Blogger's Default Comment Form Redesigned with New Look

Blogger is the most popular blogging platform has redesigned its default comment form with new look and more simple. Blogger did not announced about this change officially on the web and I noticed this change in my blog today. It is automatically rolled out for Blogger blogs so you need not change anything in code or settings.

Here is the screenshot of Blogger Comment Form old:

And here is the changed Blogger comment box new:

The new comment box for blogs updated with new design including Publish button, Preview button, Sign out button and Notify me option. “Notify me” option lets you to get comment updates and replies to your mail directly.

Here is the Comment Preview screenshot: 

There are many comment systems available for webmasters such as Disqus and Facebook comments, so Google also released Google+ comments for blogs and sites. However now blogger has also better comment form, so the bloggers reconsider to switch back to Blogger comments. And we can use Blogger comments and Google+ comments simultaneously.

Which comment system are you using now? Share your comments below.

Read : How to Add Google+ Comment Box to your Blogs

Simple Way to Add Instagram Videos on your Blog / Website

Instagram is a popular online photo and video sharing application that helps users to take photos or videos and share them online instantly. Instagram application is acquired by Facebook and it is available for Andorid and iOS devices. Recently Facebook has introduced the video sharing feature in Instagram that allows you to capture and share videos up to 15 seconds like as Twitter’s Vine application.

Do you want to embed or insert your Instagram videos on your blog or website? Here is a simple tool available online to add Instagram videos and the tool is originally developed by the popular blogger Amit Agarwal from Labnol. Now the bloggers or webmasters can add Instagram videos on their site easily.

How to Add Instagram Videos on your Site?

1. Go to Embed Instagram online tool.

2. Give your URL of the Instagram video that you want to embed.

3. Click on “Generate Embed Code” button to generate the code

4. Then copy the code shown on the page and paste wherever you want.

If you want to use Instagram videos on blogger posts, you have to paste the code by clicking "HTML” section of the post editor. That’s all.

How to Submit your Blog to Technorati Directory?

Technorati is a leading blog / internet search engine and web directory which indexes more than a million blogs. There is listed all major sites and ranked by traffic. You can check top stories, opinions, photos and videos of all types and most popular on the blogosphere. You can also submit your site to technorati to get some traffic. This is a free web directory service and you will get a backlink from Technorati.

How to submit your Site to Technorati?

1. Go to Technorati website and sign up for new account. Login your account and you will see your Account Name on the top right panel.
2. Scroll down the page and search for “My Claimed Blogs” section.
3. Enter your site name in the text box and click on “Claim” button.

4. After that you have to give some information about your site such as Blog Title, Blog Description, Site URL, Site Feed address, Twitter profile, Facebook profile, Google plus profile, Site Category, Search Tags for your site.
5. Then click on “Proceed to next step” button.

Verify your Technorati Account:

Return back to your account profile page and then click on “Check Claim” button where your newly added website in the claimed sites list.

You will see one short verification code in a claim status section like "7MBGB55RG7CJ" and copy that code. When writing a new post in your site, add this code within your post and click on “Verify Claim Token” button. That’s it.

Generally your website will be approved and added to Technorati directory within a week. You will get a notification to your email when your website is approved by them.

How to Use Social Media for Your Online Business Growth

You can promote your online business through your blog. If you do not have a blog yet, you can consider the idea of starting it. Many users concentrate on blogs rather than reading a newsletter or an email. To start a blog, a person must be aware of few things that are to be concentrated upon while writing and designing it. Your blog must be user friendly. It should contain information in a clear way. Optimizing the site in a proper way increases traffic to the website. Try to use facts in your content, rather than giving a story kind of information. A short and sweet article will have more viewers.

Some tips to use social media for online business growth :

You can share your blog links in fan pages in any networking site. Posting on social media improves traffic and advertisement for your blog. Interaction with the customers becomes easier.

You can interact with people through messages in comment box. Provide the same for posting the opinions or views of visitors to improve the quality of service. It also helps you to get suggestions from customers. Social media connects with people world-wide. Promoting your business in social networking sites will definitely lead to growth..

Create an account on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, Skype etc. to promote your online business. You can share your business ideas and interact with people. Once your business gains reputation, there will be a number of visitors to your site.

Utilize different networks in different ways to endorse your service. For example, YouTube is meant especially for uploading and sharing videos. Upload a video about your business which can attract users. In Facebook, you may provide pictures of the products along with the descriptions. Whereas, Skype helps you to interact with people worldwide through calling. There are other means to make calls, but by using Skype you can make calls free of cost.

You can promote your business by posting ads, either free or paid. A free advertisement has its own advantages compared to a paid one, as free ads save your money. Pay per click comes under paid advertisements. You need to pay the website owners who advertise your ads on their site, based on the number of clicks. In case you do not have the required finances for it, you can go for a payday loan .

Social media helps online businesses to generate traffic. It provides you a platform to build a powerful network. Here, you get a chance to learn innovative ideas which you can apply in your business. You can also improve the search engine ranking through it. You can even make your presence known in the online marketing scenario and make it an advertising platform for business, thus aiding business growth.

About the Author:

The guest post was contributed by Sophie, financial guest blogger from Manchester, UK. Find out more about her finance related blogs @financeport.