Basic Blogger Settings Mistakes Most People Ignore

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Basic Blogger Settings Mistakes Most People Ignore

When people say “Blogger is bad for SEO”, I usually pause. In most cases, Blogger is not the problem—the default settings are.

Over the years of running multiple Blogger sites (some monetized, some abandoned, some painfully recovered), I noticed a pattern: the most damaging mistakes are not advanced at all. They are basic settings people never touch because “it should work out of the box.”

It does work. Just not in your favor.

1. Leaving Search Description Empty (or Treating It as Optional)

Blogger allows you to publish without a search description, and that is precisely why many bloggers skip it.

From experience, this is one of the earliest mistakes that silently hurts:

• CTR in Google Search drops because snippets look random
• Google rewrites your titles more aggressively
• Pages feel “unfocused” in Search Console coverage

Why This Matters More Than People Admit

I once ran two similar posts—same topic, same backlink profile. The only real difference? One had a manually written search description.

The CTR difference was not subtle. It was embarrassing.

Human insight: Writing a search description forces you to clarify what the post is actually about. If you struggle to summarize it in 150–160 characters, your article probably lacks focus.

2. Ignoring Custom Robots Header Tags

Many bloggers think robots settings are “too technical” and skip them entirely. That is understandable—and costly.

Common Misconfiguration

• Allowing noindex on archive pages by accident
• Blocking image indexing while relying on image search traffic
• Indexing thin label pages that dilute topical authority

Blogger’s default is not optimized for long-term SEO hygiene. It is optimized for not breaking things.

Those are not the same goal.

If you want deeper context on crawl behavior, this article explains a common confusion clearly: Why Google Crawls Your Website but Doesn’t Index It

3. Using Default Permalinks for Everything

Blogger gives you two options:

• Automatic permalink
• Custom permalink

Most people always choose automatic.

That is not a fatal mistake—but it becomes one when:

• Your title is too long
• You update the article angle later
• You want keyword alignment without rewriting the headline

A Personal Rule I Learned the Hard Way

If a post is:

• Evergreen
• Monetized
• Intended to rank

I always use a custom permalink—even if it takes 30 extra seconds.

That small friction saves future regret when the article evolves.

4. Letting Label Pages Index Without Strategy

Labels in Blogger feel harmless. They are not.

Uncontrolled label indexing can lead to:

• Keyword cannibalization
• Thin pages dominating crawl budget
• Confusing internal linking signals

This is where many “Blogger SEO is weak” claims come from. In reality, the platform simply does not enforce discipline—you have to.

Honest Opinion

Unless you actively curate labels like categories in WordPress, most label pages should not be indexed.

Indexing everything feels productive. It usually just spreads relevance thin.

5. Skipping HTTPS and Canonical Checks

Yes, Blogger enables HTTPS easily. No, that does not mean you are done.

I have seen blogs where:

• HTTP and HTTPS versions both resolve
• Canonical points inconsistently
• Redirects partially fail on older posts

These issues rarely show as “errors.” They show as underperformance.

And underperformance is harder to diagnose than failure.

6. Assuming Theme Defaults Are SEO-Friendly

This assumption is dangerously common.

Some Blogger themes:

• Misuse H1 tags
• Repeat headings across widgets
• Load unnecessary scripts site-wide

I once switched nothing but a theme—and saw indexing stabilize within weeks.

Reality check: A “beautiful” theme that confuses heading hierarchy is not SEO-neutral. It is SEO-negative.

Non-Obvious Fixes Most Articles Never Mention

• Audit your mobile-first rendering—not just responsiveness
• Check how your homepage meta description changes dynamically
• Test label pagination URLs in Search Console manually
• Review feed settings if content scraping becomes an issue

These are not beginner tips. They are maintenance habits.

Final Thought: Blogger Is Unforgiving to Passive Owners

Blogger rewards clarity and punishes neglect.

If you expect the platform to “handle SEO automatically,” it will—but only at a baseline level. To compete, you must be intentional.

Not advanced. Not complex. Just intentional.

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Recommended Reading

• Blogger Tips: Secrets to Successful Blogging
• Blogging Tricks: How to Make Money from a Blog
• Earning Money from Blogging Effectively
• Google AdSense Blog Monetization Guide
• How to Create a Blog and the Real Benefits