Blogging Best Practices: Structuring Your Posts Effectively

We hope you're enjoying our series of posts on Blogging Best Practices! Each Thursday for 10 weeks, we're debuting a new post designed to help you create great content, share it with the world, and become a better blogger. Check out other posts in the series here!

One of the best ways to make sure that your readers visit your blog again and again is by making sure that your posts are nicely and effectively structured.

• Title: You'll want to keep your titles somewhere between three to eight words in length. You should make sure to use words that not only pique your reader's interest, but also use key words that will help your page rank in search engines. Additionally, it's recommended to avoid using all caps and exclamation points whenever possible.
• Opening: If your title was interesting enough that someone read the first line, now's the time to really capture their interest and make sure they don't leave. Be bold. Challenge your reader to keep at it. You want to make sure that your content is something that they feel is relevant and interesting, otherwise it's possible you'll lose them as a reader.
• Body: You don't want to let up and lose your momentum, so make sure to keep up the pace. If there's something in your post that isn't needed, remove it. You might want to use headers for each new paragraph. This will create visual interest and also make the text easier to read.
• Close: The best and most important thing about your blog is that you're engaging more than just one reader - you're building a community. One way to do this is to make your blog interactive. Don't just finish your post with your own thoughts and feelings. Ask your readers what they think on a topic or if they've had similar situations in their lives. The more feedback that they give you, the more your community grows. To encourage this and keep the feedback coming in, make sure you reply to each comment. This can be to continue telling a story or just thanking someone for their opinion. This is a great way to get readers coming back again and again since everyone likes to feel that their feedback is appreciated.

Following all of these tips should help you make sure that your post is well-written and grow your blog's community at the same time.

What other tips do you have for writing a great post? Is there a guideline that you use when structuring your own?

Your Own Grab A Button Module

One way to grow your blog's audience is share links on other sites which cover similar topics. But why share a simple link when you can have an eye catching logo linked to your site! On your blog, you can add the code to grab a button or badge for your blog and make it easy for other sites to link back to you.

Check out the Grab A Button module in the right column on Yesterday On Tuesday and the page on The Janelle Wind Collection to get an idea of how you can display your own button.

There is a bit of code involved in setting up the grab a button module, but don't fret. We're going to walk you through the steps to create your own module!

Step 1: Upload Your Image

The image you want to share should be uploaded to your Typepad account to ensure the button will always be available.

• Go to Library > File Manager.
• Click Browse or Choose File and locate the image on your computer.
• Click Upload.
• The list of files in the File Manager will refresh with the recently uploaded image added. Right-click on the image filename and copy the image URL.

The image URL will be in the format similar to:

http://example.typepad.com/button.jpg

Step 2: Configure the code for the grab a button module.

Now, we need to set up the HTML code to be added to your blog's sidebar. The basic form for the code you want to use is:

<img src="Insert Image URL Here" title="Insert Blog Title Here" />

<textarea rows="9" cols="20">
<a href="Insert Blog URL Here"><img src="Insert Image URL Here" title="Insert Blog Title Here" /></a>
</textarea>

In the sections highlighted in red, we need to plug in the values relevant to your blog:

• Insert Image URL Here: The image URL copied after you uploaded the image to the File Manager will replace the Insert Image URL Here text. Note there are two places where the image URL should be entered.
• Insert Blog URL Here: The blog URL is the URL you want the image to link. In the case of the grab a button module, you'll want to use your blog's address. i.e. http://example.typepad.com/blog/
• Insert Blog Title Here: Replace Insert Blog Title Here with the name of your blog. The name of your site will appear when you hover over the badge. Note there are two places where the blog title should be entered.

Step 3: Add code to blog's sidebar.

For most designs, you can use the Embed Your Own HTML module to add the badge to your blog's sidebar.

• At Design > Content, select the Embed Your Own HTML module.
• Click Add This Module.
• Enter the code for the grab a button module in the pop-up box.
• Click OK.
• Rearrange the module in the blog's sidebar.
• Click Save Changes.

If you are using an Advanced Template design for your blog, you can add the code directly to your template where you want the grab a button badge to appear. For mixed media layouts, you can use a Notes Typelist.

Share the link to your site with the grab a button module added in the comments!

Blogging Best Practices: Grow Your Audience

We hope you're enjoying our series of posts on Blogging Best Practices! Each Thursday for 10 weeks, we're debuting a new post designed to help you create great content, share it with the world, and become a better blogger. Check out other posts in the series here!

For new and experienced bloggers alike, it can be a challenge to stand out from the crowd and have your voice heard in a meaningful way. These five basic guidelines will help you attract attention, make things interesting, and keep your readers coming back:

Find Your Niche. "Write what you know" is one of the most common - and best - pieces of advice novice authors receive, but it's great advice for bloggers, too. A depth of knowledge will provide you with plenty of content, and it can also help your readers see you as an authority on your subject. Are you into cooking? An avid birder? Maybe you know more about your neighborhood than anyone else on the block. Write about your passion, and you'll always have something to say.

Make it Personal. Ask a group of blog readers what keeps them coming back to their favorite blogs, and the first thing they'll tell you is that they relate to the bloggers who write them. No matter the subject, injecting your personality into your posts is a must. Relating a personal anecdote about the subject at hand is a great way to do this on a regular basis, and having a great About or Bio page complete with your background, hobbies, and a photo or two is another essential aspect. Letting your readers get to know you on a more personal level is key, so be candid, and show your face! Not sure how to start? Elsie and Emma at A Beautiful Mess are a great example of how getting personal gets long-term readers.

Keep it Going. One of the most effective ways to build your readership is also one of the most simple: publish on a regular basis. Every blogger knows that it can be tough to find the time and energy to write regularly, but in order to remain relevant and retain interest, a consistent posting schedule is essential. Start taking a notebook and pen (or your iPhone) everywhere, and keep a list of topics handy. Too busy to write every day? Take a few hours once or twice a week and write (or at least start drafting) a few posts at a time. Still need help? Check out these great tips on posting frequently, direct from our Blogging Best Practices series.

Keep Things Interesting. If you're blogging about your passions, keeping it personal, and posting frequently, chances are you're not boring your readers, but it can be helpful to do a quick reality check every now and then to make sure your content is concise and relevant. Never make your posts longer than they need to be; keep it brief, but comprehensive. One good rule of thumb is to consider every post a first draft, and never forget to edit. Want some inspiration? Seth Godin has it down to a science.

Appearance Matters. By now you know that content is the key, but having a great design and using images in posts can also go a long way in attracting new readers and growing your audience. It's important to pay attention to your blog's style by sporting a good design and using photos in your posts whenever relevant. Clean lines, plenty of white space, and pops of color are pleasant to look at and provide the framing for your content. Lots of great themes for Typepad bloggers can be found in your account at Blogs > Design. For those who want to get a bit more fancy, the Theme Builder is fantastic, and we even offer professional design services if you're not into DIY. Be sure to check out our tips on photo use and attribution here, and check out Peck Life for a fantastic example of style and substance - the total package!

We hope this helps you dig in and start growing your audience. Be sure to check out all the great blogs and resources linked throughout the post!

Blogging Best Practices: Build and Engage Community with Comments

Welcome to our series of posts on Blogging Best Practices! Each Thursday for 10 weeks, we'll debut a new post designed to help you create great content, share it with the world, and become a better blogger. Check out other posts in the series here!

As a blog writer and a blog reader you'll find that one of the most valuable practices you keep revolves around the comment form. It's not enough to simply open commenting on your own blog, waiting for random blog cruisers to pop in and comment; you have to be a commenter too.

The effort made in making relevant, high quality comments on blogs you read will help build an audience and reputation for you as a commenter. In creating or joining conversations on the blogs of others, providing value with your voice and thoughts, you will find that your commenting peers will want to know what else you have to say. How do they do that? By turning to your blog. In time, you will notice that the community surrounding your own blog will begin to grow.

As you receive more comments on your blog you'll need to put forth the effort of replying to comments left for you. If you want the conversation around a post to keep flowing, make sure your comments have content and aren't just a "thank you!" to your reader. While enthusiastic replies can be nice, the conversation ends when nothing of value is added.

If you're not certain what makes a good, or even great, comment, there are invaluable resources available via a quick search for "how to write a great comment." One particular link that you might find useful is How to Write a Great Blog Comment by Grammar Girl, Mignon Fogarty. Do your own search to read what others think brings value to a comment, then try them out for yourself. Not every tip may be suitable for your specific blog, but remain open to trying them and seeing what works best for your blog's community and the communities to which you belong.

Remember that great content doesn't have to stop at the end of your blog post; often times the best content happens when engaging with your audience after that post goes live.

Make Quick Changes To Text & Link Formatting With CSS

With the Custom CSS feature, you can make hundreds of major or minor changes to any theme applied to your blog. If you aren't familiar with CSS, however, it can seem overwhelming to determine the code needed to make the changes you want. We're going to detail some CSS attributes you may want to use to make changes to text on your blog. The example CSS code provided can be added to your blog's design at Design > Custom CSS. If you don't have the Custom CSS feature, upgrade to the Unlimited plan.

The text-decoration attribute can be used to apply one of the following values to your text:

• underline - Adds a line under text.
• overline - Adds a line above the text.
• line-through - Adds a line through the text. Also called strikethrough.
• blink - Causes text to blink.
• none - Removes all text decoration elements.
• inherit - Applies format from parent element.

Most commonly the underline value is applied with the text-decoration element. If you would like the links on your blog to be underlined, you could apply the CSS:

a:link { text-decoration: underline; }

Blogging Best Practices: Publish New Posts Frequently

Welcome to our series of posts on Blogging Best Practices! Each Thursday for 10 weeks, we'll debut a new post designed to help you create great content, share it with the world, and become a better blogger. Check out other posts in the series here!

The most important tip for getting traffic to your site is add new content regularly and often. Every time you publish a new post to your blog you remind Google and other search engines about your site.

Here are a few tips for posting:

• Post On The Go: From your mobile device of choice, you can publish anytime, from anywhere. Use the Blogsy app on the iPad. Post via email or text message using the secret email address. From your iPhone or iPod Touch, use the Typepad app. You can also sign in to typepad.com from your mobile browser.
• Schedule Posts To Publish In The Future: The Publish On status allows you to designate a future date and time for your posts to publish. Scheduling posts is not just for when you go on vacation. If you have multiple ideas for a post, spread out the ideas across several posts. Publish one post now and set the others to publish over the next few days.
• Reblog From Your Favorite Sites: Browse your favorite sites for inspiration and use the Blog It bookmarklet to start your post adding your own commentary.

Check back next week for the next post in our series on Blogging Best Practices! If you have your own suggestion, let us know in the comments or the forum.

For one-on-one assistance with optimizing your site for search listings, check out the SEO Service.

Blogging Best Practices: Photo Use and Attribution

Welcome to our series of posts on Blogging Best Practices! Each Thursday for 10 weeks, we'll debut a new post designed to help you create great content, share it with the world, and become a better blogger. Check out other posts in the series here!

It's a simple rule of blogging: images add visual interest to your posts and that's a good thing. But beyond that, finding and using images can be a little complicated. What if you don't have your own image to use? What if the absolutely perfect image is owned by someone else?

Without getting too much into legalities, the basic rule is that whoever took or created an image holds the copyright to that image. Ownership can be bought or legally transferred but for the sake of this post, let's just assume that you don't legally own any of the images out there on the internet, unless it's an image you took yourself.

This is an image that I took so I own it and can do whatever I want with it.

If you don't have your own image to use, a good next step is to check out sites that provide stock images. You can either buy images to use on a site like iStockphoto or sign up for a site like stock.xchng, which hosts royalty free images that are free to use. This is a good way to add an image to your content without having to deal directly with a photographer (great people but copyright gets sticky).

Keep in mind that you still don't own the images from a stock photo site, you're basically just borrowing them in a legal way. Also note that some artists who share their work on royalty-free sites still ask for attribution.

It's worth noting that while Google image search is awesome, it's not a great tool for finding royalty free images. Swiping an image from there is the same as swiping it directly from someone else's site: they own the image and using it without permission or attribution is violating copyright.

This image is from stock.xchng. I don't own it but I can use it here.

Now let's say you find a copyrighted image that's so unbelievably perfect, you just have to use it. Beyond being illegal, using someone else's image without their permission or attribution is poor etiquette. If you do things like that enough, you'll build up a bad reputation and no one wants that!

Many photographers and artists provide easy ways to contact them to ask permission to use their work, often on a dedicated page on their site. They may require a fee to use their image or a link back to their site with the image in your post.

When in doubt, ask for permission before using an image on your blog. If you can't get proper permission, find another image to use. The most beautiful, perfect photo in the world isn't worth using if you can't do it legally.

Hide Banner Header & Description

Many of the new themes being released include the ability to upload a custom banner image. If you have a banner image which includes the blog name and description as part of the image, you may want to hide the default header which overlays the banner in the pre-made themes.

To hide the banner header and description, the Custom CSS feature available with the Unlimited and higher plans is needed. Alternatively, you can use the Theme Builder to upload a custom banner image without the banner header and description overlaying the image.

With the Clean, Metropolitan, and Mosaic Themes, the banner header and description can easily be hidden with a small line of CSS.

If you haven't already, you can select one of the themes at Design > Choose A Theme. Then, you can upload the custom banner image at Design > Banner. (more info)

With your banner in place, you can now hide the banner header and description to make your banner show through. The CSS code required is below:

    #banner-inner { 
    overflow: visible; 
    padding: 0; 
    border: 0;
    }

    #banner-header {
    position: absolute;
    left: 0;
    top: 0;
    width: 100%;
    margin: 0;
    padding: 0;
    }

    #banner-header a {
    display: block;
    left: 0;
    top: 0;
    height: 330px;
    text-indent: -1000em;
    }

    #banner-description {
    overflow: hidden;
    width: 0;
    height: 0;
    margin: 0;
    padding: 0;
    text-indent: -1000em;
    }

Notice the height: 330px; section of the CSS is highlighted. The height needs to be altered to match the exact height of your banner.

Now, go to Design > Custom CSS, enter the CSS in the text field, and click Save Changes to update your blog.

The CSS Cookbook has a plethora of other quick tips which can be applied to the pre-made themes. If you are looking to make changes not covered in the CSS tips, ask the Typepad community in the forum where other bloggers and the Typepad support team can answer your questions.

Blogging Best Practices: Improving Your Blog's Speed

Welcome to our series of posts on Blogging Best Practices! Each Thursday for 10 weeks, we'll debut a new post designed to help you create great content, share it with the world, and become a better blogger. Check out other posts in the series here!

Ever been to a blog that takes so long to load that you leave, never to return?  If so, you know the pain that your readers can feel if your own blog load speed takes forever. Luckily, there are several things you can do to combat this.

For instance, if you're using the Three Columns layout, the entire left column will need to fully load before the center column with your posts starts loading. If you have a large number of items in your left column, it can delay the posts on your blog from displaying.

The location of items in your sidebar can determine how quickly the main content of the blog loads. Selecting the Two Column Right or Three Column Right layouts will allow your posts to load first. Arrange items that require contact with another site, like advertisements and widgets, in your right sidebar, instead of the left. The top of the left sidebar is a good place to put items you want your readers to see first.

Another thing to keep in mind is that generally, the more items you have on your blog, the longer it's going to take to load. Before adding large amounts of widgets, videos, photos, etc., you should take in consideration how much you already are displaying on your blog.

A good way to limit that is to use the Extended Post (Post Continuation) feature.  This allows you to display an intro on your main page, with the remainder of the post on the post's Permalink page. Your reader would click a link at the end of your intro on the main page to continue reading the post.

If you have a large number of pictures, large videos, or the like, this is a good way to still have the information and not have your load time suffer.

We have more information on this and more in our Knowledge Base. You can also reach out to other Typepad subscribers for tips, questions, or other advice in our Get Satisfaction forum.

Blogging Best Practices: Optimize Your Posts for Search Engines

Welcome to our series of posts on Blogging Best Practices! Each Thursday for the next 10 weeks, we'll debut a new post designed to help you create great content, share it with the world, and become a better blogger. Let's get started!

One of the most important things you can do to increase traffic to your blog is search engine optimization (SEO). Today we are going to look at best SEO practices when composing a post for your blog.

There are four parts of the post you should focus on for SEO. These are the title, the permalink URL, the keywords, and the excerpt or description.

The post title should describe the contents of the post so that people who find the post via a search engine can tell if it contains the information they are looking for. The title should include one or more likely search keywords. It should not be overly long.

The permalink URL for each post should be short and contain one or more search keywords. The permalink is automatically created from the post title, so effective post titles will automatically create effective permalink URLs. However, you may wish to consider editing the permalink URL to remove extraneous words. For example, the automatically-generated URL for this post was everything.typepad.com/blog/2012/07/optimize-your-posts-for-search-engines.html but I modified it to everything.typepad.com/blog/2012/07/optimize-posts-search-engines.html

Note: We do not recommend changing the permalink URL of an existing post, as this may break links to the post. However, you should keep this in mind when creating new posts on your blog.

Using the Keywords and Excerpt fields of the Compose editor, you can add keywords and a description for each post. This helps improve the search ranking of your posts by telling search engines what is most important about each post.

Want to learn more about SEO or need help figuring out how to optimize your posts? We offer an SEO Service that covers the areas discussed here and many others.