A Blog Site is a dedicated page designed to host the blogs you create in the CRM. Setting one up is a great way to share your insights, expertise, or passions with a wider audience, presenting your content in an organised and accessible format. This article walks you through the key steps to create a blog site optimised for both readers and search engines.
To begin, go to the Sites section of the CRM and click on the Blogs tab at the top of the page. Select the "Create Blog" button to get started.
By default, you'll be taken straight into setting up a blog from scratch. If you'd prefer to use a template, click the dropdown and select the "Create Blog from Template" option. You'll be prompted to choose from the library and can adjust it to suit your needs.
Pop-up Form Details
When setting up a blog site from scratch, you'll need to fill in the following fields:
- Blog Site Title: Enter the title for the page that will host your blogs.
- Domain & Slug: Optionally, select the appropriate domain from the dropdown menu and enter a memorable slug. A preview of the blog link will appear once this is done.
- Blog Meta Description: Provide a summary of the blog's focus.
Once you've filled in these fields, click "Create" to move on to the next steps.
You'll then be given options to edit the blog site, create a new blog post from scratch or using AI, adjust site settings, preview the site, or set up canonical links for the blog, category, and author.
Click the Settings option to adjust your site configuration and customise the advanced settings.
These advanced settings include:
- Favicon URL: Input the URL for the Blog Site favicon.
- Canonical Link: Specify the preferred URL for the blog to help search engines identify the primary version of the content.
- Head Tracking Code: Enter the blog-wide tracking code for the head tag.
- Body Tracking Code: Enter the blog-wide tracking code for the body tag.
- Chat Widget: Select a chat widget you've created to display on the blog site.
- GDPR Compliant Fonts: Toggle the switch to use GDPR Compliant Fonts instead of Google Fonts on every page.
Click Update once you've finished customising each setting to save your changes.
With the site configuration in place, you can now design the blog site. Click the back arrow to return to the previous page, then select the Edit Blog Site option.
Add the elements you need, configure the SEO metadata, and customise additional settings such as the page background and typography to suit your preferences.
Preview the layout to make sure it looks how you want, then save and publish the site. This page will serve as the central hub for all the blog posts you create within the blog site.
To create a new blog post, return to the blog site menu and click the "Create post with AI" or "New Post" buttons.
If you click the dropdown next to the "New Post" button, you can choose to import blogs from a CSV or URL.
For detailed instructions on creating a new blog post, please refer to the other articles in this section.
Once your site is live, you can keep it fresh by adding new posts, tweaking settings, and refining content for better engagement. Following these steps, you can create and design a blog site that's straightforward to use and optimised for search engines, giving both you and your readers a smooth experience.