Customize your blogger posts' adresses

Earlier this year we introduced a suite of new SEO features that help ensure your blog, posts, and images are accurately indexed so they appear correctly in search results. Today we’re happy to introduce another feature that enables you to more effectively customize your search preferences - custom permalinks.

When you write a post, Blogger automatically generates a permalink based on the title of the post. Until now, blog authors have had no control of the permalink. Custom permalinks give you more control of your blog and posts. These new custom links also provide readers with more information about your post when scanning search results.

If you prefer to use a custom permalink, you can do so via the “Permalink” option in the Post Settings box.

To create your own URL for a specific post, simply select “Custom URL”, and enter your new URL in the field below. If you wrote the post in June of 2012, your new URL will look like this:

www.nameofblog.blogspot.com/2012/06/customURL.html

The bolded area is the portion of the URL that is customizable.

If the custom permalink you entered already exists, Blogger will attempt find a free one for you.

At present, the characters allowed in a custom URL are limited to: a-z, A-Z, 0-1. The only special characters available are underscore, dash, and period.

Click here to read more about custom permalinks in the Blogger Help Center.

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Boost your AdSense revenue with improved ad styles

By making your ads more visible for users, you can increase your click through rate and ultimately your AdSense revenue. Base the colour design of your ad units on one or more of the three basic techniques: Blend, Complement or Contrast (see below). We’ve found through working with publishers that ads with light coloured borders or no borders at all perform best.

When choosing colours, also take the position of your ad units into consideration: If an ad is well integrated into your site’s content, blending the ads can underline the feeling of contextual relevance. For an ad unit which is further away from the main content, more contrasting colours can help catching the user’s attention. If you have a website with repeat visitors, you might want to switch the ad colours occasionally to avoid ad blindness. Remember, the goal isn't to confuse users into thinking ads are content, but to get users to see and read the ads so they can click on those that interest them.

Optimise your ad styles today

We've also recently launched an improvement to our default font settings. For each ad unit that's set to show the default font face and font size, our system will now automatically show the best-performing option. You can find more information about this improvement in our Inside AdSense blog.

Recruiter Tips & Tricks: Jeff takes your questions via Hangouts On Air

You know lead engineering recruiter Jeff Moore from his Recruiter Tips & Tricks series on the Google Students blog, which wrapped up in December. Since then, we’ve been thinking of ways in which Jeff can continue sharing his wisdom with all of you, and how to do so in a fun and engaging environment. What better way for us to connect you with him than Google+ Hangouts On Air? Over the next couple of weeks, Jeff will be hosting a series of Hangouts On Air from his Google+ profile. Each Hangout On Air will have a different theme based on his most popular Recruiter Tips & Tricks posts. For each Hangout On Air, you can submit your questions ahead of time via the Google Moderator links below. Jeff (and guest Googlers, including Fitz and Ben on January 19th!) will answer the questions with the most votes live. You can also post your question to Google+ using the hashtag #askagoogler in order to be considered for one of the spots in the Hangout.

Here is the line up with Google Moderator links and local time zone conversions so you know when to tune in:

• Preparing your resume: Tuesday, January 10th at 9:00 am PST
• Technical interviews: Wednesday, January 11th at 1:00 pm PST
• Non-technical interviews: Tuesday, January 17th at 11:00 am PST
• Transitioning from school to the working world: Thursday, January 19th at 4:00 pm PST

We’ll be accepting questions up until 24 hours before each of the Hangouts On Air begin. When the Hangout On Air starts, we’ll share the link on our Google Students page on Google+. You’ll also be able to see the broadcast on Jeff’s profile. Can’t tune in? Each Hangout On Air will be recorded and shared so you can watch the recap when you’ve got some free time.

By Jessica Safir, University Programs Coordinator

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