Tips to Add a Digg Button to Blogger Blogspot

Today's article discusses where to place a digg.com button on your Blogspot Blogger blog and shows you how to add an integrated digg button to your blog. The button allows your blog's visitors to digg posts from your blog and submit those articles to Digg.

What is Digg.com?
Digg is a social content site where readers submit stories, videos and images. Depending on interest and popularity articles are commented on by members. You can encourage your readers to digg your stories by adding a Digg button to your Blogger blog. The button will display a real time count of the number of times your post has been dugg.

Why Add a Digg Button to My Blogger Blogspot Blog?
Why would I want to add more buttons to my blog you may be wondering. Well there are a number of reasons why getting on board with Digg will be helpful to you in growing your blog.

• Digg is a ready source of traffic that can drive visitors to your blog and it is too important to overlook. When visitors digg your stories it will encourage new readers to visit your blog.
  
• Posts that have been submitted to Digg appear in search engine results so your blog will receive exposure.
  
• A digg button will encourage visitors to submit your blog's content including images and video to Digg. This will encourage others to comment and write about your post and possibly link to it.

What to Consider When Choosing to Add Digg to Your Blog
When adding a Digg button to your Blogger Blogspot blog there are some important considerations to think of before you get started. You will need to decide about:

• The look of the button to place on your blog as Digg gives you the option of several sizes to choose from. The look and feel of your blog will dictate what button you decide on.
  
• What pages your Digg button will display on. Do you want it on the home page as well as the post pages for instance? I strongly advise that you place any integrated button only on post pages otherwise you will find the loading time of your homepage will be noticeably reduced.
  
• What position to place the button in on your blog. Under the post title, beside the first paragraph, below the post are all common locations for a Digg button. Placing a button near the top of your posts can be a good ideas as visitors will see it as the page loads because the button will be above the fold ie the area that visitors see without having to scroll down. If you have a bunch of social media buttons at the bottom of your posts already you might want to include your Digg button in this sequence.

Can I Digg My Own Blog Content?
Yes. You most certainly can digg your own Blogger posts as this will get you a listing in Digg.


How to Add a Digg Button to Blogger Blogspot Blog
I am going to show you how to manually change your Blogger Blogspot template to include your Digg button. While this is not a difficult tweak you will be changing your template. Make sure you take care not to overwrite any code. My suggestion as always is back up first by downloading your template before beginning the addition of this code.

To add a large Digg button to appear next to the first paragraph in your Blogger Blogspot posts:


1. Login to your Blogger blog if not already logged in

2. Navigate to Layout > Edit HTML

3. Back up your template by downloading full template as a precaution

4. Check the Expand Widgets Template box

5. Find this line of code using CTRL + F

<p><data:post.body/></p>

6. Paste the Following code above <p><data:post.body/></p>

<!--Digg.com Button-->
<b:if cond='data:blog.pageType == &quot;item&quot;'>
<div style='float:right; margin-left:10px;'>
<script type='text/javascript'>
digg_url=&quot;<data:post.url/>&quot;;
</script>
<script src='http://digg.com/tools/diggthis.js' type='text/javascript'/>
</div></b:if>
<!--end Digg.com Button-->

7. Click on the Save Template button

8. Click on View Blog link and navigate to an individual post page. You will see your new digg button is only visible on the post page.


Customizing Your Digg Button Tips and Troubleshooting

To have the Digg button display on all pages not just the individual post pages remove this line:

<b:if cond='data:blog.pageType == &quot;item&quot;'>

To have the Digg button aligned to the left instead of the right change this line from:

<div style='float:right; margin-left:10px;'>

to:

<div style='float:left; margin-left:10px;'>

To replace the large button with the compact button replace the code in Step 6 with:

<!--Digg.com Button-->
<b:if cond='data:blog.pageType == &quot;item&quot;'>
<div style='float:right; margin-left:10px;'>
<script type='text/javascript'>
digg_url=&quot;<data:post.url/>&quot;;
digg_skin=&quot;compact&quot;;
</script>
<script src='http://digg.com/tools/diggthis.js' type='text/javascript'/>
</div></b:if>
<!--end Digg.com Button-->

To change the background color of the button from white to your own desired color add this line:

digg_bgcolor=&quot;#ff9900amp;quot;;

below this line:

digg_url=&quot;<data:post.url/>&quot;;

Note: Change the value #ff9900 to whatever hex color you would like.

To move the Digg button to below the post content instead of at the top paste the following code:

<!--Digg.com Button-->
<b:if cond='data:blog.pageType == &quot;item&quot;'>
<div style='float:right; margin-left:10px;'>
<script type='text/javascript'>
digg_url=&quot;<data:post.url/>&quot;;
digg_skin=&quot;compact&quot;;
</script>
<script src='http://digg.com/tools/diggthis.js' type='text/javascript'/>
</div></b:if>
<!--end Digg.com Button-->

to the end of the section of code beginning with this line

<div class='post-footer-line post-footer-line-2'>

If you have a third post footer line then place this code after that block of code.






In this tutorial you have learned about what Digg is and the benefits of adding an integrated Digg button to your Blogger Blogspot Blog. You have also learned about different placement options for your Digg button and been given step by step instructions on how to customize the Digg button to suit the needs of your blog.

Add a Feedburner FeedFlare to Blogger Feed

If you have burned your Blogger Blogspot blog feed at Feedburner you can easily add a FeedFlare to the footer of the feed. FeedFlare helps you to distribute, inform and create a community around your content. Adding a FeedFlare to the feed of your blog allows readers to select from a range of social bookmarking links which appear at the end of each post. FeedFlare offers subscribers some easy ways to email, tag, share, and bookmark your blog content by linking them with a range of services such as Stumble Upon, Digg This, Facebook, Technorati, del.icio.us and Mixx.

It is not difficult to add a FeedFlare to your Blogger feed but it does require you to add a snippet of code to the template of your blog. Don't be put off as I will guide you through this process by providing a step by step walkthrough. This tutorial caters for all levels of technical knowledge from the newbie Blogger to the experienced Blogger.




How to Add a Feed Flare to Your Blogger Feed
If you have yet to burn your Blogger feed at Feedburner please refer to my articles Blogger RSS Feeds and Feedburner and Burn Blogger RSS Feeds at Feedburner for instructions on how to burn your feed and benefits of burning your blog's feed at Feedburner.

1. Login to Feedburner with your Google Account. From the My Feeds page click on the link to your blog

2. By default you will be taken to the Analyze page so you need to select the Optimize tab from the menu

3. Select FeedFlare from the Side Menu

4. To create a simple FeedFlare check the boxes of the options you would like. At a mininum I suggest you select email and comments count (for blogger) in addition to Stumble Upon, Digg This, del.icio.us and Facebook.

5. Once you have selected the desired options you can reorder them in the Preview/Reordering box below using drag and drop to shuffle the links around. I think it is a good idea to have comments either at the beginning or the end of the list as readers are more likely to notice it in this position

6. Click on Activate. Do not close this window as we will be returning here.

7. In a new window login to Blogger if you are not already logged in and navigate to Layout > Edit HTML

8. I strongly suggest you back up your template as a precaution by downloading it to your computer

9. Use CTRL + F to bring up the toolbar and enter the following code into the search box

<div id='post-footer'>

10. Return to the FeedFlare page at Feedburner and select Blogger from the drop down menu at the bottom of the page to get the HTML Feedburner code. A dialog box will appear with some instructions. Copy the code found in item #1. Editing Blogger Layouts. To copy right click your mouse and choose select all to highlight the code and then right click again and choose copy

11. Paste the Feedburner code into your template directly below the line of code in your template you just located <div id='post-footer'>

12. Click on the Save Button

13. Return to Feedburner. Immediately below your blog's title and just above the Analyze tab you will see two icons. Click on the RSS icon (left button) which will bring up your blog feed.


14. Scroll to the bottom of the first post and you will see your new FeedFlare in action.



Other FeedFlare Options
For smarter looking links you may choose to customize the FeedFlare's appearance by tweaking the CSS.

To prevent stealing of your original content otherwise known as blog scraping or splogging you can add personal FeedFlares such as a permalink to a copyright notice and a permalink to you the author of the blog.


In this tutorial you have learned how to create a FeedFlare at Feedburner which appears at the bottom of each post in your Blogger blog's feed. By adding the FeedFlare to the footer of your Blogger blog you help build an online community around your content by offering your readers some choices about how they share, link to and act on the information contained in your blog

Related Articles
Blogger RSS Feeds and Feedburner
Burn Blogger RSS Feed at Feedburner

Avoid 6 Common Blogger Mistakes

If you want your Blogger blog to sizzle and really take off there are some pretty important blogging pitfalls that you need to avoid. In today's article I will be talking about 6 of the most common mistakes new bloggers make on their Blogger Blogspot blog and how to avoid them.

1. Avoid Poor Content
I can't emphasize enough that the standard of your content will make or break your blog. Poor content = few return visitors. Good content on the other hand will attract visitors and keep them coming back to check out what's new.

Successful bloggers write clearly, know their subject and develop their own unique voice. A conversational style is often recommended but I suggest just write naturally and that naturalness will shine through.

Post quality well researched content that is interesting and topical. To do this you need to know your audience. Who are your readers? Do you know? If you don't know your target audience it will be hard to put yourself in their shoes which is exactly what you need to be able to do when you sit down to write a post. Ask yourself what are my readers looking for that would make them visit my site and read my post. Are they looking to be entertained, informed or a bit of both? Sign up for visitor tracking such as Google Analytics if you aren't already so you can get an idea of your visitor base. For help with implementing Google Analytics please read my post on adding Google Analytics to your Blogger blog.

2. Avoid Hopeless Headlines
I've seen some pretty hopeless headlines that don't give me enough of a clue about what a post is about to entice me into reading the article. If you want to attract readers to your site you need to grab them. That means putting some thought into crafting headlines that have punch. Remember your headline needs to reel your visitors in so make sure it is well thought out and punchy. Your headlines have to stand out to be noticed as so many people read headlines in RSS feeds.

Another important consideration when deciding on a headline is SEO. Consider what your readers might search under to find your post. "Blogging pitfalls" and "common blogging mistakes" are more likely keyword search phrases than "bad blogging practices." So knowing your keywords will help you craft headlines that are keyword rich.

3. Avoid Posting Too Infrequently
Once a visitor has found your site you want them to keep coming back. One way to ensure repeat traffic is to post frquently. Many new bloggers start a blog but find it hard to maintain a posting routine that is frequent enough to retain traffic.

Just the other day I had someone comment that one of the reasons why they liked my blog was the frequency at which I post. I try to post a new article every second or third day if possible. I usually am working on lots of other articles in the background so that I might have two nearly finished and half a dozen or so at various stages of completion. Using this system I have some flexibility and a cushion if anything comes up to interrupt my posting schedule.

Whatever you do don't make the mistake of posting just for the sake of posting otherwise your readers will see through this and you will lose readership.

4. Lack of Overall Focus - Trying to Paint the Whole Wall
So many new bloggers start their site without a clear focus. What kind of focus you may ask? Well making money is not enough of a focus. I am talking about identifying your niche and sticking to it. If you try and paint the whole wall your visitors will be confused about what your blog is about and you will very likely lose traffic rather than gain it.

Having a focus is important. On Blog Know How for instance, I concentrate on helping webmasters of Blogger blogs get the most out of their blog. I particularly aim my site at the new blogger and provide detailed step by step walkthroughs with them in mind. At the same time, however, I cater for all Blogger webmasters who access my blog. What I don't do though is go outside the theme of Blogger by writing about blogging in general. Instead I write articles that may be general in nature but are tailored to Blogger webmasters.

Yes I could get more traffic perhaps if I widened the scope of my articles to include Wordpress or blogging in general put what would then make my blog stand out from a whole heap of other blogs giving advice on blogging? Having a niche earns me traffic that is focused. Site visitors come with the goal of becoming more informed about using Blogger. If they go away having learnt more than when they arrived my site will have done its job and I may have just found myself a repeat visitor.

5. Avoid Too Much Advertising on Your Blog
New blogs need to build traffic and too much advertising can be a big deterrent in
achieving this goal. When your site is very new it doesn't pay to have too much advertising at all. Err on the side of less advertising rather than more. Bear in mind of course that Rome wasn't built in a day and your site won't be either. Have faith that your traffic will build and you can gradually introduce more advertising like Google Adsense as visitor numbers increase.

6. Avoid Too Many Social Bookmarking Buttons
Too many social bookmarking buttons can clutter up your blog and slow it down. Many people still don't know too much about social bookmarking so avoid the temptation to overuse these icons. Rather than use a whole bunch of popular icons like Digg and Technorati which can lead to a cluttered look and feel I use a single consolidated button like Add This. Share This is another popular button for sharing your posts.

To install a social bookmarking button on your Blogger blog follow the step by step instructions contained in my article on Add This

This article has discussed 6 common mistakes new bloggers make when developing a new Blogger Blogspot blog and given suggestions on how to avoid them.as visitor numbers increase.