Advice for Book Bloggers
6 Simple Steps to Protect Your Blogger Book Blog
Did you know that if your blog is hosted on Blogger that Google could shut it down at any time, with no warning? It’s true. I have spoken with several unfortunate book bloggers who have had this happen to them. Most of the time the blogger wasn’t aware that Google has the power to shut down a blog and remove its content. In this post, I will show you how to protect your Blogger book blog from getting shut down, in 6 simple steps.
Why would Google shut down a book blog?
It’s very clear in the Blogger Content Policy that adult content must be placed behind a Warning Message. For book bloggers writing about romance novels or adult books often the content or book covers are risqué in nature and could be construed as adult content.
Why does Google think I have adult content on my site?
The most likely scenario is that a visitor reaches your blog and for whatever reason reports it to Google. Google then reviews these flagged sites and if they find it to be in violation of their Content Policy, then they will take one of the following actions:
- Put the blog behind a ‘mature content’ interstitial
- Put the blog behind an interstitial where only the blog author can access the content
- Delete the offending content, blog post or blog
- Disable the author’s access to his/her Blogger account
- Disable the author’s access to his/her Google account
- Report the user to law enforcement
How can I protect myself against Google shutting down my book blog?
If you are blogging about romance novels or novels with adult content (and don’t want to move to WordPress), the single best thing you can do is turn on the Warning Message! Even if you are not writing adult content, the fact that you are linking to a book that contains it or are displaying a book cover that is risqué in nature might be enough to require the Warning Message.
How do I turn on the Adult Content Warning Message in Blogger?
Here are The 6 simple steps to turning on the Adult Content Warning Message and protecting your Blogger book Blog from Google shut down:
- Login to the Dashboard of your site
- Click Settings
- Click Other
- Find the Adult Content section
- Select Yes
- Click Save Settings
That’s it! A two-minute fix that could save you hours of headache later. Better yet, you should consider migrating your blog to a self-hosted WordPress site where you will have complete control of your content.
If you’re interested in making the move to WordPress, please contact me and I’d be happy to guide you through it!
