Blog Up and Running Thank you all

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   TIMETRAVELER2posted 7 years ago

   Yesterday, all of a sudden, both my Skimlinks and Adsense started working on my new blog.  I think the reason may have come in a response a hubber gave me.  I use Chrome, and needed the extension for the  Google Publisher Toolbar, which I had no idea I needed.  So, for all of you who are struggling with Blogger ads who are having problems installing, check your settings to see if you are connected or need to download it.
   
   Finally, finally...I can get my life back!
   
   I want to sincerely thank everybody who tried to help me.  It meant a great deal to me.

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   Sam Montanaposted 7 years ago

   That's great news. I never knew about the Google Chrome toolbar and Adsense. I haven't use Chrome in years. I wonder if there are other advantages to using the toolbar and Blogger.

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      TIMETRAVELER2posted 7 years agoin reply to this

      I'm not sure that did the trick, but right after I enabled the Google Publishers Toolbar, the ads started appearing.  I am so excited that I could just s__t!!

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         sallybeaposted 7 years agoin reply to this

         I looked for your blog but could not find it online.  What is it called?   It would be really nice if we had a link on our profile pages to our blogs.

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            Marisa Wrightposted 7 years agoin reply to this

            We do, Sally.  If you're looking at someone's profile, the link to their blog is the little "Home" symbol in the top right hand corner. 
            
            You can add yours by editing your profile and entering your blog URL in the "Website" section.  A blog is a website.

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               sallybeaposted 7 years agoin reply to this

               Yes, I did know that but TimeTraveller2 only has Google + and Pinterest as far as I am aware.  I have my website there.  Confess I did not think about a blog necessarily being a website:)

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                  Marisa Wrightposted 7 years agoin reply to this

                  Once upon a time, a blog was a site where you could write an online diary.  Nowadays, the line between what is a blog and what is a website is so blurred, it can be impossible to tell the difference.
                  
                  Most people no longer use a blog to write a diary, instead they're writing regular posts about a particular topic.  Those posts could just as easily be written as pages on a website.  Some sites make a distinction between their website (where they provide solid information) and their blog (where they share news and chat) - others don't.
                  
                  I have two blogs and my posts don't even have dates on them any more, because they're irrelevant - the topics are evergreen, so old posts are just as relevant as new ones.  I don't even have a menu showing archives by date - that's useless to most people.

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            makingamarkposted 7 years agoin reply to this

            All you need to do is use the site which is most popular and which clearly references the other places where you can be found.

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            TIMETRAVELER2posted 7 years agoin reply to this

            rving4newbies dot com

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               sallybeaposted 7 years agoin reply to this

               Thank you, I see you have added it to your profile page now. 
               Well done on your blog, it looks good.  Not sure if anyone else would agree with me but I found the red and blue text difficult to read, more so than when I read just plain black text.

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                  TIMETRAVELER2posted 7 years agoin reply to this

                  Since the blog is about RVing, I thought a red, white and blue color scheme would look good, but if others agree with you, I guess I'll have to change it.  I'm not real good with the technicalities involved in formatting a blog and always fear that I'll mess something up if I make a change. 
                  
                  Actually it started out with black print, I don't even know how it changed!
                  
                  Thanks for the tip.

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                     sallybeaposted 7 years agoin reply to this

                     You are welcome, I enjoyed reading it.  I think it is a great achievement.  I don't know many people around here who have worked quite as hard as you have over the years.

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                        TIMETRAVELER2posted 7 years agoin reply to this

                        Thanks, Sally.  I really appreciate that someone pays attention to my work.  I spend a great deal of time doing it, but I also know that I learn a lot.  If you could see what I was writing when I first started here and compared it to what I'm producing now, you wouldn't believe the same person did the work!
                        
                        The blog is a big challenge for me.  I tried one once before but did not know how to monetize it.  Now I know more, so I'm hoping it will turn into a second source of income. 
                        
                        I'm doing this because I worry about the mother site here at RV  down the road. Wanted to set something up "just in case".

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                           sallybeaposted 7 years agoin reply to this

                           I know how you feel. I have my own site too but in spite of it being monetized, it makes very little.  I know I need to do more work on it but it  is sometimes hard to give both sites the attention they need.

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                              Marisa Wrightposted 7 years agoin reply to this

                              Sally, as far as I can see, the only ad you have on your website/blog is one ad at the bottom of each page.
                              
                              It looks like most of your blog posts are referring to your Hubs, and you write a small amount of text then give the reader a link to the Hub.  The reader is obviously going to click on that link and go to the Hub - they are very unlikely to scroll down far enough to ever see that ad.   
                              
                              You have a "resources" page which has a tiny, tiny Amazon widget - people would be more likely to browse if you can find a bigger one, or paste in a number of individual products. 
                              
                              If you can add a sidebar to your website, you could put some of your nice products from your shop on it.  I hope you are also selling your products on Etsy or some other craftwork site.
                              
                              By the way, once upon a time it was common practice to create a website and put links to all your Hubs on it.  These days, it's a very bad idea indeed.  Google will consider your website is spammy because it has "excessive links" and will slap it with a penalty.  So if you want to make something of your website, I would look at reducing the number of links to your Hubs substantially.

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                                 sallybeaposted 7 years agoin reply to this

                                 I agree with you Marisa. I have not had sufficient time to make It a stand alone site and this is the reason for the links, I have not had enough time to create sufficient content.  Perhaps I should have spent more time on my own site than I have spent creating hubs   It has been my backup in case things when wrong here and I needed to find a place to house my hubs.
                                 
                                 Unfortunately what started out as a Photography site has been replaced with my  craft writing but the template I have on Photium does not suit the content.   I need to take time out to see if there are any more suitable templates on the site which would give me sidebars for ads etc.  I am limited as to where I can put ads currently and although Will at Photium has done a lot to help me I can't sell any products anywhere on the site other than where they are currently situated.
                                 I do have an Etsy store which I began stocking just before Christmas but it has not resulted in any sales.   I have had more success on Zazzle with creating products from my images.
                                 HubPages certainly makes it a lot easier for me to create content here, my own site does not. I am also limited by my own computer skills and need to figure out what to do next.  I own my site name and would want to retain that, another reason for my continuing on what was essentially a photo site when I started there, even though I know I could take it elsewhere.
                                 
                                 .

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                     Sam Montanaposted 7 years agoin reply to this

                     Nice looking blog. How did you get the Amazon link ads like that. Did you go in to HTML and do that?

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                        TIMETRAVELER2posted 7 years agoin reply to this

                        I used the "save image as" thing and saved the images on my desktop.  Then I copied and pasted them onto the page I was writing.  After that, I typed in the name of the product, highlighted it, hit the link button and went to amazon on a separate search page to find the URL, which I then pasted into the link box.
                        
                        I positioned them on the left or center depending whether they were part of an article or part of a products page.
                        
                        Once you figure it out, it doesn't take long.  I suggest keeping two browsers open to make it easier because you can copy from one and paste the info on the other.

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                           Sam Montanaposted 7 years agoin reply to this

                           Okay. Are those Amazon links associated with your Amazon Associates account and you get a commission if there is a sale...like here on HP?

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                              TIMETRAVELER2posted 7 years agoin reply to this

                              Similar but also different.  I use a program called Skimlinks that allows me to sell products from a number of companies for a fee that is paid to them.  From that money, Skimlinks pays me.  So, when I place an Amazon ad, if people buy anything, I can make some money but am not actually an affiliate because I am doing so via their website.
                              
                              I was going to just sign up for Amazon, but it got to involved for me.  This may cost a bit in terms of sharing the commission, but it's a lot easier.  It costs nothing, however, to sign up for and/or use the program.

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                                 Sam Montanaposted 7 years agoin reply to this

                                 I will have to consider Skimlinks. I like the way your Amazon ads look. On my blogs I use Adsense, and at the bottom of each article I have Amazon native ads. Which is nice because I can then choose which ads go with each article. Unlike Adsense ads that are the same on every page.
                                 
                                 Another reason I like the Amazon ads on your blog is because Adblockers don't block them. Adblockers will block my Adsense and my Amazon native ads.

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                                    TIMETRAVELER2posted 7 years agoin reply to this

                                    My ads look that way because I took a lot of time to format and position them.  It's a learning curve, believe me.  Now if I can just get Skimlinks to WORK!

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               makingamarkposted 7 years agoin reply to this

               You're missing out on a lot of traffic by not using the title for each post or page - and then including the meta data which responds well to search.
               
               You've also got some major issues re links not working properly.

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                  TIMETRAVELER2posted 7 years agoin reply to this

                  I thought I was using a title for each post!  I don't know what the meta data thing is...can you explain?  The links are not working because, even though Skimlinks said they were, I just found out from you guys and then this morning from Skimlinks that they're not.  I'm working on that.  Installing that program has been an ongoing nightmare for me as their directions stink and I'm no guru.  Will appreciate guidance on this stuff...need to get this squared away so I can start producing blogs.  I put a few on for now, but have tons I can add.  Don't want to do that, though, until I get this right.  God this is HARD!

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                     makingamarkposted 7 years agoin reply to this

                     You're using Blogger - although you seem to be using one of the very old templates.
                     
                     You've also got headings on some posts and pages and not others.
                     
                     Here's a checklist of things you need to do to make blog post titles work for you.
                     
                     1. Start a new post
                     2. The window to the left of "publish" button should have 'post title' in it - that's where you put the title. (It's also to the right of the word 'post' at the top above the window for the text. I suspect your titles are just headings in the text. They don't count.
                     3. Go to Settings / Other
                     5. Go to Site Feed.  Mark "Enable Title Links and Enclosure Links" YES - that then gives you a unique URL for every one of your blog posts
                     6. When you are in a Post complete the 'Search Description" in the right hand column. That provides the meta description which then comes up in a Google query. This way you write your own. Otherwise it takes the first sentence.
                     
                     Personally I would lose white text on a black background. That alienates anybody with vision problems. Just stick to plain and simple. It works.

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                        TIMETRAVELER2posted 7 years agoin reply to this

                        I don't know how I wound up with an old Blogger template except that I started a different blog there a few years back and they kept it, even though I removed all of it from the site.
                        
                        Did you mean white print on black background or the reverse?  I can't imagine that would be easier to read.  Is it reallly?
                        
                        I have spent this entire day trying to get the titles, etc. correct.  Could you take a peek now and tell me if you think I still have problems/
                        
                        Also, Marisa has been trying to help me with Skimlinks.  They tell me it's installed correctly on their end, but I cannot see it on my end.  If you know anything about installing this thing, please advise me.
                        
                        I tried following their online directions and got nowhere.  The man I spoke with today told me just the opposite of the listed directions.  I don't think my ads are going through Skimlinks at the moment, so I won't get paid...it's a big old mess!

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                        TIMETRAVELER2posted 7 years agoin reply to this

                        I'm using black text on a white background.  Is the blog not showing that way?

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                           makingamarkposted 7 years agoin reply to this

                           Sorry - I was mixed up - I was looking at somebody else's site at the same time!

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                              TIMETRAVELER2posted 7 years agoin reply to this

                              I'm having trouble with "home" picking up one of my posts and when I click on others listed under my labels, they still come up with that same post.  Any thoughts?

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                                 makingamarkposted 7 years agoin reply to this

                                 That was the problem I spotted.
                                 
                                 Try updating it and see if that makes a difference.  Otherwise delete and repost.

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                                    TIMETRAVELER2posted 7 years agoin reply to this

                                    I actually can't see a way to delete "home".  I tried.  I also tried cutting the article and reposting it on a new post.  No luck there either.
                                    
                                    If I can't get resolution on this soon, I may have to drop the whole project.  I don't know why this has to be so difficult.  Last time Marisa set it up for me, and I thought I was doing it right, but apparently that didn't work.  I only posted a few articles to get started, so I wouldn't have to make tons of changes, ... a nightmare!

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                                 Sam Montanaposted 7 years agoin reply to this

                                 I see a white background with black letters and the Amazon links in red. You are using the same template I use for my Garden and Yard blog, and I can do all kinds of things with it. So it is not a template that causes problems.
                                 
                                 It is important that you design your blog as you will want it in the future, when you get a lot of articles on it.
                                 
                                 One thought about home, is I do not see titles to your articles, there has to be titles in order to go back to them.
                                 
                                 I set up my blog with articles and titles, if you want to see how I set mine up, here on HP on my profile you can click on that icon and see how I set up my blogs.
                                 
                                 But your titles to each article is what Google search engine will see.
                                 
                                 You can do a lot of things from within the blog, including changing the width of your right, left and middle, and change the colors and types of fonts.

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