Adding Privacy Policy & Legal Pages to Blogspot (SEO Experiment Update #4)

Welcome back to the experiment! I know, I know—I’m a little late with this one. My goal was to update you every few days, but life (and the reality of running a side project) got in the way. It's now November 20th, about 11 days since my last check-in.

If you missed the last major update where we launched our YouTube channel and published our first "real" SEO guide, you can catch up here: Blogspot SEO Experiment: Update #3.

But the delay gave us time to hit a pretty cool, albeit small, milestone.

Milestone Unlocked: The First 100 Views!

I checked my stats this morning, and we have officially crossed 100 all-time views.

Now, I can hear the pro bloggers laughing. "100 views? I get that in a minute!" But for a brand-new site that started from absolute zero just a month ago, with no paid ads and a free domain? I’ll take it. It validates that the "pipes" are working—search engines and social links are driving real humans to the site.

What’s even cooler is looking at the map. These aren't just my friends clicking the link. We have visitors from all over the world checking in on this experiment. It’s proof that even a tiny, new Blogspot site can reach a global audience right out of the gate.

The seo experiment of blogspot


The "Boring" (But Critical) Upgrade: Adding Legal Pages

Today’s update isn’t flashy. It’s not about viral content or massive traffic spikes. It’s about compliance and building a foundation for monetization.

If I ever want to put ads on this blog (which is a huge part of the "can I make money?" question of this experiment), I need Google AdSense. And Google AdSense is strict. They will not approve a blog that looks like a hobby project or a fly-by-night spam site. They need to see a legitimate, trustworthy website.

One of the first things their automated systems (and manual reviewers) look for are standard legal pages. So, I spent today creating and adding the "Big 5":

  1. Privacy Policy: This is essential. You must tell users if you collect data (like cookies or analytics). AdSense explicitly requires this in their Terms of Service.

  2. Terms of Use: This sets the ground rules for visiting the site and protects your intellectual property.

  3. Disclaimer: This protects me from liability. Since this is an experiment, I need to state that results aren't guaranteed (e.g., "I am not a financial advisor, this is just an SEO case study").

  4. Cookie Policy: This is required for compliance with international laws like GDPR (Europe) and CCPA (California). Even if you are in the US, your visitors might be from Europe.

  5. Contact Me: This shows Google (and you!) that there is a real person behind this site, not just a bot generating text.

Why The Footer? (SEO & UX Strategy)

You might notice I didn't put these links in the top navigation bar. That was a deliberate SEO and User Experience (UX) choice.

A lot of amateur Blogspot blogs clutter their main menu with these boring links. But think about it: when a reader comes to your site, do they want to read your "Privacy Policy" first? No. They want your content.

Your top menu should be for your best content categories (like "SEO Tips," "Experiments," "Guides"). If you clutter it with legal pages, you are distracting the user and wasting prime real estate.

So, I moved them all to the Footer. This is the industry standard. Users know to scroll to the bottom if they need to find this info, and it keeps the main navigation clean for content discovery.

How I Added Legal Pages to the Blogspot Footer

For those following along who want to replicate this "Pro" look, here is the exact step-by-step process I used in the Blogger dashboard:

  1. Create the Content: I generated the text for the pages (there are plenty of free policy generators online) and created them as "Pages" (not Posts!) in the Blogger dashboard.

  2. Go to Layout: In the left sidebar, click on Layout.

  3. Find the Footer: Scroll down to the very bottom section of your layout. It's usually labeled "Footer" or "Footer-2-1".

  4. Add a Gadget: Click the "Add a Gadget" link in that footer section.

  5. Select "Pages": Scroll down the list of gadgets and select "Pages".

  6. Configure: In the popup window, I titled the gadget "Legal" (or you can leave it blank). Then, I unchecked "Home" (because I don't need a Home link in the footer) and selected only my new legal pages (Privacy, Terms, Disclaimer, etc.).

  7. Save: Click save on the gadget, and save the Layout arrangement.

Now, the blog looks significantly more professional. It signals to Google, "Hey, this is a real business with real compliance standards," without annoying my actual readers.

What’s Next: Building a Tool?

Now that the legal housekeeping is done, I want to try something ambitious for the next update.

Writing articles is great, but do you know what really attracts backlinks and traffic? Tools.

I’m going to attempt to create a simple "Blogspot Rank Checker" tool right here on this blog. It will be a keyword-focused post designed to be useful for other Blogspot users. Can I pull off building a functional, interactive tool inside a free Blogspot post?

Tune in next time to find out.

This post is part of a live, public case study: The Blogspot Experiment.

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