Everything Typepad

Add custom sidebar content with the Embed Your Own HTML module

One of Typepad's most versatile features is one that's been around awhile so you might have overlooked it. It's the Embed Your Own HTML module.

Have ads you would like to display on your blog? A third-party widget? Text you want to display? The Embed Your Own HTML module can handle all of these and more.

Go to the Design > Content page for your blog in Typepad and locate Embed your own HTML in the listing of modules. Click the "Add this module" button. This will open a pop-up window.

We recommend that you give it a unique label so that you remember what content is in the module. The label will not appear on your blog so you can call it whatever you would like.

Copy and paste the code or write the text that you want to display into the "HTML" field, then click "OK" and drag and drop the module to the place you want it to appear in the sidebar.

Have you found a clever use for the Embed Your Own HTML module on your own blog? Are there other highly versatile Typepad features you feel are often overlooked and would like us to highlight? Let us know in the comments!

Google and Your Website - More SEO Tips

Frequently, we receive questions about a website's listing in Google search results. You can go straight to the source and utilize Google's webmaster help site, which has a wealth of information.

To start, we suggest reading through Google's Webmaster Guidelines. Specifically focus on the guidelines for content, as Typepad takes care of the nitty-gritty, technical details, including sitemap, title tags, HTTP header, robots.txt, and more.

Next, check out the steps to a Google-friendly website.

From the article:

Provide high-quality content on your pages, especially your homepage. This is the single most important thing to do.

We completely agree! Typepad provides you with the tools you need to focus on creating great content. We update Typepad behind the scenes regularly to make sure all sites are optimized as Google makes changes, so you don't need to worry about the ever evolving search engine requirements.

There are many other helpful articles in Google's help site to review for more tips.

A few more items to check off the SEO list:

Sitemap

By default, all public Typepad blogs will have a sitemap created and updated automatically, so you should be all set! You can go to Settings > SEO for your blog in Typepad to confirm that is the case. Learn more.

Meta Description

Meta data is used by search engines to better categorize the webpage in search results. The meta description is important to search engines and appears below the article title in search results. The meta description is pulled from the beginning of the post or page body. However, you can create a custom description by entering a summary in the Excerpt field when composing your post or page which we recommend.

Meta Keywords

When composing your post or page, think about keywords and short phrases which might be used to search for the article you are writing. Include the words or phrases separated by commas in the Keywords field.

Meta data is not seen by visitors to your website, but it is seen in the page source when search bots crawl your webpages. You can also add meta data for the index pages of your blog at Settings > SEO.

Finally, Google has details on specific no-nos for your website in their quality guidelines.

What steps have you taken to improve your website content and improve SEO? Let us know in the comments and share your site's address so we can check it out.

Typepad on Pinterest: Rose Notes

Did you know Typepad is on Pinterest? It's true! We love pinning and repinning great content from Typepad blogs in every genre, and we're always looking for great, inspirational content. Are you on Pinterest? Drop your link in the comments, and don't forget to follow Typepad right here! If you're not on Pinterest yet, check it out - it's a great way to promote your blog and connect with others!

Want some inspiration? Check out our featured pinner, Rose Notes.

Meet Carolyn Parker, she loves roses!  She is the author of The Poetry of Roses and R is for Rose-Reflections from a Passional Rose Lover. Her blog is a collection of photography taken from her garden and her Pinterest is a collection of these images as well as other botanical delights.

FOLLOW: Blog | Pinterest

Want to promote your Pinterest account on your Typepad blog? Just go to Blogs > Content and add the Pinterest Widget to your Sidebar via the center menu. While you're there, make your blog posts "pinable" by adding the Pin It button to your post footers.

Want even more? Learn how to promote your blog on Pinterest and follow Typepad at www.pinterest.com/typepad.

Revisiting the Signature Module

It's been a couple of years since we released the Signature module, so we feel this is as good a time as any to refresh your memory and explore the different ways in which it can be used.

What does the module do

The Signature module is a Content tool that allows you to automatically add information to the bottom of your posts. Once enabled, it inserts itself into all posts, both new and old.

Where to find the module

You can locate the module at Design > Content. It's located above the Post Footer module on the Content screen.

How to configure the module

As seen in the image above, the pencil icon indicates that the module is configurable. Clicking the pencil will open a pop-up window with an empty field. This is where you add your content, using HTML or scripts provided to you by third-parties.

What can be added

There aren't many limitations to what can be added; and most limitations will be due to third-parties (e.g. the Signature module isn't ideal for Google ads, since there's a limit to how many Google ads can appear on a page).

Here are some ideas on what to add:

• Image or CSS-styled signature (e.g. name)
• Third-party ad script (note: only if there are no limitations to the number of times it can be generated on a page)
• Custom advertisement (e.g. promote your own sales, books, videos, or similar)
• Shop carousels (e.g. Reward Style or similar)
• Email subscription widget (e.g. so readers are reminded to subscribe via email if they haven't already)
• Custom bio (e.g. formatted photo, author bio credit, social accounts to follow)
• Image widgets (e.g. Instagram, Flickr, or similar)

Share with us how you use the Signature module, or how you think it could be better. We're always looking for great new ideas to improve Typepad.

Working Behind the Scenes and Improving Image Quality

We here at Typepad are constantly working on improving things behind the scenes for our subscribers. Whether that's upgrading hardware to the latest and greatest or changing how things work within the app, we're continuously making Typepad a better home for your blog.

This week we released some changes that should improve saturation and sharpness for images that you upload to your blog. Not everyone will see a difference in their images due to differences in monitors and other variables, but we're excited to have implemented these changes in our system.

Still seeing images that aren't as crisp or as sharp as you'd like, please let us know. Have a feature request or other issue you'd like to talk about, we want to hear about those too! At Typepad, we're always ready to help you with whatever you need!

Blog Navigation

When a new visitor arrives on your website, you want to make sure it is easy for them to navigate to your archives. The Navigation Bar module is great way to highlight categories and place special posts front and center at the top of the page.

At Design > Content, click the pencil icon next to the Navigation Bar module to add or edit links.

We recommend including a link back to the Home page for your blog, a link to the Archives, and link to a page or post which lets visitors know a little about you and your website.

The Archives index for your blog is available by adding "archives.html" to the end of your blog's address. For example:

http://everything.typepad.com/blog/archives.html

You can also use the Archives to grab the URLs for any category indexes you wish to highlight in the Navigation Bar. Learn more.

Where Is My YouTube Video?

Inserting videos in your blog post is a popular way to tell your story and sites like YouTube, Vimeo, and Vine  help make it easy to share video clips in your blog post.  There may be times when you insert a video in to your draft and you won't see it in the Rich Text editor or in Preview.   Don't worry!  Not all browsers will display the embedded video in preview-mode but it will appear as expected once you publish your blog post.

Another thing to keep in mind is Typepad's Insert Video tool does not support YouTube's shortened URL (ie: https://youtu.be/nWJQvsZ6kT0). Instead, you can insert your YouTube video by using the full URL (ie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWJQvsZ6kT0).

Last, you will want to make sure the YouTube video allows sharing.  Just because you can view the video in YouTube, does not mean that the owner of the video wants you to publish this video elsewhere. The owner of the video can turn off embedding to prevent sharing for copyright purposes.  If you attempt to share a video that has limitations placed where the video can be embedded, the video will not display on your blog.

Another option that gives you you more control over how the inserted video appears in your post is by selecting "Embed" instead of URL.

You can find the embed code in YouTube by going to "Sharing" and select "Embed" where you can copy the code and paste it in Typepad's Insert Video pop-up window.

If you insert a video to your post and it is still not showing, even after you publish it, open a Help Ticket and we will be happy to help.

Typepad on Pinterest: pi'lo

Did you know Typepad is on Pinterest? It's true! We love pinning and repinning great content from Typepad blogs in every genre, and we're always looking for great, inspirational content. Are you on Pinterest? Drop your link in the comments, and don't forget to follow Typepad right here! If you're not on Pinterest yet, check it out - it's a great way to promote your blog and connect with others!

Want some inspiration? Check out our featured pinner, pi'lo.

Heather Shaw is a Home Product Designer and maker from Toronto.  Her style is a reflection of her personal taste which is clean, simple, and classic.

FOLLOW: Blog | Pinterest

Want to promote your Pinterest account on your Typepad blog? Just go to Blogs > Content and add the Pinterest Widget to your Sidebar via the center menu. While you're there, make your blog posts "pinable" by adding the Pin It button to your post footers.

Want even more? Learn how to promote your blog on Pinterest and follow Typepad at www.pinterest.com/typepad.

Featured Blog: Smile And Wave

Smile and Wave is a lifestyle blog by author Rachel Denbow, dedicated to sharing her love of design, DIY, and family moments. Rachel has been blogging since April 2007, as a means to connect with like-minded, creative, inspiring women. She has been a student, a waitress, a nanny, an ESL teacher, blogger, e-course writer, workshop teacher, and is now published author! Be sure to check out her e-courses for even more inspiration!