Adding Social Media Icons to your Blog

Want your readers to stay connected?  Here's an easy way to add clickable social media buttons to your Blogger blog without code editing or third party hosting.  And it takes less than ten minutes!

Steps:

1.  Find Social Media buttons you'd like to use, make sure you download them so you have quality png versions.

2.  Go to your dashboard and select New Post.  This post will never be published so title it accordingly.

3. Switch over to html, it's important to upload your images while in html to avoid spaces that get created when in compose.

4.  Upload your social media icons using the insert image button. When prompted to choose a layout, select None.

5.  Once all your images are uploaded, now you can switch to the Compose and use the toolbar to centre your icons.  

6.  Now it's time to link each of your icons to your social media pages.  As you do this, make sure that you keep the box that asks for a title blank.

7.  Once all your links are done, revert to the HTML editing and select all of the html code you have now created, and save it. 

8.  Now it's time to place your icons on the side column where they will always be highly visible.  Go to your layout and select add a gadget.  Find HTML/JavaScript in your list.

9.  Once you've selected that gadget, simply paste the code that copied earlier and save! Go to your preview and it's there. 

That's all it takes. Sure, there are third party applications that do this as well, but when you do it yourself, you have more control on the final outcome.

How to add a Blog List or "Blog Roll"

Why?
The key to blogger success is to build relationships.  And the first step in doing that is to reach out and connect with people who blog on the same topic as you.  As Sparkline explains, “the bloggers who succeed fastest are the ones who band together and help each other out, instead of trying to protect turf. Don’t think of other bloggers in your space as competitors, they’re actually your best chance of making your blog a massive success.”

Making a blog list is simple. The real work is making sure you reach out to these bloggers and build real relationships.

How?
Steps:
1.  Compile a list of the blogs you want to include in  your list.  Make sure you have the complete url address.
2.  Go to your Blogger Dashboard and click on Layout.

3.  Look for the "Add a Gadget" on  your side column(s).
4.  Scroll down the list of basic Gadgets until you find Blog List.  Click on the +sign.

5.  The window that opens will offer you certain options including title of your list and how much of the added blog you want to show. This is all based on your preference, but I would recommend not to show too much of other's blogs in this list - you want to keep the focus on your writing.  I usually choose the title and date of the last post.

6.  Next, add you list of blogs simply by clicking on "Add to List", copy and paste each url one at a time.  Later you can go back and rename any or add more to your list.

Finally, be sure to test each link you've added.  Do this on a regular basis so you don't end up with stale or outdated links.