Creating A Free Blogger Blog

Although creating a free Blogger (Blog*Spot) blog is an easy 3-step process for most newcomers to blogging, this post might still come in handy for some with peculiar situations.

If this is your first time to hear about Blogger, there are two ways of getting there--you can do a search of the term "Blogger" (then click the resulting link), or you can type "blogger.com" directly on your browser window. Once you get to the Blogger website:

1. Click the "Create Your Blog Now" link, as shown below:













2. Handle the next step depending on any of two situations that you might find yourself in. The first case is if you already have a Google account (by this Blogger means Gmail, Google Group or Orkut). If you belong to the first case, you can skip Step # 1 by clicking the "Sign in first" link provided, as shown below:










The second case is if you don't have a Google account but have an existing email address somewhere else (e.g., Yahoo, Hotmail). If this is your situation, type your email address in the space provided (see above screenshot) and complete the form provided by Blogger in Step # 1.

3. The next step is to "Name Your Blog". This is where my earlier posts ("Naming Your Blog" and "How To Research Keywords") can be useful resources. This how the form provided by Blogger in this step looks like:

















Except for the trial-and-rror nature of getting your blog address or URL, especially if the blog address you want is popular or in high demand, there is nothing difficult or ambiguous in this step.

4. Once Blogger clears the blog address you want and the word verification process is successful, you are ready to choose the template of your blog in the next step. As partially shown in the screenshot below, Blogger offers a standard menu of 12 entry-level 2-column templates, namely: "Minima", "Minima Black", "Dots", "Son of Motto", "No.897", "Scribe", "Tic Tac", "Thisaway Rose", "Snapshot", "Rounders 3", "Dots Dark" and "Sand Dollar."If you're like most bloggers, these entry-level templates won't be up to your standard or liking. But don't worry. As soon as you have set up your blog, you can customize these templates (Blogger offers some options or variations for these standard templates, although admittedly limited).
















5. After choosing your template (by clicking on the round radio button below the corresponding template) and clicking on the "Continue" like at the lower right hand portion of your screen, you'll be rewarded with this milestone page:










By clicking the "Start Blogging" link at the bottom right hand portion of your screen you are just one more step away from becoming a full-fledged blogger. That last step is the publication of your maiden post (or blog entry)--the first of many such labor of love and late nights. Good luck!