How to Make a Professional Website for Free on Blogger? Is it attainable to build a decent website with Blogger?

If you're seeking for answers, you've come to the perfect place. This post will walk you through the whole process of creating a professional-looking website using Blogger for free.

I have gone over each step, from creating your blogger.com account to developing a good-looking responsive website.


As a result, even someone with no experience may grasp and learn how to establish a blog on Blogger.









Before we begin, some of you may be wondering if it is appropriate to establish a blog on Blogger or on WordPress.


Yes, it is quite OK to begin on Blogger. Actually, Blogger is where this website is housed.


And, as a beginner, you should absolutely try Blogger due to its user-friendly interface. Now that your question has been answered, let's get started on the route to constructing your professional website using Blogger.


STEP 1: SIGN INTO YOUR BLOGGER ACCOUCT


The first step is to go to blogger.com and click the "Create Your Blog" button.

Then sign into the Google account you wish to use for your blogging profile; I recommend using a separate Google account than your own for this reason.



You must enter the name of your blog after signing into your Google account. Following that, you have to choose a URL for your blog. When you build your blogger website, you will create a subdomain for blogspot.com (which you may subsequently connect to your bought domain). You must select a URL that has never been used before.









Once you've decided on a URL, click "Next," then enter the name you want to see on your blogger profile and click "Finish." If you're still confused, check out the animation below.


That's it; you've finished the first stage; let's go on to the next.


STEP 2: Create a Blogger Website

After having set up the blog, you should spend some time exploring the various choices in the blogger dashboard. Before you can advance, you must first create your blog.


Select a Blogger Theme

Because the appearance of a blog is so crucial, you should customize the basic Blogger theme. So, how do you go about getting a professional blogger theme?


The explanation is that Blogger gave it for free. Blogger has a variety of templates available for usage; for example, the "Notable" template is a great place to start.


If you want a more complex theme for your blog, look into several theme-provider websites. Hundreds of blogger templates are available on the internet.


To begin, check out Sora Templates; they have a massive variety of blogger templates, and the best part is that most of them are free. So, take your time and select a suitable theme for your site. 



You must upload your favorite blogger template after downloading it. To do so, navigate to the themes area of your blogger dashboard.



Personalize Your Blogger Theme

You must customize your blogger theme after installing it. So, go to the Layout Section, remove any extraneous widgets, and then add the widgets you want to your site.


This stage is quite simple on Blogger because there are already numerous widgets available for usage; you simply click on add a gadget and then add the widget you want. To alter the color of your theme, go to the Theme Section and select the Customize option. You may change the color of the different parts of your blog here.









You may change the background colour of your blog and select the primary colour theme. Spend some time customising your blog; it will help you become better acquainted with the Blogger interface and how it operates.


Blogger Favicon Creation and Upload

Have you ever heard of Favicon? Don't worry, a favicon is similar to a logo that appears on the browser tab when you access a website.


Even while a favicon has no direct effect on the site or its performance, it does offer your blog a professional appearance. So, make one for yourself.

You must make a square graphic with an emblem or letter that corresponds to your blog title. Check out Google's favicon, for example. A favicon may be simply created using any picture editor, Canva, or online Favicon makers such as this one.


After that, go to the blogger settings and look for the favicon button immediately above the privacy options. Upload your Custom Favicon by tapping the Favicon button.






Step 3: Include Critical Custom Pages

After you've finished configuring your blogger theme, the following step is to add some crucial pages.


This is a critical step that should be completed at the start of your blog. You must develop the following pages: Contact Page, Privacy Policy, and Disclaimer. 


You may also include pages such as About Us or Sitemap. Creating a sitemap page allows Google crawlers to crawl your website more quickly.


If you're not sure what to include in your privacy policy or disclaimer, you may get a general idea from our website's policy pages.

You may also utilise online Privacy Policy Generators to establish a Privacy Policy for your website.


STEP 4: Perform Basic SEO on Your Blogger Website

The following step is to perform basic SEO (Search Engine Optimization) on your blog. SEO helps your website rank higher in search engines such as Google, Bing, and Yahoo.


Even though SEO is something you must do all the time (as long as you write), you should perform the fundamental SEO setup on the blogger blog before linking it to the custom domain.


Make Your Blog Search Engine Visible

To perform basic blogger SEO, go to the blogger settings and then write a solid description of your blog.


Meanwhile, make sure the "visible to search engine" option in the privacy settings is enabled.





Add a Meta Description in Blogger

Now, scroll down to the Meta Tags option. Make sure you enable "Enable Search Description" and enter a suitable search description below.


This is highly crucial and is also known as your blog's meta description. When someone searches your blog name on Google or another search engine, it will display underneath your blog URL. So, within 150 words, build a nice meta description that includes the keyword or topic you wish to target. 





Blogger Crawlers and Indexing Options

Scroll down to Crawlers and indexing settings for the next section. Enable both custom robots.txt and custom robots header tags before adding the custom robots.txt.


After you link your blog to a custom domain, you may also add custom robots.txt. All you need to do is open custom robots.txt and add these lines. (Ensure that the domain name is changed.)


User-agent: *
Disallow: /search
Allow: /
Sitemap: https://YourDomain.com/sitemap.xml



 

 Custom robot header tags must be included after uploading custom robots.txt. This may appear to be a little complex, so simply follow my instructions. Only enable these tags by category.

Custom robot tags for the home page: all, noodp
Custom robot tags for archive and search pages: no index, noodp
Custom robot tags for posts and pages: all, noodp


That's all there is to basic SEO for your blogger blog.

Step 5: Link a Custom Domain to Your Blogger Blog
I know I mentioned you could make a professional blogger website for free, which you can already do by following the instructions above.

However, if you truly want your blog to have a professional appearance, you should absolutely connect it to your own domain.
















Because custom domains rank higher than Blogspot sub-domains, and they are required if you want to build a brand for your blog.

Also see How to Choose a Good Blog Domain Name.

The first step is to purchase a custom domain, which may be obtained directly from Google Domains or from any other domain registrar such as GoDaddy or Namecheap. After purchasing the domain, the next step is to link it to your Blogger site.


So, go to Blogger settings, scroll down to Publishing options, and then click on the "custom domain" option, then fill in the domain name.

Make sure to include the www. in front of the domain name, such as "www.innateblogger.com," and then click.

Save. 










If you receive a red error message that says "We have not been able to verify your authority to this domain....", don't close the browser and instead access the domain registrar's website in a new tab.

Sign into your account, then navigate to the DNS settings of the domain you purchased. In the DNS settings, you must now add two CNAME records and four A records.


The CNAME records can be found in the error message that appeared before saving the custom domain name. When adding them as new records DNS settings, be sure to copy and paste them correctly.

You must add them in GoDaddy in this manner.




Then you must include these four A-records.

 216.239.32.21
 216.239.34.21
 216.239.36.21
 216.239.38.21



Return to the blogger dashboard after you've added all of these DNS entries and save the custom domain name.

That's all; your blog is now linked to a custom domain. It only takes a few minutes to link the domain to the blogger blog.



Meanwhile, make sure the HTTPS availability option is enabled. HTTPS is now required for all websites, but the good news is that Blogger provides it for free. 

As a result, you must enable HTTPS availability.

Step 6: Register your Blogger website with Google Search Console.
After completing all of the preceding stages, you should be able to see that your professional website is ready to go, therefore this is a bonus step that you should do.

 You must go to the Google Search Console and select the Start Now option.




Then, sign in to the search console using the same Google ID that you used to create your blogger account.

In the domain area, enter the domain name you purchased without the www or HTTPS, as seen below.




After that, simply click continue, and you will receive a notice reading "Ownership auto verified," which is one of the benefits of utilising Blogger.

Because Blogger and Search Console are both offered by Google, you do not need to authenticate your ownership using DNS.






That's all; your website has been submitted to Google Search Console and will be visible in a few days.

With this, all stages have been accomplished; all that remains is for you to create some fantastic material for your site and enjoy the voyage of blogging.

Summary of the steps to create a professional website using Blogger: 

Log into your Blogger account.
Set up your blog's design Add Important Custom Pages
Perform Basic SEO on Your Blogger Website
Link a Custom Domain to a Blogger Website
Google Search Console Submission for Blogger Website