How fast page speed can improve your search ranks

As you know how serious Google is about content and it's genuineness but Google also takes page load speed of any website as an important factor in ranking pages.

There can be very long explanations on how to improve page load speed and it's importance but i will keep this post as short as possible for users to read this easily.

I am aware of page load speed from the starting but didn't took it too serious but when started Stramaxon, it was important for me to apply tips on my blog first before advising others and that has improved my blog's loading time much better. It's is said that the first 3 second is enough for a visitor to decide whether it's worth visiting this page or not.



The art of keeping your blog less heavy but yet giving your users the ability to perform overall actions which is important for increasing your readership is what i have used in my blog. Before you proceed to improve your site speed check your page load ranking in this Page load Test. Results are in # out of 100, for my blog's homepage its 91 out of 100 and for post pages it was 87 due to loading of Syntax Highlighter's Java Scripts.    

How to improve page load

Maintaining your contents and displaying them in good way is the key to fast page load. Content is important along with it's presentation but don't use such heavy code blocks to make your blog an eye candy, keeping it simple is the best agenda.


You get the overall suggestion page load speed test page itself but these some basic tips might help you to get to the right way.

• Use image sprites for smaller images instead of serving it separately, that will lower down the request from server
• Don't use a big picture for your background image,instead use a 128*128 picture with repeat property to make it full size background. 
• Use external stylesheet for CSS styles, that will render the page first and then it's style.  
• Don't use or keep unnecessary plugins for gadgets which is in no use, because gadgets and plugins load their own files
• Use social media gadgets as less as possible
• Keep JavaScripts below the CSS stylesheets or code blocks
• Avoid the use of @import property of CSS to load fonts or other stylsheets

These are some common tips that you must follow to optimize user experience of your visitors and most importantly get good ranks in Google search results.So, take your page loading time as an important aspect and give it some values, it can decide your traffic.   

Your opinions 

We can't just keep from hearing from you guys, we are sure that you have some extra tips on improving page load speed and share your expertise. Also tell us how this post helped you and what changes we need to make in this post to make it more friendly to the audience. 

What to do with post which is not quality content posted back in past

Everything has a start and same for a blog and a blogger. When you start a blog you are way new to create optimized content on your site and you end up writing post that even you don't think it's up to the mark when you have reached the next stage of your blogging career.
When you are concerned that your knowledge about the topic you write is now improved plus your writing skills are also polished and you started creating information and quality contents which is good for search engine optimization. But when you look at your previous works or post even you aren't satisfied with it, the reason is that you are now more sensitive about quality in your contents and when you were new you didn't thought much about it.

What action you should take ?

But the question here pops up is what should you do with it ? In many online forums i have seen people stating that they just delete their quality content posted back in past when they were new to blogging.But why one would want to delete their post which is not too quality content. Because of SEO ? I don't think that your blog will be affected as long as you have your own content. So, when it comes to decide to take an option then i must say don't delete it.


Instead of deleting make it quality content by adding more information and correcting any errors in the post. This is more SEO friendly than deleting your post for a reason that's just a myth.


Even if you have some off topic post in your archives, off topic just means that having contents which is not suitable with the topic your blog is on, for example having a post called 'Tips on dressing style' in a blog which's main topic is Technology ? That seems funny but you can keep it as well, your readers would love to read what their hero had written in their past and you will be delighted with your reader's feeback.

Your views?

We have expressed our thought and now it's time for you to start the discussion or get into the discussion by commenting. 

Our top 10 post

This is a quicklist to our top 10 post in our blog.

Hope you will enjoy reading these blog posts. 

1. Guest blog post writing explained by Deepak Kamat
2. Text background appearing white when published post - Fix it
3. Buy a blogger template or use a free one ?
4. Blogger should introduce a Theme Store
5. 'Dream Blog' best SEO friendly Blogger Template free
6. How to create 'Next' 'Previous' buttons like DamnLOL in Blogger
7. No one is reading my blog, should i stop posting ?
8. Advanced Feedburner Subscription gadget for Blogger
9. How to get rid of these BX error codes
10. How to customize backgrounds colors of Lightbox in blogger

So, these are some post recommended for you and learn more about blogger and SEO. There would be more lists added in future, maybe it will be the top 50 post. So subscribe to our blog feed via email newsletter. 

Is your blogger blog owned by Google ?

I am a Blogger user from start and have been using Blogger for more than 2 years. Blogging is easy with Blogger but there's a fiction that don't have any base.
There are numbers of misleading and invalid facts about Blogger and it's usability. The most common myth is that your blogger blog is owned by Google not you and it can be deleted at any time. I have noticed that most of them who think believe this is the truth are WordPress users. Same with some services which don't accept blogger blogs at all because of these fictions. When someone predicate that my blog is not owned by me, I just reply back to them if their blog is really their's (they don't own the server).

I am not pointing that all WordPress users presume this myth but want to tell every person that's it's nothing than a deception. The only base on which people are shouting that blogger blogs aren't owned by it's said owner is that files of your blogger blogs are stored on a super fast, secure and free of cost server.

Blogger don't give it's user the access to databases or server that are important for server side scripting such as PHP or MySql etc. And I don't think that it's not a minus point of blogger but a plus point, as we don't have direct access to it's server databases, the chances of getting our blog suddenly down is way too less than with other open source CMS such as WordPress where a one line mistake of code in your databases can cause your website to be down and that's what most WordPress users have to experience.

But if we compare the hosting of Google free super fast, secure CDN with your paid hosting then you decide which is better ? I don't think that any server is worth to be compared with Google's CDN. And who knows when your paid hosting server gives you a heart attack by erasing your files anonymously.

Or if the topic is that content is not owned by you then don't you have the option to backup your contents ? Blogger users have easy option to backup their content files and with that they can move their blog anywhere they want, so you should stop believing these myths.
Open source CMS like Wordpress are never secure, if you take an example of how Amit Agarwal's Blog was deleted by hackers. It was easy for hackers to delete Amit's databases from his server because of easy access to databases files on server and MySQL injection was easier because of not too secure server and this is one of the reason why government sites are easily hacked by hackers. Other reasons can be that they were not on Google server.

As for deletion of blog from Blogger then it's obvious if you violate the terms&condition of any service then you are supposed to get kicked out from it. Especially when it comes to a big name like Google, Blogger.

Are you proud that Google can't delete your contents but can delete a blog contents on Blogger ? Then you are living in a world of darkness, Google is where you are supposed to get visitors from to your blog or website and if Google wants they can shove you out as well by banning your website and stop indexing it.

If you are a blogger user then never feel alone I am also a blogger user :) and never believe these myths. And I think other who used to think that blogger blogs are actually owned by Google are now realizing what's truth.

To become a pro-blogger you should be same with every CMS. As your reader's don't want to know what CMS you use, what they want is content. Focus on content.


Mohammad Mustafa Ahmedzai's post on MyBloggerTricks have inspired me to write this article.     

Hover effect and Expandable Search box for Blogger

Search box is now a compulsory gadget in every blog for ease of access to the contents on any blog or website. I had already posted a tutorial on creating a classic but good looking search bar for blogger.
This tutorial is also about creating a search box but with an advanced design and concept.You can see a similar design on apple.com, i saw it long ago, when i don't had any idea on how to make it. But today writing the tutorial for people seeking help to make a search box like that or we can say expandable search box.

See the demo to make sure this what you want.

Demo

The HTML

The HTML is same as in previous tutorial but the main thing we focused in this search bar is it's design and the effect of expanding when it's on focus state. This HTML can be applied on any website if you have access to edit it's HTML. But special guidance for Blogger users :

1. Go to Blogger Dashboard
2. Select hte Layout tab
3. Now click on 'Add a Gadget' 
4. Select HTML/JavaScript gadget from the list. 
5. Now Add this HTML into it's content area but remember to make required changes.

<div class='srch-cnt'>
<form action="http://www.stramaxon.blogspot.com/search" class="formupsearch" method="get">
<input class="searchinputarea" placeholder='Search for..' maxlength="255" name="q" size="25" type="text" value="" x-webkit-speech="true" />
<input class="boxsearch123" type="submit" value="search" />
<input class="checkbutton23" name="sitesearch" type="radio" value="" />
<input checked="checked" class="checkbutton23" name="sitesearch" type="radio" value="stramaxon.blogspot.com" />
</form>
<a class='attrbl' target=blank' href='http://stramaxon.com/2012/07/hover-effect-and-expandable-search-box.html' title='Get this Gadget'>Get this!</a>       
</div>

The changes you have to make into this HTML code block :

• Line 2 : Change the URL is action attribute with your's url with /search at end. e.g
  action='http://www.mysite.blogspot.com/search' 
• Line 3 : This is optional change, just change the placeholder value. It is the group of words that appears when you haven't enter anything into the search box. 
• Line 6 : This is the last edit, just replace the URL in 'value' attribute with your blog's or website URL without. 

So, once these changes are made on your HTML you can save the gadget. Now place the gadget block at upper side so your visitors can easily find the search box.

The CSS styling

The overall role in this search box is of CSS which gives it a look. Search box are classic by default but applying CSS on it to make them look good is a trend.

Applying CSS is very easy, check this guide on how to add CSS to Blogger blog.
This is the CSS code we will use to style the search box and it will do it's job like a charm.

.checkbutton23
{display:none;}

.srch-cnt
{text-align:right;}

.searchinputarea
{
    width:150px;
    border:1px solid lightgrey;
    height:26px;
    padding-left:6px;
    padding-top:2px;
    background-image:-webkit-linear-gradient(top,#F8F8F8,rgba(228, 228, 228, 0.93)) !important;
    font-weight:normal;
    font-size:14px;
    font-family:'verdana';
    box-shadow:inset 0px 0px 0px gainsboro;
    color:#505050;
    background-color:gainsboro;
    font-style:italic;
    -webkit-transition:all 0.3s;
    -moz-transition:all 0.3s;
    -ms-transition:all 0.3s;
    -o-transition:all 0.3s;
    transition:all 0.3s;
    
}
.searchinputarea:hover
{box-shadow:inset 0px 0px 7px lightgrey;}
.searchinputarea:focus
{
    box-shadow:inset 0px 0px 8px gainsboro;
    background:white !important;
    font-style:normal;
    color:black;
    outline:1px solid lightgrey;
    border:1px solid transparent;
    width:200px; /* Width it should be when in focus */    
}
.boxsearch123
{
    text-indent:-9999px;
    vertical-align:top;
    height:31px;
    width:40px;
    border:1px solid grey;
    background-image:url("http://cdn4.iconfinder.com/data/icons/iconsweets/50/search.png");
    background-size: 30px 30px;
    background-position: 6px -0px !important;
    background-color:#EBEBEB;
    cursor:pointer;
    box-shadow:inset 0px 0px 0px #D8D8D8;
    -webkit-transition:all 0.3s;
    -moz-transition:all 0.3s;
    -ms-transition:all 0.3s;
    -o-transition:all 0.3s;
    transition:all 0.3s;
}
.boxsearch123:hover
{box-shadow:inset 0px 0px 10px #D8D8D8;}
.boxsearch123:active
{box-shadow:inset 0px 0px 10px #B4B4B4;}
.srch-cnt .attrbl
{
    color:grey !important;
    border-bottom:1px dotted black;
    font-size:10px;
    visibility:visible !important;
    display:inline-block !important;
}
.srch-cnt .attrbl:hover
{
    text-decoration:none;
    color:grey !important;
    border-bottom:1px dotted black;
}

Just apply this CSS into your blog.


Note : Edit the width property in .searchinputarea:focus selector to change the size of it's width when focused. It is the width it should expand to.


Note : There's an image (search icon) which is hosted on another server, if you don't want sudden deletion of images from their server than download the image which is here  http://cdn4.iconfinder.com/data/icons/iconsweets/50/search.png Upload it to your own server or a photo hosting service such as Picasa and find the URL in the CSS code and replace it your's hosted image link.

Now when you are done doing this then check your blog for the amazing looking search bar. I have put the attribution in the search bar so that your readers can also enjoy this search bar on their blog with a click.

Hope you loved this tutorial and i am sure you will subscribe to email newsletter for more Blogger gadgets and tips. Do come back and leave your comments on this post to let us know how you were helped with this search widget for Blogger.  

Blogging without fear

Blogging is not an easy work. Although it's not even a work but if you want your blogging career to be successful then it's difficult to get to the top. 

While we talk about blogging, it's only written work but also represents you. You are what you write, and writing more is always beneficial for any blogger as it exposes more to your audience. But many bloggers start blogs and posts 2 or more post daily but after a couple of week you will see them publishing no work of them. This is because they become more sensitive about their audience and fear to publish articles or blog posts even if it's good.

What happens is that you become more conscious about your content and start thinking about would your readers like to read this post ? Is this post complete ?

These are the questions which pops up into a confused blogger mind. You may care about your content and make it as beautiful you can but when it gets to the publishing don't fear to publish it to your readers just because you think your content is not up to the mark. I am sure you won't lose any readers just because of it.

But remember to keep your content informative, then leave it on your readers and see their feedback. If the content was actually not up to the mark then you will get some precious advice from your readers to improve it and that's how Blogging is done. Success in blogging is sum of patience, hardwork and knowledge. These three elements will make your blog career a heaven for your readers.

And that's how i am getting up with the help of my readers and if you also like this post then share and subscribe to our email newsletter for more professional and unprofessional tips on blogging. Or check the existing articles.    

12 Tips from Infolinks to optimize our sites

Infolinks is a big name in blogging community, it gives small bloggers a chance of proving themselves and earn money through intext advertisement. I have been using Infolinks for more than 1 year and it has been a great experience. 

This time Infolinks is doing something different as usual. If you follow Infolinks Blog then you may have seen their newest post about optimizing sites with Pinterest. Infolinks love social networks and Pinterest is one of the social network that they love.

Infolinks got into helping users to optimize their website for high earnings and that's great thing indeed. The 12 golden tips that Infolinks have given yet matters a lot to any website owner to optimize their website and that will help the website owners.

I am also following their 'Countdown to Optmization' board on Pinterest (as Deepak Kamat) and didn't missed any tip. It's great to talk Infolinks regarding their tips on the boards and pins in Pinterest.

I can not keep myself from posting those great tips from Infolinks on my blog and make it reach more people. So, these tips are from Infolinks and i am just posting it so the credits goes to them. 

1. 'Follow the latest news to keep your site optimized' - News is useful for creating effective keywords 
2. 'Invite Guest Bloggers to compose posts for your site!' - Create your own team of bloggers. More authors on blog means more content and more contents means increased traffic ! 
3. 'Add More Blog Posts!' - Adding more and more blog post to your blog means more readers and that's what a blogger want. So whenever you get time, post !
4. 'Content Reigns!' - Quality contents means good ranks in engines and more readers, so always great genuine and you own content.  
5. 'Link to other sites and have them link back to you' - To increase backlinks for better SEO 
6. 'Get linked from a much stronger site!' - Stronger sites here means sites with better page ranks, creating quality content will lead other sites to link to your site. 
7. 'Always Update Your Plugins!' - Never let your blog look old, update your plugins to improve functionality of your blog. 
8. 'Website Usability is Important!' - Add functions that makes your website user interface clean and make your blog easy to navigate
9. 'REMEMBER - Content is King' - Content is king, we all know that ! So, genuine and quality content makes your blog look original and your readers will come back more. 
10. 'Don't overstuff your links with keywords!' - I think they wanted to say that don't put irrelevant and large number of keywords in your links.  
11. 'Keep your ads above the fold!' - To increase CTR (click through rate) on your ads, keep one or two ad blocks at the top of the web page. 
12. 'Get inspired to beat writer's block!' - Inspiration from others is also important to get to the top

Click on the links to see it on Infolinks pin board !