Everything Typepad

Tips to Increase Traffic to Your Blog

Of course, you want to increase the reach of your blog. We have some tips for you! Even if you have an established blog and audience, it is a good idea to check every once in a while that you are doing everything you can to optimize incoming traffic.

Share share share!

You may already share your posts to Twitter, Facebook, and other social media services, but you also want to make it easy for readers to share your posts and expand your audience. Buttons to share your posts can be quickly added to the footer of each post at Design > Content > Post Footer. Learn more.

Search Engine Optimization

Google has excellent reference tools for webmasters to comply with their rules for SEO. Keep in mind that Google changes their requirements regularly, and it is a good idea to take a moment to check Google's Webmaster Help Guide to make sure you are in compliance. Learn more.

Meta Data and Title Keywords

When a new post is crawled by Google and other search engines, the meta data and post title are key to make sure your post is categorized correctly in search results. The Compose page has a Keywords field where you can add keywords and short phrases separated by commas that best describe your post. Additionally, the Excerpt field can be utilized to add a short description of the post. (If you don't include an Excerpt, the first paragraph will be used as the meta description.)

Also, the Post Title and Permalink should also include keywords that describe your post to make it clear to a potential visitor what the post is about. Learn more.

Do you have other tips for increasing traffic? Let us know in the comments!

Two New Features: Drag and Drop Multiple Images and Uploading Files to Help Tickets

Today we're happy to announce that we've added two new features to Typepad that ought to make life a little easier for you.

The first is the ability to drag and drop multiple images when uploading them on the Compose page.  This allows you to put them in the order you prefer.  Please note that this is for Beta Team members only.

To use this feature, simply click the Insert Image button on the Compose page and select multiple images.  You'll then see something like this:

Now just drag and drop the images into the order you prefer.  Simple!

If you aren't already a member of the Beta Team, you may want to join soon. We've got some more changes in the works for images and you won't want to miss out!

Have a screenshot of a behaviour you want to show us? A file you're having difficulties uploading? The second feature allows you to easily add files to your help tickets.  Just click the "Browse..." button at the bottom of the ticket page, find the file, and select it.  Now, when you submit your ticket, the file will be included for the Typepad Support Team to review.

We hope that these new features make Typepad even more useful for you! As always, let us know if there's a feature you'd like to see in Typepad.  We're always working to make Typepad the best it can be for you and your suggestions are key in this.

Be Discovered: 3 Sites to Help You Be the Next Big Blogger

When your traffic starts to plateau it can be tough to figure out where you can go to get discovered. You probably have your tried and true sites you are active on, like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. There is more of the internet out there for you to explore. Check out these content sharing and forum sites. Share your knowledge and get traffic to your blog.

StumbleUpon is a fun site that shows you different websites that have to do with your interest. A reader will set up an account and select what interests them. Then they click on Stumble and it will show them a site that is similar to their interest. You can easily set up an account and start adding content. When you add your blog post, you can tag what the post is about and add more tags to help it get found.

 

Reddit (also known as the front page of the internet) is a community of members that submit content for the benefit of the community. Community members will then vote up and comments on each other's posts. There are different interest groups called subreddits. Find a subreddit that you can contribute to. Submit your blog post and comment on others. This is also a great way to find content for your blog and get your content out there. Look at the posts, see if you can write a blog post that would provide insight.

 

Imgur is an image sharing community. You can upload images on Imgur and share them with the community. When you add an image, give it a title and image description. In the image description you can add a link back to your blog post. Use a URL shortener, like Bitly, to keep your description neat. Your image will be up voted or down voted by the community. Turn your blog post into an infographic and promote it on Imgur. Whatever you post on Imgur you want to make sure to provide fun and interesting content, not just an advertisement. 

Tell us the unusual places you go to promote your blog content! 

Gaining Confidence in Typepad by Trial and Error

Seven years ago, ready to shift from utilizing a free blogging platform to freedom over my design, I realized the blogs, whose interface most closely matched the blog I hoped to build, used Typepad. Once my blog's content transferred, I set the intention not only to redesign my blog, but learn how to do so as independently as possible. I didn't have previous knowledge in web design or a lot of money or time to invest. Thankfully, I quickly realized thanks to Typepad's user-friendly interface and online Knowledge Base, as long as I was willing to experiment and play, I could create the blog I envisioned.

The colors, formatting, the sidebars, and banner of my blog have changed over the years, but what hasn’t is my confidence in being able to easily learn and apply Typepad’s features with little to no challenge. I say this because Typepad is easy to use and I am willing to play. "Play" meaning test out features, search their Knowledge Base, and sometimes hit preview over and over again.

If someone tracked a single change on my blog, they might see a color, font, or a sidebar image change multiple times. I appreciate how easily this happens. I go to Theme Builder, play with size and color. I experiment with how images, links, borders, and columns look. In the Content section, I can seamlessly add a new tab on my navigation bar, quickly move sidebar images, and again, thanks to Typepad's Knowledge Base, create buttons using HTML.

There are many reasons why I enjoy blogging; one, I didn’t expect I'd like utilizing web design. Financially, I need to be able to facilitate all aspects of my blog, and I need reliable help when I know what I want to do but don’t have the expertise to figure it out. Typepad allows me to play and learn, make mistakes, and quickly fix them. I thank Typepad’s thoughtful and user-friendly platform for this. Never once have I made a design decision and worried I couldn’t change it back or would need excessive amounts of time to correct the mistake.

Typepad helps me share my story without the stress of needing prior web design expertise to do so. The skill set I've received developing my blog with Typepad has given me the confidence to format professional ezines, newsletters, and web pages. While I can now navigate other, less user-friendly platforms, my preference remains here, where I know I have the tools to keep building.

Kelly Sage is a certified facilitator with Women Writing for (a) Change and the Young Women Writing for (a) Change Coordinator. She facilitates adult, young women, and homeschool writing circles. In her former life she was a middle and high school English teacher. She writes about homeschooling and living with young children on her blog, www.sagetribe02.com.