Free blog publishing tools like Blogger, a tool by Google, are becoming increasingly popular for small business websites. Businesses can choose to use Blogger to create a professional blog, niche product website or even a full website presence. The free website building and hosting tool that comes with Blogger makes it an option that businesses should consider.
With carefully selected Blogger template designs and easy plug-in widgets, a web presence on Blogger can be a good solution for small businesses or consultants.
Setting up a Free Website Template Using Blogger
A Blogger blog can be set up in minutes by simply signing up, selecting a site name and using an existing template design. However, a more professional looking website presence will require more customization of standard Blogger options.
Here are a few simple steps for setting up a Blogger template design that resembles a small business website.
- Choose a custom template design. After initially signing up for Blogger, you can select a temporary blog template from standard built in options. Search for “Free Blogger Templates” on any search engine and you will find sites that offer many downloadable options – from simple to sophisticated designs. Most templates are fully customizable with Blogger features. Select an option that most closely resembles a standard website layout with a navigation bar and feature images section.
- Upload the new template. Under the “Design” section of Blogger, select “customize HTML” and upload new template in .xml format. If you are testing a new template design, remember to download and save a copy of the previous template if you have already made edits or customizations.
Customize your new Blogger template layout to closely resemble the style and look of a professional website, as opposed to resembling a standard blog format. Elements of the template can be easily updated or replaced under the “design” tab in Blogger.
- Update template with a custom logo. Most Blogger template designs will include instructions on how to replace a sample logo by either editing the Blogger “header” element or editing the URL used in the template design. Choosing a template that allows you to upload your company logo in the header page element is an easier option if you are not familiar with editing HTML. If you do not have a company logo, create a simple text based logo in Photoshop or another image creation program that includes varying colors or text sizes.
- Customize feature images in the template design. If the new Blogger template includes a header banner or rotating feature images, updating these stock images will make your new site appear more original and custom. Updating images will likely require editing the image URL used in the HTML within the template. An image URL can be obtained from free photo sites like Photobucket, or from the URL of the image uploaded from a post in Blogger.
- Customize Blogger gadgets and widgets. The ability to easily create and update widgets or “gadgets” is a big advantage with Blogger. Choose special feature widgets that are more likely to be found on a website, as opposed to just a blog. Examples include: social media plug-ins, web sharing tools, banners from affiliate advertising and accreditation or partner logos. Avoid typical blog widgets that make your site look more like a blog, such as followers or labels.
- Use navigation for categories. Rather than a standard use of archives or labels, create pages that feature posts by category to give your site a user-friendly navigation similar to websites. Blogger has the ability to create custom pages that can be linked to from preset navigation links in your template.
- Create a third person tone. Most blogs are personal and written in the first person, so create a professional third person tone of your posts.
Advantages of Using Blogger as a Website Tool
Using the Blogger tool by Google to customize a blog for use as a website is only limited by your imagination and ability to learn how to edit basic HTML. In doing so, you can have a free web hosting platform that is flexible and easy to update with fresh content.
For rates as low as $10/year, you can also register a custom domain through Blogger to customize your site even more. Overall the flexibility of Blogger makes this low-cost marketing tool an advantageous choice over other website building and hosting tools for small businesses, such as iBuilt.net, to easily create a customized company blog, niche website or full company website.
Diane Seltzer - Diane is a branding, pr and social media marketer with experience ranging from advertising to corporate marketing and consulting.
