Guest Stars: Why I Use TypePad For Business Blogging
August 24, 2009
Why I use Typepad for business "blogging"
I've lost count of how often it is asked (anywhere: forums, twitter, off line) which blog platform a small business can best use. Plenty of choices out there: from paid for online software, self-hosted 'free' software, free and hosted by software creator, to small and rather unknown WYSIWYG software. TypePad, Blogger, Wordpress.com (free and hosted by WP) and Wordpress.org (self hosted 'free' software) are the four most well know and most used platforms. I always discard Blogger and WordPress.com because of the limits they have - when used as web presence for small businesses - which leaves Typepad and WordPress.org.As with everything online: you have raving fans for the one and equally raving fans for the other option. This review will focus on my own personal experiences with both platforms and why I recommend Typepad for business owners who want/need an easy to use, SEO ready and quick to edit/add platform.
Why would any business use a blog?
So far I've come up with 7 key reasons, see here for the long version
- You're in control - always (not your web designer or IT department)
- Better Listings On Google (BLOG)
- It works in real simple syndication with online directories (RSS)
- Notify your prospects/clients of new content instantly (email marketing)
- Interact with your website visitors (throught the comment box)
- Combine static website and "blog" on one platform (fixed page as 'front page')
- Become known as "The Expert" (build trust by publishing good content in abundance)
No matter what type of business you are in, service or products, using a blog (or as I prefer to call it: a dynamic and interactive webpresence) is one of the fastest ways to grow your presence online in a sustainable and none-time consuming way. It depends on the amount of time you want to spend and your knowledge of IT, CSS and HTML which of the two most used blog platforms will suit you and your business best: "paid for" Typepad or self-hosted "free" WordPress.org.
Why Typepad?
TypePad (from Six Apart) is a "paid for" blog platform starting from $ 49.50 annually (+
£ 32.00) I normally recommend to opt for at least the Plus account for
more functionality, although IMHO the Pro account gives you even more,
such as creating you own template (without having to know much about
CSS or html)
The software of WordPress.org is free to download, but
you have to have your own domain, hosting and FTP access to set it up,
the reason why I always place "quote marks" around the word free where
it concerns this platform.
With a Typepad account the hosting is included where your account name is part of the domain name, e.g. http://woodyoulike.typepad.com/furniture/
From the Plus account on you can domain map any of your blogs on your
own registered domain name (without the need of having FTP access) e.g.
www.woodyoulikefurniture.co.uk
Or "mapping" your blog to a subdomain of your main domain will change the http://woodyoulike.typepad.com/tips/ to faq.woodyoulike.co.uk
Another
pro for opting for Typepad is the included Technical Support that comes
with any account type. Besides an extensive knowledge base you can
submit tickets to the support team and it is my experience these are
quickly and adequately addressed and answered.
WordPress.org is a
free open source which has "how to" documentation on many items and
forums on various subjects where you can ask for help from other users.
However I found 2057 pages
(x 31 questions) that received no answer at all. Fortunately there are
many WordPress.org users who write blog posts and even training manuals
for you, like my friend Martin Malden. (expert on all things WordPress.org)
"Free" is good, but in cases where you're stuck it pays to pay for support.
Typepad: 10 minutes tops
from starting your 14 day free trial (by creating your account),
editing your design and style of your (first) "blog" using one of the
1000 plus templates Typepad offers you to publishing your first page or
post. I'm pretty experienced in setting this up, but all my blog-studio
students never take any longer to do the same.
I've asked my friend Martin
what his best ever time was to do the same with a WordPress blog (from
downloading the software, uploading it to the server your domain name
is hosted on to editing the css for one of the two standard templates
and publishing a first page or post): 20 minutes (and
he's very experienced in this). He does state that including searching,
finding, uploading (1-click install on most hosting providers), editing
a different theme and getting ready to publish a first post/page a
"first timer" should allow for up to one hour.
Then there is the matter of creating a second (or third, fourth)
blog (our business has two divisions: natural wooden flooring and
natural wooden furniture - both with their own dedicated "blog" - and
then there are various other subjects I write about - each with their
own blog, our family blog plus the community blog we manage for our
village).
With Typepad Plus account you can instantly create 3
individual blogs, with the Pro account it is absolutely "limited less"
- limited only by bandwidth (10GB) and storage (1000MB). All individual
blogs on your account can have their own specific design and settings
AND share custom made side-bar items (the typelists).
Again,
I asked my friend Martin Malden if you can manage more than 1 blog on
WordPress.org account as easy as with Typepad. 'Fraid not: either you
have to create a WordPress account per intended blog or download and
install WordPress MultiUser. The readme text of this product starts with:
"WordPress MU is a multi user version of WordPress.Third party widgets (plug-ins): one click only
If you're not comfortable editing PHP code, taking care of a complex webserver and database system and being pro-active about following developments of this project then run, don't walk, to http://wordpress.com/ and sign yourself and your friends up to free blogs. It's easier in the long run and you'll save yourself a lot of pain and angst."
Both
Typepad and WordPress.org have standard widgets and allow you to add
third party widgets to your blog (of which most will end up in your
side-bar). Most third parties have "quick" install options to add their
widget to the three most common blog platforms: Blogger, Typepad and
WordPress. Clicking the Blogger or Typepad Quick Install options sends
you to your existing account and the widget is automagically added to
your side-bar items. Quick install = log-in - drag new widget to where
you want it to show in the side bar (Design - Organise Content).
WordPress.org
account holders are directed to an instruction manual because the
widget (plug-in) has to be uploaded to the plug-in folder of their
self-hosted domain and from there it can be activated through the
WordPress account. Quick install = download - upload - activate - drag
new widget (plug-in) to where you want it to show in the side-bar
(Presentation - Widgets)
Another
advantage IMHO that a paid for blog platform like Typepad gives you is
not having to download, upload and activate newer versions than you
first started with. WordPress.org is on stable release 2.8.4 at the
moment and have improved the Automatic Upgrade but you still have to
deactivate all your plug-ins.
I know that plenty of WordPress.org
users are still on the version they originally installed because to the
'hassle' and time involved having to go 'through it' all over again.
(Friend of mine is still on version 2.2.2 and told me he truly cannot
find the time to upgrade).
Typepad is constantly evolving its
features, options and possibilities. Once everything is de-bugged
through the Beta-team everyone having a Typepad account automagically
benefits from the newer version without having to lift a finger.
Both Typepad and WordPress.org platforms are SEO (Search Engine
Optimisation) ready. To be honest the speed of how quick one of my new
blogs gets indexed by Google and other search engines keeps amazing
me. My latest project had one of the posts listed on page 1 within 2 days! (On a Google.com search that brought up 5,310,000 results).
Improving
search results on both platforms are easy, add relevant keywords and/or
tags to your posts and pages - besides of course your overall general
keywords and key phrases that are relevant to the subject of your blog.
Alt Text (text behind an image or a link on your blog) can be added
easily too on both platforms.
Plus all blogs come with an
integrated RSS feed (Real Simple Syndication): an standardised format
to easily share headlines and content online. Regard it as a "What's
new on your site" automated feature. It also means your blog content is
picked up by many more online services and channels than just search
engines.
Side-note: 'burning' your blog feed through Feedburner gives you plenty of more options to be picked up and shared than just relying on the rss feed on its own.
Many
businesses already have a website - designed and managed by a web
designer - over which they hardly have any control (at least that's the
complaint I hear often). Adding new content to the site takes
communication between owner and designer, time from the designer and
money from the business owner.
You can add a blog to any existing
website and start managing your frequently to be updated content
yourself. All your designer has to do is add a link on your website to
the blog.
There is however a more simpler way: set up your
blog as if it is your standard website (with fixed pages) and use the
'blog-index' feature as integrated blog.
Three big advantages here:
- total control for the business owner on content, frequency of updating and layout
- design and layout for both the 'standard' website and the 'blog' are exactly the same
- both 'standard' website and blog profit from the benefits a blog platform gives you.
A few (IMHO) fine examples:
Plumbing & Heating Service in Glasgow (note how Tony informs his potential clients about every aspect that is involved in the works without any 'hard sell') - "Need to know" is the blog-index
Better Water Solutions (again note how Peter too informs everyone about issues and even news items regarding fresh water supply to your home) - "Tips, Advice & FAQ's" is the blog-index
Community website: Lovely Charing where "What's On and News"
is the blog-index informing the village and the Charing Businesses
there's always something going on. Using an AWeber blog-broadcast
brings every new article straight to the inbox of everyone who
subscribed to the so-called blog or news-alerts.
As said in the beginning of this article: both blog platforms have raving fans.
My own opinion is that if you are looking for:
- a simple,
- easy to implement and manage blog platform
- that has standard 1000+ design templates to choose from (which all can be combined with 10 different standard lay-outs)
- that comes with many added extras without having to upgrade to a newer version
- and which gives you instant results
Definitely Go for TypePad .
Thanks, Karin!