign up for free by email or through an RSS Reader.

You may also want to follow me on Twitter as I often give tips and you can ask me questions there.

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New Here? The Business Blogging Guide is designed for the beginner "newbie" to intermediate blogger. It mainly focuses on blogs using Blogger.com. If you are looking for help with WordPress try Lorelle on WordPress. This blog is a NOFOLLOW blog so leaving your keywords or business name in the comments WILL NOT give you a link back. Subscribe for free by RSS or EMAIL.

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Free Banner Advertising

I stumbled across this website last night called Refresh Link. They allow you to upload your banner ad for your site FREE of charge. You can link the banner ad to your site and also put a keyword or keyword phrase that you want people to see when they hover over it.

This site kind of reminded me of a link farm but it is actually all banner ads on one page and, it has a PR (page rank) of 2 so it is getting Google's approval. PR makes this site have value in my eyes so that is why I am passing it along.

Just one more free way of advertising your blog or website. Take advantage of it before they start charging for the space.

www.refreshlink.com

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New Here? The Business Blogging Guide is designed for the beginner "newbie" to intermediate blogger. It mainly focuses on blogs using Blogger.com. If you are looking for help with WordPress try Lorelle on WordPress. This blog is a NOFOLLOW blog so leaving your keywords or business name in the comments WILL NOT give you a link back. Subscribe for free by RSS or EMAIL.

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Pimp Your Blog!

Sometimes all your blog needs is a little boast or "pimping" to give it more of a professional look. At most of my readers know I am a Blogger blogging freak. I have used WordPress and love the features and plug-ins but I gravitated to Blogger because of the ease of moving the gadgets around on a whim.

There are limitations in Blogger of course but I'm fine with that. I did my PROs and CONs list before deciding to use Blogger and I'm happy with my decision.

And, if you are using the free WordPress blog you can't play around with the HTML. You have to pay to do that. Blogger let's you delve into the HTML code for free. And, it is a Google product so I think that helps Blogger blogs get ranked faster on the search engine.

Enough of the long-winded talk about a "lot of nothing" - let's get to the meat of it shall we?

The Cutest Blog on the Block:

Ashley and Becky have a wonderful resource in the cutest Blog on the Block offering free backgrounds for your blog. For $30 they will create a custom header to match the background you choose. They also offer help for adding a background to your site.

Here are some of my favorites for use with a business blog. The tones are muted just enough so not to shock the viewer. Visit their site for a lot more backgrounds to choose from.

For 2 column blog layouts that are centered.

These are for wider, 3 column blog layouts.

You will find many categories of free backgrounds to choose from including:

• 3 column template backgrounds
• Abstract
• Argyle
• Baby
• Black & White
• Bright
• Brown & Blue
• Brown & Pink
• Camo
• Classy
• Damask
• Dark
• Floral
• Flourishes
• Food
• Masculine
• Modern
• Music
• Nature
• Nautical
• Paisley
• Plaid
• Retro
• Simple
• Stripes

The Cutest Blog on the Block has some nifty backgrounds to Pimp your business blog. While some of them are themed or holiday based they do offer a wide variety that would suit as backgrounds for a business blog so do take the time to check them out.

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New Here? The Business Blogging Guide is designed for the beginner "newbie" to intermediate blogger. It mainly focuses on blogs using Blogger.com. If you are looking for help with WordPress try Lorelle on WordPress. This blog is a NOFOLLOW blog so leaving your keywords or business name in the comments WILL NOT give you a link back. Subscribe for free by RSS or EMAIL.

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