How to Publish on Blogger: From Zero to Your First Post

How to Publish on Blogger: From Zero to Your First Post

Everything you need to know to go from your first post to your first readers

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Blogger has been around long enough to feel familiar and stable, yet it still gives you the essentials you need to publish quickly: free hosting, simple themes, and just‑enough controls for SEO. In this guide, we’ll move from a blank slate to a published post, then show you how to amplify that post by sharing it on ManyStories so it reaches more readers.

1) What you’ll need (and why Blogger)

All you need is a Google account. Blogger provides free hosting on a blogspot.com subdomain and an editor that’s friendly to beginners but flexible enough for veterans. You can also connect a custom domain later and force HTTPS for security—no server setup required.

2) Create your Blogger site

Sign in at blogger.com, pick a blog name and address (yourname.blogpost.com or yourbrand.blogpost.com), and choose a starter theme. You can change the theme anytime under Theme and tweak layout under Layout. Before you write a word, visit Settings → HTTPS and make sure HTTPS is enabled; this protects readers and avoids duplicate HTTP/HTTPS versions of your pages.

Quick setup checklist:

  • Blog title and description set

  • Theme chosen and logo/favicon added (optional but recommended)

  • HTTPS Availability and Redirect turned On

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3) Subdomain vs. custom domain

By default, your site lives at yourblog.blogspot.com. That’s fine to start, but a custom domain (e.g., www.yourname.com) looks more professional and builds brand equity.

Connecting a custom domain (high‑level):

  1. Buy a domain from any registrar (Namecheap, Google Domains transition partners, GoDaddy, etc.).

  2. In Settings → Publishing, add your domain (start with www.yourname.com). Blogger will show you DNS records.

  3. In your registrar’s DNS, add the two CNAME records Blogger provides (one is usually www → ghs.google.com, the other is a unique verification record). Add the four A records if prompted to support naked domain redirects.

  4. Back in Blogger Settings, enable HTTPS once DNS has propagated. If your registrar uses CAA records, ensure letsencrypt.org (and/or Google Trust Services where applicable) is permitted so Blogger can issue the SSL certificate.

  5. Turn on Redirect domain so yourname.com redirects to www.yourname.com and enable HTTPS Redirect to enforce secure URLs.

When to keep the Blogspot subdomain: for hobby sites, quick experiments, and low‑maintenance personal journals. You can always switch to a custom domain later without losing posts.

4) Write your first post

Click New post and you’ll see the editor with a title field, a clean content canvas, and a side panel of post settings.

  • Title: Clear and human‑first. Aim for a benefit or outcome rather than clickbait.

  • Body: Write in short paragraphs. Use headings (H2/H3) to create skimmable sections. Add images where they add meaning.

  • Images: Use high‑quality, compressed images; add alt text that describes the image for accessibility and SEO.

  • Labels: Treat labels like categories. Two to four precise labels per post help readers and create useful archive pages.

  • Permalink: Switch to Custom permalink to shorten slugs (e.g., /publish-on-blogger-guide). Keep them lowercase, hyphenated, and permanent.

  • Search description: Add a 120–155‑character meta description that summarizes the post and entices clicks.

  • Location (optional): If the post is place‑specific (a café review, a hiking trail), set a location.

  • Preview the post to confirm spacing, images, and headings look right on desktop and mobile.

Pro tip: Keep a reusable end‑section with your author bio and links to your best posts. You can store snippets in a doc and paste them as needed.

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5) Formatting that reads well

Good formatting helps readers finish the post (and share it). Here are some things to keep in mind when formatting your articles:

  • Headings: Use H2 for major sections and H3 for sub‑sections. Don’t skip levels.

  • Lists: Bullets are for quick scannable points; keep lists short. Numbered lists for step‑by‑step instructions.

  • Quotes: Use blockquotes for excerpts and callouts, not as a design flourish.

  • Code/inline code: When relevant, wrap code in inline code formatting for clarity.

  • Links: Add descriptive anchor text (avoid “click here”). Internally link to older posts to reduce bounce rate.

  • Images: Insert at natural breaks; add captions when the image conveys data or context.

6) Essential SEO setup in Blogger

SEO on Blogger is light but effective when you use the levers it provides.

At the blog level:

  • Settings → Meta tags → Search description: Write a concise description for your overall blog (you’ll add post‑specific descriptions on each article too).

  • Settings → Crawlers and indexing → Custom robots header tags: Enable, then set sane defaults:

    • Homepage: all

    • Archive and search pages: noindex (prevents duplicate content in indexes)

    • Posts and pages: all

  • Settings → Crawlers and indexing → Custom robots.txt (optional, advanced): If you enable this, keep it minimal. A common, safe baseline is to disallow search result pages and reference your sitemap.

  • HTTPS: Keep both availability and redirect enabled to consolidate signals.

At the post level:

  • Custom permalink: Short, descriptive, permanent.

  • Search description: 1–2 compelling sentences aligned with the reader’s intent.

  • Image alt text: Describe the content (not “image1”).

Sitemaps & Search Console: Blogger auto‑generates sitemaps (e.g., /sitemap.xml and feed URLs). After you publish a few posts, add your property to Google Search Console, submit your sitemap, and request indexing for new posts as needed.

7) Publish with confidence

When you’re ready:

  1. Click Publish. Your post goes live immediately (unless you set a Schedule in Post settings).

  2. Double‑check the live URL. Ensure it’s HTTPS and the slug looks right.

  3. If you edit the title later, avoid changing the permalink (links and rankings can break).

  4. Keep comments set to your preference (open, moderated, or off) under Settings → Comments.

Want to update a live post? Edit and Update—Blogger preserves the URL and republish date unless you manually change it.

8) Measure and improve

Attach Google Analytics 4 to understand how readers reach and use your site (traffic sources, engagement, top posts). In Google Search Console, monitor impressions, clicks, queries, and fix any coverage issues. Over time, use this data to refine headlines, search descriptions, and internal links—and to decide what to write next.

9) Share your post where readers already are (ManyStories)

Publishing is step one; distribution is step two. ManyStories helps writers reach new audiences without moving their content. You keep publishing on Blogger, then share the link so it’s promoted across ManyStories’ network.

How to share your Blogger post on ManyStories:

  1. Go to ManyStories and click Share your story.

  2. Paste your live Blogger URL (make sure the post is public and reachable over HTTPS).

  3. Confirm whether you’re the author and submit. The system quickly validates the link (spam‑free posts pass), then distributes it across reader feeds.

  4. Boost reach by sharing your ManyStories profile page with your audience—this aggregates all the stories you’ve shared, regardless of where they were originally published.

For headline polish before you share, try the free Headlines tool to generate alternative titles, subtitles, and keywords from your draft: manystories.com/tool/headlines. And remember to include your ManyStories post link in your social bios so followers can browse everything you’ve shared: ManyStories.

The ultimate Blogger launch checklist

Use this master checklist to go from setup to ongoing promotion.

  1. Account & Setup

  2. Domain & SEO foundation

  3. Content creation & formatting

  4. Publishing & engagement

  5. Distribution & growth

  6. Maintenance & iteration

Final thoughts

Blogger makes it easy to go from idea to published article without wrestling with hosting or plugins. Add a custom domain when you’re ready, keep HTTPS enforced, fill in the search description on every post, and stick to clean, readable formatting. Then use ManyStories to put that work in front of more readers—so each post has a life beyond your own audience.

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