Sign up for a Google Account through Blogger
If you don’t yet have a Google Account and would like to sign up for Blogger, you’ll be creating a Google Account with Blogger as your very first Google product. With the username and password you create, you’ll be able to access other Google products and services, such as Gmail, Google Docs, and Google+.
When you sign up for a Google Account through Blogger, you may be asked to fill out your Google+ profile. Once you create a profile, you can choose whether you’d like to link it to your blog.
In other words, you have a choice between:
- Linking your blog to your common name and Google+ profile, or
- Blogging under a display name of your choice and using a Blogger profile
The first option is for users who feel comfortable associating their blog with an established identity on their blog, Google+, or both. The second option is for those who prefer to appear on Blogger via a pseudonym. Although these users may use Gmail, Google+ and other products with their common name and other personal information, they prefer to keep their Blogger identity separate. Whatever you choose, remember that you’ll be choosing one option for all the blogs under your Google Account. This means that either all your blogs will be associated with your common name, or none will.
Linking your blog to your common name and full Google+ profile
If you’d like to link your blog to your Google+ profile, you’ll be blogging under your common name -- the name you provided when you signed up for a Google Account. If your name is Jane Smith, the name “Jane Smith” will appear on any comments you leave on other blogs using your Google Account, and on your post bylines or profile gadget, should you choose to display them. When users click on your name, they’ll be led to your public Google+ profile.
If you’re comfortable blogging under your common name, you’ll find that linking your blog with your Google+ profile may increase your blog’s discoverability and make it easier for you to form communities with other bloggers and readers. You can also share your blog posts to Google+.
Read more about what it means to link your blog to your Google+ profile.
Blogging under a display name
If you decide you’d rather blog under a different name (ie, your name is Jane Smith but you would like to blog under the name SoccerGirl123), you’ll have the option, during the sign-up flow, to create a separate profile with the Blogger display name of your choice. Just click the link to “Switch to a limited Blogger profile” or “Create a limited Blogger profile.”Remember that you can have a Google+ profile even if you choose to have a Blogger display name -- the difference is that the two won’t be linked externally.
