Site-Blog Web Page
The Site-Blog Web Page information section appeared because you checked "Yes" for the question "Do you want to Site-Blog?". Complete these five sections if you're using the SiteBuilder block-by-block method of building your site.
If you're uploading your own HTML, click here.
Enter a name for the button. Keep it short -- enter a single word if possible. Remember that this is a button! Click on the "Preview NavBar Button" button to make sure it looks OK.
- Name the NavBar Button for the blog page.
- Name Your Site-Blog.
- Enter the Description of your Site Blog. 200 characters maximum; 150 is better.
- Enter the Introductory Text.
- Choose whether to Include Your Footer on this Page.
SBI! builds the button at the top of your NavBar about 15-30 minutes after you click on the RSS/Blog It! button at the bottom of the page. If you want to then move the button down the NavBar, click on the Navigation Options button in Site Central and re-order the buttons.
If you leave the button name blank, the blog page will appear as a "Table of Contents (TOC) text link" at the bottom of your home page (If you chose that option, and if your home page was SiteBuilder-built or you're using the ***TOC*** tag). If you don't name the button, it will not appear on the NavBar.
Important Note: Button-naming applies only to SiteBuilder-built pages that include a NavBar and to HTML editor-built pages that contain the ***NAVBAR*** tag.
Name Your Site-Blog
What do you want to call your blog? Make the name consistent with how you're positioning it. Understand the nature of your visitor/reader and the purpose of your Site Blog. What is it ultimately supposed to achieve?
Different feeds, different reasons, different benefits for the user of your information. It's important to find a great position/spin/purpose for your blog, and then name it accordingly.
Since Blog It! will use this entry to form the Title and Headline of your blog page, include your Site Concept keyword (the Specific Keyword of your site's home page) plus the word "Blog" as part or all of the name of your blog.
For example, the Site Concept Keyword for anguilla-beaches.com is "Anguilla." So here's a good, simple name for that blog page...
"Anguilla Blog"
Click here for more information about positioning your Site-Blog to maximize its potential.
Enter the Description of Your Site-Blog
Enter your Description of this page. Limit it to 200 characters maximum; 150 characters is better. This Description does not actually appear on your Web page. But your human readers will see it in the listings on search results for the Specific Keyword of this page.
Since Blog It! uses this entry to form the Meta description tag of your blog page, include your Site Concept Keyword (the Specific Keyword of your site's home page) plus the word "Blog" within the description.
For example, the Site Concept keyword for anguilla-beaches.com is "Anguilla." So here's a good description...
The Anguilla Blog keeps you up-to-date with all additions and changes to the anguilla-beaches.com Web site. Subscribe here.
And Blog It! automatically adds the same Specific Keyword ("Anguilla Blog") into your Blog page's Meta Keyword tag. Nothing for you to do here!
Tips
- Don't know what a META tag is? There's nothing for you to worry about! Just follow the instructions and Blog It! takes care of it all for you.
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RSS Feed Validation: If you enter weird characters into your Description (the most likely spot for this to happen) or Title, it's possible to "break" an XML feed. It has nothing to do with us, that's just the way it is. One common example is replacing "and" with "&". Some RSS readers can't read this as a text character, so they can't access your feed. Avoid this problem by spelling words instead of using symbols.
If RSS/Blog It! finds a special character in the Description, it simply deletes the offending character (from the .xml file, not from the Web page), and then proceeds to build your file. It does not happen often and it would appear as a minor typo.
To avoid this, stick to the standard alphanumeric characters (0-9, a-z, dashes, etc.). Check your first few feeds to be sure.
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Whether you create your Blog Page using Blog It! or by adding the ***SITE-BLOG*** tag to your HTML template and uploading your own HTML (see below), don't worry too much about getting the Specific Keyword for this page spot-on. (However, if you do your own HTML, you do have to be sure to manually put your "Anguilla Blog" in all the right spots on your HTML template.)
Remember... most of your traffic to your blog's Web page is meant to originate from repeat visitors who see their RSS Readers update with your new items. If anyone is looking for "Anguilla blog," so much the better. But this is not worth spending a moment analyzing or tweaking.
If you click on the small Analyze It! button in the Keyword Ranking Report section of Search Engine HQ, interpret the results in the light of the instructions here. So...
Do not worry about notices that "you did not use a headline block" or "text block." You skipped those steps when using Blog It!. You have planted the right Specific Keyword (ex., "Anguilla Blog") in the right places and you do not need a perfect Analyze It! report.
Enter the Introductory Text
Enter text into this box. It should...
- introduce your blog in an appealing way
- position the content (see Name Your Site Blog, above)
- explain how your subscribers will benefit by subscribing to your RSS feed
- include a note explaining that they should click on "that orange button" to subscribe to your RSS feed
- close by leading into "the items below."
Since Blog It! will use this entry to form the introductory text at the top of your blog Web page, which leads into the actual items on the page, include your Site Concept Keyword (the Specific Keyword of your site's home page) plus the word "Blog" within your Introductory text, in the same way as explained above for Blog Name and Description.
Important Note
Be sure to include the orange RSS/XML button on your blog Web page for your prospective new subscribers. So... if you're using SiteBuilder, or the ***NAVBAR*** tag if you're uploading your pages, be sure to include your NavBar on your TIER 2 pages (see the next section, NavBar RSS Buttons: Appearance and Behavior).
Include Your Footer on This Page?
If you've created a site-wide footer using the FooterBuilder (located in Site Central), you have a choice to include it here on the bottom of this page or not, overriding the global setting that you set in the FooterBuilder.
Quick reminder: To create, edit, or make any site-wide changes to your footer image file, go to Site Central, All Pages section, and click on the Footer button.
Uploading Your Own HTML
- Create your page using your HTML editor.
- Add your Title, Meta tags and head code (from the Upload Your Own HTML module).
- Add your Headline and Introductory Text.
- Add the ***SITE-BLOG*** tag where you want the blog items to appear.
- Add the ***NAVBAR*** tag if you're using SBI!'s nav buttons. If you are not using the tag, and want to use the default RSS box, get the box code from Upload Your Own HTML and paste into your file.
- Enter text into the Site Blog pages.
- Save the file. Use the name provided if you're using the ***NAVBAR*** tag.
- Back in RSS/Blog It!, enter a NavBar button name, name your Site Blog, enter the Description and Introductory Text.
Are you uploading your own HTML rather than using the SiteBuilder? If so, it's easy to create your own blog page! Here's how...
Simply add the following tag into the HTML template for your page...
***SITE-BLOG***
The ***SITE-BLOG*** tag fills in the contents of your blog, automatically updating as your site changes or as you add bloglets.
Customize the blog page as you like, adding your own introductory text and a ***NAVBAR*** tag (if you use that), along with anything else you wish. Get your RSS box's code in Upload Your Own HTML and add it to the blog page where you want the box to display.
Your Site-Blog will appear where you put your ***SITE-BLOG*** tag. It will update automatically. And it will be submitted automatically. Nothing else to do.
Important Note
If you're using the ***NAVBAR*** tag (which inserts the SBI!-created NavBar), give this page the URL (file name) shown in this section of RSS/Blog It!. Otherwise, the link from your NavBar button to this page will not work.
If you do not use the ***NAVBAR*** tag, you may give the file any name you like. It's still a good idea to name it so that it matches the URL that SBI! assigns it, in case you ever change your mind about using the ***NAVBAR*** tag. (You will also, of course, have to create your own links to your blog.)
Tip
- You need to put some text in the Site-Blog boxes, even though you won't see them on your site. If you leave them blank, you'll see an error message.