Get customers the information they need with Typepad Pages

Whether you're a well-known corporation looking to share company news with customers, or an ordinary person who would like to make a little money selling your arts, crafts, or services online (or anywhere in between!) your blog should be a key part of your business strategy.

This month we've looked at how to promote your products in your blog's sidebar, write sponsored and affiliate posts, and motivate your readers with a call to action button. Today we turn our attention to sharing information with Typepad Pages.

Most blogs display their content in a series of posts with the most recent at the top. This is great for keeping readers coming back again and again for new content. But what if you have some information you'd like everybody to see and don't want it to get lost among the new updates? This is where Pages come in.

A Page is a content page similar to those on a non-blog website, with information that doesn't change frequently. You can set up a special "about page" with information about your company and its history; provide a street or mailing address or a phone number for customers to contact you; or share testimonials from clients who love what you do. Pages can also be a great way to consolidate all information about your services in one place, or to display a portfolio of your best work.

The information you provide on Pages may be what convinces a customer that your business is stable and reliable, or that demonstrates you can provide exactly what they need. If you're looking to close a sale from your blog, you'll want to make sure you're using Pages.

To create a Page, log in to Typepad and click your blog's name on the Dashboard or in the "Blogs" drop-down menu along the top. On the Overview page for your blog, you'll see a yellow "Compose" button near the top with an arrow to the right. Click the arrow and a little menu will drop down where you can choose "New Post" or "New Page". You'll want to select the "New Page" option.

Need to set up something else for your blog first? You can access the yellow Compose button, and the "New Page" option from any of the configuration pages for your blog inside of Typepad.

Clicking the "New Page" link will take you to a new Compose screen where you can create your Page. Give your Page a descriptive title, type up the content you want to share, and add any desired formatting or images. When you're done, publish your Page. You can click the "View Page" link that appears after the Page is published to check out how it looks on your blog.

Now you need to make sure visitors to your blog can find the new Page! Go to the Design > Content area in Typepad, choose the "Links to Your Blog's Content" category then the "Pages" module and then click "Add Module".

Once you've added the Pages module, your blog's sidebar will display a list of all public Pages, which automatically updates each time you add a new Page. You can also link to especially important Pages using the navigation bar.

If you'd like to make a Page the first thing visitors to your blog see, rather than your blog posts, you can set up a landing page. Don't forget to provide a link to your recent blog posts in this case!

Are you using Pages for your business's blog? What types of Pages do you think are the most useful for your customers? Let us know and share your tips in the comments!