Creating a Google Sitemap for Blogger Blogs - How to.

Google Sitemap for Blogger - how to create one.

For a long time now, I've been looking for a way to create a Sitemap for the Fabulous Photo Gifts Blogger blog to submit to Google's Sitemaps program. The idea being that doing so will increase Google's awareness of my posts, and therefore hopefully return them in search results a bit more often and higher up the listings.

This of course would lead to more visitors. Well we can dream can't we?

So when I finally stumbled across the method, I - A) kicked myself that I hadn't spotted it sooner... and B) decided to put digit to keyboard and share my findings before any more of you loose anymore sleep.

So, here's how I added a Google Sitemap to my Blogger Blog.

Firstly, you need to get a Google Account. It's completely free and easy to set up. Once you've done that, then you need to go to Webmaster Tools and click on 'add a site'.

Add your site (blog URL) and then you'll need to verify it - verify that you 'own' the blog or website in question, and that you have the means (and therefore the permission) to submit it in the first place.

You can usually do this by adding a metatag or by uploading a html file to your top level www directory folder. OK if you have a full website with ftp (File Transfer Protocol) access, but for most blogs, you won't so you'll need to select 'add metatag'.

Copy the metatag Google gives you, then go back to your Blogger Blog (I find it useful to have two windows open so you don't loose where you got up to), open the layout and expand the widgets (tick box) and save a back up (in case it all goes horribly wrong).

Then in-between the other metatags e.g (meta = title) your title (/meta) (these should be fairly near the top of your layout code, paste the metatag you copied from Google.

Check to see you haven't missed any closing brackets - I'm terrible for highlighting, copying and pasting only to discover I missed the first character -- and then save layout.

Check to see your Blog still appears OK and if so, you've successfully added the new 'tag'.

Now go back to the Google Webmaster Tools and click on 'verify'. Google will check your URL and see that the verification method has been carried out.

This can take a while so you can exit and check back later by logging into your Google Account, Webmaster Tools, Sitemaps and seeing if its verified.

Creating the Sitemap URL itself:

Now to create the URL itself that you're going to submit to Google as your Blogger Blogs sitemap url, you're going to need this URL:

http://my-blog-name-here.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?orderby=updated
 
What you will actually enter is: feeds/posts/default?orderby=updated
as Google prefills the first bit - the blog name - from the information you've entered when starting the initial submission.

I hope that helps you - it certainly did me. I'd got some crazy idea in my head that i'd got to create some very complicated URL to submit as the sitemap but in the end, Blogger already does that for you.

So everytime you post a new blog, your sitemap should update itself ready for Google to re-crawl. Hopefully you'll see an improvement in your search result positioning - it's early days yet of course but we watch the outcome with interest.

I'd love to know how you get on - do leave some feedback - any problems you experience implementing the above etc and I'll help if I can or if you have a success story or find the method slightly different for your blog.

Jonathan - Fabulous Photo Gifts.

Twitter protocol - do you say thank you to your followers?

For those of you not familiar with it, Twitter is a social networking site where users sign in and then post a 'tweet' - the question being "what are you doing?".

The twist is that your 'Tweet' (your individual post on Twitter) can only be a maximum of 140 characters long. However, forget SMS text messaging, this isn't a platform for C U L8tr (see you later), more a snapshot of information you can choose to interact with by replying to an individual you're following or who's following you.

Most users make use of Tiny URL's and other such URL shortening services to post URL's to items they want to share.

Anyway, I digress - back to the question in hand.

You can apparently automate your Apple mail to look at a Twitter notification that someone is following you. The automated function picks out the username of the new follower and emails them back saying thank you for following me (or whatever you've set the message to).

This caused some debate in our office as I've received one or two of these thankyou's and to be honest, whilst they're an acknowledgement of you acceptance, they're not very personal and easily spotted.

The rule being that you don't have to follow everyone that follows you - like any other social networking platform, Twitter has its share of 'spammers' usually spotted by hundreds of followings, few followers and even fewer tweets.

Personally, I like to tweet a personal thank you along with an appropriate comment on that person / their tweets / their bio information.

Back to the debate - my colleague argued that you don't say thank you to someone for visiting your blog, only when they leave a comment, however, since you don't know who visits your blog unless they leave a comment... plus Twitter is more of a social aspect than faceless blogging.

Each Tweeter has the opportunity to upload an avatar ( I use the same one as i use for all comments and blogging and do get a few followers based on others recognising me) and many other Tweeters also take advantage of this aspect too. Some you will notice change their Avatar on a daily basis - personally whilst it's fun, it can cause confusion - especially if you're a poor memory for names (like me).

I'll continue to say thank you to my new followers in my own way. I feel it's even more important to acknowledge personally especially in this high-tech age where things are accused of moving too fast to be able to respond but that's a pretty flimsy excuse isn't it?

The whole subject of Twitter protocol really got my interest so I searched a bit deeper and came up with these choice words from some fellow Tweeters....

"I follow people that I think have something interesting to say or that I want keep up with. I figure it's like blogs - I subscribe to the ones I'm interested in. Just because I find your blog interesting it doesn't mean i expect you to find mine the same. I hope you do but I don't take it personally if you don't." posted by Pocket Mojo.

"Twitter-like micromessaging is a relatively new communications model, with unique characteristics that affect how we use it and what’s appropriate. It’s an RSS feed for people, a way to directing the attention of audiences, and a means of reaching the famous without burdening them with an obligation to respond.

In short, Twitter is a human API. It’s being defined in real time in front of our eyes, through an amazing example of Internet Darwinism." Bitcurrent.

"I like to keep with all that is sexy on the Internet, so I have a Twitter account and access this from time-to-time from my iPhone. I 'follow' a couple of people and I can see that they are about to wash their hair or walk the dog.

I now read that the Hudson air crash is a potential tipping point for the Twitter protocol, but I don't get it. Someone put up a 'tweet' which appeared before the BBC reported the crash, but presumably I would need to be 'following' this person and just happen to check my Twitter updates to notice this on Twitter before the BBC. Given that no-one I know with a Twitter account happened to be on a ferry to pick up the passengers, how was Twitter going to tell me about the crash before the mainstream news. Am I missing something? Does anyone use Twitter for anything meaningful?" MacNN Forums

"Like a lot of people, I tried out Twitter early on, but didn't stick to it. Most of the early twitter conversation was personal, and I didn't have time for it. I came back when I noticed that about 5000 people were following my non-existent updates, waiting for me to say something. With that many listeners, I thought I'd better oblige. (There are now close to 16,000.) I soon realized that Twitter has grown up to become a critical business tool, ideal for following the latest news, tracking the ideas and whereabouts of people who will shape the future of technology, and sharing my own thoughts and attention stream." Tim O'Reilly

"We really can’t deny the fact that businesses are testing out Twitter as part of their steps into the social media landscape. You can say it’s a stupid application, that no business gets done there, but there are too many of us (including me) that can disagree and point out business value. I’m not going to address the naysayers much with this. Instead, I’m going to offer 50 thoughts for people looking to use Twitter for business. And by “business,” I mean anything from a solo act to a huge enterprise customer." Chris Brogan

"Perhaps the most significant step so far in TV presenter Jonathan Ross's media rehabilitation, after his three month suspension, was the revelation he is hosting this year's Bafta Awards in February.
The news did not come in the usual way though, through a press release or publicist.
It came directly from Ross himself, through his Twitter feed." BBC News - Entertainment

I hope the above links help you make up your own minds about Twitter, about how to use it, about what to expect out of the experience, about the personal and business scope it offers individuals and businesses alike. My thanks to the above for inclusion in my own thoughts on Twitter and Twitter protocol.

You can follow Fabulous Photo Gifts on Twitter - go to: http://twitter.com/fabphotogifts

Did you catch our Photo Gift Newsletter?

Hi there.

Did you catch our fabulous newsletter we emailed out earlier today (Saturday 24th January)?

If not, you can catch up with the full version online by clicking here:-

http://www.fabulousphotogifts.co.uk/newsletter/FPG_newsletter_24jan09.htm

As if a round up of all the fabulous personalised photo gift ideas we have to help you make this Valentine's Day extra special (and very personal), we also announced our latest new photo gift idea - square glass chopping boards.

It all started with a request from someone - they were looking for a glass square they could actually embed into a kitchen worktop - and culminated in sourcing and printing for one very happy custromer.

So, like all the other photo gifts on our website - if we've sourced it, printed it and we're happy with the quality and the results, then it gets added for others to personalise and enjoy.

You can order our newest photo gift idea - a square glass chopping board (30 x 30 cm in size) by clicking on this link:-
http://www.fabulousphotogifts.co.uk/index.php?ref=chopping_board.

We look forward to welcoming you just like we did these recent customers who were so delighted, they took a few minutes to sit and write back to us....

"Mandy, Just wanted to say I love the clipboard and I think that Jane will too! I have already recommended you to a couple of people - I like your commitment to quality and the way you kept me informed. Kind regards" J.

"Dear Mandy, Many thanks for sending the placemats through, they look great. Best wishes" T.

"I ordered a photo jigsaw from your company before Christmas, which was received and given as a christmas present. I was very pleased with the quality of the box, pieces and photo print quality. H.

"When you order things over the Internet, you're not always sure what you'll get back. I was delighted with the photo gift i received back from you. The picture had come out far better than i'd hoped and the quality is fantastic - absolutely delighted!" - B.

When does your Driving Licence expire? Have you checked recently?

Driving Licences - If you drive in the UK, then you need one. But when did you last check to see when your's expired?

Mandy (proprietor of Fabulous Photo Gifts) warned me after finding her old licence whilst sorting some paperwork the other night. "When does your driving licence expire?" she asked calmly.

"Oh when I'm 70 or thereabouts" I replied. "Check again" she said.

So I checked my Driving Licence and guess what? It expires this year!

It seems that when you applied for one of those silly two part licences - you know the plastic card with the photo and the extra large paper section (you are supposed to carry both together you know), well those nice people at the DVLC seemed to think that 10 years was about the right length of time to issue them for - a bit like a passport I suppose.

So now I've got to get ready and get mine renewed. It gets a bit trickier for me because my licence also has a PSV (bus/coach class) on it from when I passed my PSV Licence. I'll have to enquire with my former bus company employers if I need to take some sort of re-test to keep that class on my licence.

Wouldn't want to loose anything we're entitled to now would we?

So a word to the wise - if you haven't recently, then check the expiry date on your driving licence now and get your family and friends to check theirs too. Before it's too late.

Photo gifts - surprise someone on Valentine's Day with a personalised gift

Surprise your Valentine with a personalised photo gift on Valentine's Day this February.

There's still time to personalise a whole range of photo gift ideas including an 'I Love You' photo jigsaw. Wooden pieces with the letters spelling 'I Love You' cut into the jigsaw puzzle.

Or how about something softer and cuddlier like a teddy bear wearing a personalised photo t-shirt?

For the more practical minded, our personalised photo glass chopping boards are popular any time of the year, not forgetting our range of T-Shirts, mugs, mousemats and clocks that you can add your own photo to.

We also have a new range of 'Wow' Photo mugs - the mugs black colour hides the printed photograph, only revealing it when the mug is filled with hot liquid.

Well this was a very quick post just to remind all you lovers out there that we stand by ready to work on your order the moment its received.

Still not sure about giving a personalised photo gift as a present, read what one customer said about our service just last week...

"you made me a happy birthday jigsaw with a picture of a swiss snowy village for my husbands 40th. I just wanted to let you know that I was really delighted with the result - it came out beautifully with a wonderful surface and fascinating shaped pieces. It was really fun. Everyone signed a piece and then gave it to him at stages through the evening and it was so much fun as he gradually got the picture. Thanks so much." - Elizabeth.

Read more photo gift testimonials here.

kettles, boilers and the absent adsl

Sorry if we didn't reply to your photo gift enquiry straight-away yesterday.... we had a spot of local trouble.

Firstly, the office kettle decided it was going to flip its lid - literally - as the lid parted from the kettle during first brew of the day. Not a good start!

Then came news from home that the central heating boiler had packed up - engineers booked for Saturday teatime (the earliest they can make it from Eon).

You'd think a day couldn't get much worse right? Well it did in typical fashion later on when we lost our adsl connection with the outside world, affecting everyday email enquiries but NOT any photo gift orders placed - we must stress that!.

So one replacement kettle later, we can at least enjoy a warm drink,even if we can't get warm.

I suppose we could all sit around the lit lighter on the iPhone myLite application....

Adsl is back up and working now so we'll be getting right back to you with your personalised photo gift enquiries. Thank you for your patience.

iPhone Kensington car mount review

My friend garethbraid over at Twitter knows I've been looking into a car mount for my iphone. He tweeted what had i chosen and if it was the Kensington car mount, what I thought of it?

As Twitter only gives you 140 characters to reply, I thought a more in-depth review might be appropriate (and helpful to anyone else considering buying a car mount for their iphone / itouch or ipod - as the Kensington mount fits all three)

First impressions opening out of the box - very sturdy piece of design. The flexible arm from the holder to the suction cup was very stiff - no loose flapping around here!.

The holder was padded in the right places and featured a handy quick release button behind where the top of the phone will rest, to release the two side 'holders' that push in to fit. It can also be rotated independently of the flexible arm so you can twist your iphone screen just like holding it in your hand (probably best not while driving though!).

The suction cup for the windscreen really sticks with a handy plastic (sturdy) lever to clamp up and make the seal complete - I've been driving down some rough roads and it hasn't showed any signs of movement at all.

Fitting:
Fitting was easy - the kit includes a medical style wipe to prepare the glass first - postage stamp size but enough to wipe the patch of window where you're going to place the suction clamp.

Warning! Make sure the wiped area is completely dry before attaching suction clamp other wise it just slides about!

If you prefit the iphone holder (in my case) to the arm which is already attached to the suction clamp, try a few different positions until you're happy with the bend of the arm - it's very difficult to bend it once 'fitted' / in situ.

Try this with the iphone in the holder.

Road Test:
Overall, the holder performs well. It doesn't move about, hasn't dropped my pride and joy iphone and is a sturdy and well built look about it.

My only complaint is that the phone judders with every vibration of the car - transmitted via the windscreen i suspect although the flexible arm does seem to act like a spring on really rough roads.

I've tried positioning the arm so that at its lowest point, it rests onto the dash but this has not steadied it any. It would be really annoying out of the corner of your eye if the iphone screen was lit up the whole time but as it isn't, I think i can live with it.

The Kensington mount does come with sticky pads to affix the iphone holding bracket direct to the dash - probably better (if the pads are as sticky as the suction clamp) for vibration but more tricky for position.

Extras:
My Kensington iphone car mount came with an additional cable (3.5mm to 3.5mm jack plug at each end) presumably for plugging your iphone etc into a mp3 socket on your car and a jack plug adapter.

Overall:
More than happy with the quality but wish I'd read that this judder/vibration problem could exist - might have considered a vent mounting instead if that had been the case. One of those things I'll have to live with.

If you'd like to follow me on Twitter - click here and follow me. I tweet most days.

Half time antics at the Sheffield Steelers courtesy of Compass Distribution

Yours truly was very excited to accept an invitation to join Alan Fenn of Compass Distribution - direct marketing and leaflet distribution services based in Sheffield - to last nights ice hockey game at the home of the Sheffield Steelers who played the Cardiff Devils.

However, that wasn't the real surprise of the night. Oh no.

Not only did I get to watch the match from the lofty heights of a corporate box, I also met the Manager and players, had my picture taken out on the ice and a picture with the latest bit of club silverware - the play-off winners cup.

Well I can pretty much take that in my stride but I wasn't prepared for a real challenge at the first interval.

Alan's business - Compass Distribution - were sponsoring this match and Alan had agreed to provide two willing recruits to play the interval game of Hamster Ball racing.

So yours truly - padded up - was placed in a life size version of a beach ball and 'walked to the ice' That's where the trouble started. Once on the ice with a thin film of plastic between you and the ice - well it was like being Bambi!

So started a long crawl to the half way line and back. On the return journey i made good ground on my opponent who had obviously got the knack of things a lot sooner than me - and if I hadn't of started running out of steam might have eventually caught up.

Still it was a really fun event to take part in and hopefully we put on a bit of a show for the 3000 plus spectators.

I did warn my 'opponent' that should he win, he'd got to mention Fabulous Photo Gifts in his interview but there were no reporters waiting - just a nice cold pint back in the box! There was a vicious rumour circulating that the event was video'd - I'll keep checking YouTube just to make sure!!

Thanks to Alan and his family and the other guests, including Jill and her husband from the Academy and Star Pupil driving schools based in Rotherham- Good luck to Emma with her test this Friday coming! (Please check out her website for details! www.starpupilacademy.co.uk) for a great evening and of course to the staff and players of the Sheffield Steelers. We'll be back to see you soon.

Jonathan.

A little professional PR goes a long way

Although Fabulous Photo Gifts writes all it's own blog posts and other articles, sometimes many companies find that their company either lacks the skills to generate successful PR or simply doesn't have the time to write and plan their PR and marketing.

Thankfully you don't have to.

With the explosion in online marketing, many companies have recently been calling on an old friend of Fabulous Photo Gifts to aid them with their PR, marketing, e-shots etc creation and equally important - tracking the response of such campaigns. So much so that we've just completed a complete re-design of their website for them.

The company is called Copylines and the man at the helm is Ian McMath. Ian's roots are in manufacturing and trade & technical publication journalism, which he followed up with over a decade in corporate communications within industry and B2B advertising, marketing and of course PR agencies.

Copylines was founded in 1994 and work is briefed only to Ian so you get a very personal service from a very knowledgeable chap indeed.

So if you're in need of a little PR, then please visit Ian's website and find out more about the services he offers. There's an online enquiry form you can use or of course you can just drop him an email or phone call.

Ian's website was designed by Fabulous Photo Gifts.

Boxed photo jigsaw puzzles and photo collage tray back on the Fabulous Photo Gifts 'menu'

We're very pleased to announce that after a few days of technical issues, we've now been able to re-add our full range of Boxed Photo Jigsaws which you can personalise with your own photographs.

Available in 8 different sizes from 96 pieces to 2000 pieces - possibly the largest photo jigsaw piece size you'll find on the Internet that you can add your own photograph to.

Our boxed photo jigsaw range all come in two part boxes with the completed photograph printed on the lid - just like the ones you'd buy in the shops - at no extra cost.



We've also made available our personalised dinner tray with the photo collage option. This was temporarily removed at the end of November to allow us time to concentrate on pre-Christmas orders and deliveries.

Ordering a collage dinner tray is easy - just add to your basket as normal and personalise with the picture you'd like printing in the center of the tray bottom. Then once you receive your order confirmation (by email), simply email us the other pictures you'd like featured on the tray bottom (up to a maximum of 4 additional photographs allowed).

Don't forget your Photo Gift on Valentines Day

As Rupert Everett sung to Colin Firth in the film St Trinian's that we watched the other night, love is definately in the air as Fabulous Photo Gifts starts taking orders for Valentines Day on February 14th.

We've got some smashing new photo gift ideas to offer you since last year with our ever popular range of photo jigsaws - both boxed and wooden as well as our novelty range which includes a special 'I Love You' jigsaw puzzle with the words I Love You cut into the jigsaw in individual letters.



We've also got our very special wooden jewellery box which you can personalise further by ordering one with our surprise wooden jigsaw puzzle inside it.

So get busy and dig out your favourite photo now and order your personalised photo gift nice and early - we wouldn't want to disappoint anyone!

Fabulous Photo Gifts in Lots for Tots magazine

Writing about our guest competition appearance in Wellbeloved magazine prompted Mandy to remind me that I hadn't blogged about our other seasonal guest appearance in another more local magazine.

Lots for Tots is distributed to 8000 families with young children in South Derbyshire through Pre-Schools and Nurseries, Midwives and Health Visitors, NCT Groups, libraries, community centres, toddler groups, shops and other appropriate outlets.

It's tag line of 'How to survive with the under fives' says it all really - a guide to what's on with the emphasis on activities for young children, clubs and classes, news, health, special features and competitions.

Fabulous Photo Gifts is sponsoring the Lots for Tots January to March 2009 issues competition for Mother's Day with a superb Jewellery Box and Photo Jigsaw prize for one lucky Mum.

We'd like to say thank you to Nadine for contacting us and we're pleased to support such a worthwhile publication.

You can find out more about Lots for Tots via their website - www.lots-for-tots.net

Photo Jigsaw competition in Wellbeloved pet magazine

Fabulous Photo Gifts was delighted to be involved with the Winter 2008 / issue 32 of the much loved Well Beloved magazine - dedicated to pet welfare and health.

This interesting and informative quarterly publication carries a round up of topical news items and features on pet health and care as well as reader competitions which is where we came in.

Three lucky winners will win a personalised wooden jigsaw puzzle courtesy of Fabulous Photo Gifts in their Winter 2008 edition competition.

If you get the chance, why not enter the competition which asks readers to name 4 fictional pets from film and television. Who knows? You could win a jigsaw of your own furry friend!

To find out more about James Wellbeloved's range of pet foods, why not visit their website - www.wellbeloved.com.

Why our LG Renoir went back to very helpful T-Mobile

LG Renoir mobile phone review.

I promised a breathtaking mobile camera picture review in the New Year but after the events of the last few days, which I'll explain, we had to put that on hold.

For Christmas, Mandy had decided that the LG Renoir with its 8 megapixel camera was just the ticket and placed her order accordingly, after reading rave reviews about its photographic capabilities.

However, once she'd opened the phone and had a go with it, the results were frankly very poor indeed and in fact if we'd received them as part of a photo gift order, we'd probably have written back to the customers asking for a better quality picture. They were that bad!

Shall i mention the poor interface and the lack of other features? Oh alright then i will. Also, for the money, the software to connect the phone with your PC was unhelpful and just didn't work. After a day of struggling to get the photo's onto the PC, we gave up and went and bought a card reader to read the memory card. Only then did we realise the full horror of the picture results.

Of course, you can't 'play' with these things before you buy. Thankfully, T-Mobile were absolutely brilliant and agreed to cancel the agreement and take the phone back as part of their 7 day return policy, which due to the number of bank holidays meant we were just in time to cancel.

I'd like to add my thanks to T-Mobile here for their help and understanding.

I was fortunate enough to get an iphone in my stocking and within minutes was using it to surf the net, send emails and downloading all sorts of fun applications. OK I know the camera is terrible but then I didn't buy it for the camera function, however, the LG Renoir is exactly the kind of phone you would buy for its camera functions and look where that got us.

Marks out of 10 for the LG Renoir:
Ease of use: 2
Camera picture quality: 0 ( i can't go lower than that!)
Compatibility with PC: 1
Build quality: 8
Music playback: 9 (by far and away its best feature but loading music via pc was a pain!)

Verdict: When you look closely at the test review pictures, there's still a lot of pixelation in solid colours, skys and skin tones. This is not the camera its made out to be. Our tests showed no difference between it and an older 2megapixel motorola phone. Suggest a cheaper phone and a small compact digital camera instead. We were really disappointed with the results and are sorry to report that we can't honestly recommend the LG Renoir to anyone.