BLOG: six and a half stitches
TYPEPAD MEMBER SINCE: 2004
WHY WE THINK SIX AND A HALF STITCHES ROCKS: Simply put, six and a half stitches is beautifully designed blog that makes spectacular use of a minimalist aesthetic. Designed and written by a talented fiber artist and photographer, it showcases beautiful images of all sorts, accompanied by captivating narration. This is pure inspiration.
FOLLOW SIX AND A HALF STITCHES: on TypePad.
The Pages feature in TypePad makes it easy for you to supplement your blog with static website pages which can provide information to your readers. About and Contact pages are seen on most sites, and we’ve provided tips below on how to create and link the pages on your blog.
To create a Page, open the Compose drop-down menu and select New Page. Composing a Page is similar to writing a Post but a Page is not dated or included in your blog’s feed. Pages are great for creating static website pages. Besides About and Contact pages, some other ideas for pages are Resources, Authors, Shop, and Portfolio.
The About Page can include details on the author(s) of the blog, the purpose of the blog, and anything else you want to tell readers about your site. You could also include information on the blog’s comment policy and subscription options.
Although TypePad provides you with an About Me Page for your entire account, you may prefer to create a separate page for each blog.
The Contact Page can be designed to include a contact form. A contact form will give readers of your blog a private way to contact you, instead of comments, and you don’t need to display an email address on your blog. There are a lot of free and paid contact form tools available. Google Docs has a built in form creator--Jotform.com and Formstack are two other quick and easy contact form creators--and it’s free.
The form generators provide you with the tools to create a form specific to your needs. Add name, email address, and comment fields to your form. You can also add checkboxes and select options in addition to the other fields. Instructions specific to using Google Docs are available in the Knowledge Base article on how to add a form.
After configuring your form, you’ll be provided with the embed code which can be added to the Body of your Page. From the Compose page in TypePad, click the HTML tab and paste in the form code. The Rich Text editor can not be used when adding the HTML code for the form. To see how the form will appear on your blog, click the Preview button.
When finished creating your page, click Publish. Click the View Page link to open the newly published page in a new window. Copy the URLs for both Pages as you’ll need the URLs to add a link to the pages as described below.
To highlight the newly created Pages, you can add a link to each Page in the Navigation Bar. Links in the Navigation Bar display below the banner on each page of your site.
At Design > Content, click the pencil icon next to the Navigation Bar to edit it. Enter the Title and URL for each Page in the pop-up box and click OK. Finally, click Save Changes to update your blog.
Now you have added helpful information to your blog which is easy to find by new visitors to your site!
WHO: Joanna Swanson
BLOG: Simple Blueprint
TYPEPAD MEMBER SINCE: 2009
WHY WE THINK SIMPLE BLUEPRINT ROCKS: Simple Blueprint is an absolutely gorgeous blog full of all sorts of inspiration, from design to typography to travel. Run by Joanna Swanson, a Swedish American Art Director, Stylist and world traveler who runs her own design studio in Stockholm, Simple Blueprint features gorgeous photography and compelling content, all wrapped up in a beautiful, clean design.
As bloggers, we all know that blogging is fun, easy, and makes for a great creative outlet (or a wise business decision). While we all may write about very different topics, from parenting to process, there's one thing we all share in common: TypePad. There are so many blogs popping up every day that it seems there's a new blog born every minute. While that may have been true in 2006, today there are many, many more. In fact, 63,718 blogs have been created in the last 24 hours alone (BlogPulse.com), with no signs of slowing down any time soon. Despite, or perhaps because of, the popularity of Twitter, Facebook and Tumblr, blogging is stronger than ever.
As the popularity of blogging continues to increase, so does the opportunity. Many bloggers run ads, some sell products, and still others write sponsored posts - all methods which take a fair amount of effort, and in order to pay off, a high number of monthly hits.
What does all of this mean to you, you ask? That's easy - as a TypePad blogger, not only do you have award-winning blogging products at your fingertips, you also have the opportunity to kick back and be rewarded just for blogging - no extra effort required. The key to this is one of TypePad's best kept secrets - our Affiliate Program.
Here's the Deal
TypePad's Affiliate Program is a thriving metropolis of bloggers who enjoy making a little extra cash simply by referring their readers to TypePad. After you send them to us, we help them start a blog of their own, and you reap the benefits - it's that easy.
Just sign up for TypePad's Affiliate Program and place a link or banner on your blog. New potential bloggers click the link and we take it from there. For every person who ends up starting a TypePad blog, we'll send you a cool $5 - no strings attached. What better way to use your blog to make some extra spending money than by helping to promote TypePad?
Ready to get on board? Just click here to sign up, fill out your information, and start adding banners and links to your blog.
Talk it Up
Once you're signed up to the Affiliate program, the best way to get your readers excited about signing up for a TypePad blog themselves is to write about your own positive experience with blogging. Take a few posts to explain what blogging has meant to you and why you chose, and continue to choose, TypePad. That, more than anything, will help turn your readers into writers. Often your community members are just itching to start a blog but unsure how to start. They will look to you for guidance and suggestions. By steering them to TypePad you can help unlock their potential. Be sure to share your posts far and wide by hooking your blog up to Facebook, Twitter, and Google+ - this is clearly a great idea for building your audience and to help influence those closest to you to join TypePad and give voice to their own passions.
Of course, TypePad has a management team dedicated to answering any questions that you might have about our Affiliate Program. We want to help you succeed, so reach out! To contact us, just send an email to [email protected] We hope that you'll join the program and that your readers will join our growing TypePad family!
Happy Blogging!
TypePad's Pages feature is pretty nifty - compose your Pages with the info you want to include, drop a module into your sidebar that lists them all out nicely, and voila - instant menu. But why stop there? You can use CSS to fancy it up and draw attention to that important information.
Let's turn this:
Into this:
If you're unfamiliar with TypePad's Custom CSS feature, this will be a good way to get your feet wet. First, let's hide the "Pages" header.
.module-archives .module-header { display: none; }
Next, we'll style the links so they're black with no underline:
.module-archives .module-list-item a {
color: #000;
text-decoration: none;
}
Finally, we'll style each list-item. I've made mine very simple and sleek, so they stand out but aren't too distracting:
.module-archives .module-list-item {
margin: 0 0 2px 0;
padding: 5px 5px 5px 14px;
background-color: #EFEFEF;
border-right: 1px solid #ddd;
border-bottom: 1px solid #ccc;
}
See how the subtle borders make the links look almost like buttons? That's CSS magic! Of course, you can use any colors you want.
WHO: Craig Reid
BLOG: The Process Ninja
TYPEPAD MEMBER SINCE: 2008
WHY WE THINK THE PROCESS NINJA ROCKS: As The Process Ninja, Craig Reid writes about real life examples of process improvement in the corporate world, turning his passion for business process management and proven success in the field into a sort of how-to guide for others. The Process Ninja is a well-designed blog that focuses on practical tips and tools to perform process improvement, providing real-life applications of techniques that actually work. A must read for anyone in, or interested in business!
Recognised as a leader in his field, Craig's work has been been featured on the BNet, Telstra Enterprise & Government and Flyingsolo.com.au websites.
FOLLOW THE PROCESS NINJA: on TypePad, Facebook, and Twitter.
WHO: Lauren
BLOG: Süsk & Banoo
TYPEPAD MEMBER SINCE: 2010
WHY WE THINK SUSK & BANOO ROCKS: Well first of all, it's beautiful, making brilliant use of negative space - which shouldn't come as any surprise, as Süsk & Banoo is run by Lauren, the designer behind Eine Design Studio. Süsk & Banoo is a blog about home renovation, London life, design, and food. Lauren, or Süsk, as she is called by her Banoo, is also a talented photographer, so her blog is just chockablock full of gorgeous images. This is a blog to get lost in, and then return to again and again.
FOLLOW SUSK & BANOO: on TypePad.
The Seymour Public Library in New York wanted to launch a blog and integrate their website so that everything was in one place. They chose TypePad and, to help them get started, connected with our Services team for a Power Launch service.
Working together with Barbara from the Library, we helped them organize and link to their most important content, as well as set up recommended TypePad features. In addition, we created a lovely banner image using a photo they provided of the Library and redirected their domain from the old website to their TypePad blog.
Need some extra help getting started too? Contact our Services team to learn more about our Power Launch and other services. And be sure to visit Seymour Library if you're interested in books, or are curious about how a library uses TypePad for both their website and their blog.
P.S. You can view this and many other great blogs in our portfolio.
While TypePad offers its own stats program built in, some times you just need more details.
A good way to get that kind of information is with Google Analytics. While some places may require you to paste in complex code to use Google Analytics, with TypePad, it’s as simple as going to Settings > Add-Ons and entering your UA-Number.
To find your UA-Number, within your Google Analytics account, the UA number is listed in the Website Profiles table under Name. If you see a display name or the URL to your blog instead, then you will need to click into the specific account to view the UA number.
You can read more about Google Analytics and how to add this to your blog here.
We hope you found this useful! Check back every other week for more "Did You Know?" tips to help make your blog even better!
Over the past couple of weeks, our Featured Blog has been full of eye catching, engaging blogs, ranging in subject from personal history to tea to design, crafting and parenting! We've picked the best of the best on TypePad to inspire you and introduce you to your next favorite read. What better way to kick off a relaxing weekend than with a new blog to wile away the idle hours? We suggest starting here:
Chotie Darling
Bloom Blog
enJOY it
Mommy Shorts
What are your favorite TypePad blogs? We'd love to know! Tell us in the comments, or by suggesting a blog in our Featured sidebar!