TypePad Services is One! Help Us Give the Gift of Giving Back

TypePad Services is one year old! On December 2, 2008, TypePad Services had our first paying customer. Since then we've helped over 200 TypePad members make their blogs better, whether through a Tune-Up, a Power Launch, or a custom design service. We hope that you'll consider purchasing one of our services and helping make our second year even more successful than our first!

To celebrate, we would like to give back to the community, and we need your help! We are looking for a non-profit organization that has a blog on TypePad (or that would like to) that we can provide a Tune-Up or Power Launch service to for free.

If you know of such a non-profit, please leave a comment on this post with the following information:

* Name of the organization
* URL of their TypePad blog or their website
* Why you think they should win

This contest is open until December 15. We will review all the entries and announce the winner on December 21.

Thanks in advance to everybody who participates.

Update 12/21/09: The contest is officially closed, and we have selected a winner, the Jefferson Tanner Memorial Fund! The winner and all nominees have been contacted. Thanks to everybody who took the time to nominate a non-profit.

TypePad Traffic Tip #10. Reach Your Followers' Followers with Reblog and TypePad Micro

This morning we launched TypePad Micro. Micro is a free streamlined blog, powered by TypePad, and optimized for social media. Encourage your readers to share your content with their followers on their very own free Micro blogs. Reblogged content links directly back to your blog, driving traffic from your readers and their social networks. Add the new Reblog button to your design and they can instantly amplify your best posts.

Here's how to add the Reblog button to your posts:

Social Media Optimization Checklist

We've added a bunch of features to TypePad to connect your blog to the social web to drive traffic and share your posts with your followers and friends.

Here's a checklist of settings to be sure you're taking full advantage of TypePad's social media optimization along with links to full tutorials on how to do them:

• Share your blogs to your TypePad profile and your followers will see your most recent updates.
• Add the follow module to your blog so your readers can easily follow your latest posts, comments and favorites.
• Enable Reblog so your readers can showcase your best posts on their own blogs.
• Add TweetThis to your post footers and your readers can quickly share your posts with their Twitter followers.
• Turn on Favorites so your readers can show off your best posts to their friends.
• Setup cross-posting to Twitter and Facebook so that your friends and followers will see your latest posts.
• Complete your TypePad profile with an avatar userpic and links to your other social networks.

And as always, if you need any help setting these features up, please let us know by opening a help ticket with support or leaving a comment below.

TypePad Traffic Tip #9. Follow Others

TypePad's dashboard keeps you up to date with your favorite bloggers. If you want to encourage others to follow you, follow them! Be on the lookout for the Follow Module on your favorite blogs. Simply click to follow the blogger and your dashboard will show their latest posts, comments and favorites.

Power tip: Welcome your new followers. Every few days post an update to your blog welcoming your most recent followers linking to their profiles or blogs (you'll know who is following you since TypePad emails you whenever you get a new follower).

This traffic tip is part of our Top Ten TypePad Traffic Tips series. Check back for our next tip tomorrow or stay tuned by following us on TypePad, joining our Facebook page, following us on Twitter or grabbing the feed.

TypePad Traffic Tip #8. Add Email Alerts

Repeat visitors are awesome and feed readers are pretty hawt. Still, some readers find it easier to see your latest posts in their morning email. TypePad helps your readers stay current with your blog in the format of their choice - even if it is good ol' email. Build your readership with Google's Feedburner email alerts widget.

Here's how:

TypePad Traffic Tip #7. Harness the Power of Twitter

Twitter is everywhere these days, so you never know when an avalanche of Twitter traffic will skyrocket your blog into the stratosphere. Encourage Twitter users to blast your posts out to their friends with the 'Tweet This' button.

Here's how:

TypePad Traffic Tip #6. Optimize Your Post Titles

In your post titles and URL, every word counts. Edit your permalinks to include key words to help search engines match your posts with the right searches. The more specific words you use to describe your post the more your target audience is likely to find it.

Here's how:

TypePad Traffic Tip #5. Share Posts to Twitter and Facebook

It's great to send stuff out to your Twitter followers or Facebook friends but it can be a chore to post to multiple sites. With 'Share This Post' you can post to your blog, update your Twitter status and update your Facebook profile, with one click in the new TypePad.

Here's how:

TypePad Traffic Tip #4. Build Your Following

The new TypePad Dashboard is updated with your latest activity on TypePad. To encourage your readers to follow you, add the Follow Module to your sidebar. Then their Dashboards will update every time you post, comment or favorite.

Here's how to add the Follow Module:

TypePad Traffic Tip #3. Invite Compliments with Favoriting

Two weeks ago, we added Favoriting to the all new TypePad because it's fun to recognize and recommend great posts. When someone "Favorites" your post, TypePad lets everyone in their network know to come check out your awesome-ness.

How to enable Favorites: