Seen on Typepad highlights new and interesting posts from our community of Typepad bloggers, enjoy!
From Jillibean Soup
Hello crafty friends! Patty here and today we plan to share some love for Grandparents with a very mini, mini album. In fact this mini was made from just one sheet of paper, foam stickers, coordinating stickers, bakers twine, a book ring and 4 photos.
You set up your account information when you start your Typepad account, that may have been ages ago. Take a few moments to make sure your account information is up-to-date.
To update your information, click on the Account tab on the top right.
Make sure the correct owner's name is on the account. The name shows up when you create a ticket and helps us know who we're speaking with.
Your email address is also your username. Your blog may be a personal blog, make sure it uses an email address you will always have access to. Don't use a company email address in case you change jobs and don't have access to that address anymore. If you are blogging for a company, use a common email address for that company, like [email protected] or [email protected]. This way, if the person who is blogging leaves the company, you can still access the account and get important information.
If you change the email address on the account, we'll send you an email at the new address. This is to verify the email address is valid. Click on the link in the email to verify the change. If you don't click on the link, the change won't be made. Keep in mind, once you update the email address, your username will change too.
Don't give your login information to anyone. If someone needs access to the account to blog, create a junior or guest author account for them.
Only you need to know your password. If at any time you believe your account is compromised in any way, you want to update your password. You can do it here, under the Account tab or if you don't have access to your account, you can use the Forgot Password link from the login page.
Creating a secure password can be hard. It has to be easy for you to remember, but hard for bad guys to guess. Check out our guide Creating a Secure Password: the Do's and Do Not's to get some great ideas on how to create a secure password.
Security Questions are very important for account access. If you ever need help getting access to your account, we'll ask you to answer your security questions. If you don't have your security questions set up or don't know the answer, you'll need your billing information to gain access to your account.
As with your password, you want to make sure your security question answers are something you will think of but bad guys will not. We have a great guide, How To Create Secure Security Questions, to help you come up with great secure question and answer combos.
Typepad allows you to pick the language for your account. Select a language that you're most comfortable with. We have a verity of languages for you to choose from. This will make navigating in Typepad easier for those that don't speak English. There will be some areas that have not been translated. If you are having trouble reading areas of Typepad or have questions; you can reach out to us or use Google Translate to decipher the text. This applies to your Typepad account only. You can type in any language for your blog posts.
When scheduling your posts, it is important to make sure your time zone is correct. 3PM Eastern time is very different than 3PM Pacific time. If the time zone is wrong, the post will not publish as scheduled and the wrong time can show at the bottom of your published posts.
We're continually updating and adding new features to Typepad. Once we're done testing something new, we release it to our beta team for real world testing. If you're part of our beta team you can have access to these features before anyone else. You don't have to use a feature if you don't need it. If you do use a feature, please provide your feedback or any issues you have. We can then look into your experience and make further updates. This testing is important to us because everyone uses their account in a unique way. Having you try out these new features helps us test in ways we may not of thought of.
Once you're done updating your Typepad account, take a moment and update other programs you use to blog.
"What if sociologists ran the world?" Take a look at Everyday Sociology to get an idea. It is a sociological look at what is happening in the world - from politics, entertainment, religion, and even pop culture. The blog features interesting, informative, and most of all entertaining commentary from sociologists around the United States.
Now that we're coming out of winter and thinking about tossing out the things we no longer need, it is also a good time to take a closer look at your blog's sidebar content. Do all of your links still work? Are there any broken images? Did you notice your blog is taking longer to load? These are things to think about when reviewing your sidebar content.
Images that have been uploaded to your sidebar before the SSL certificate was applied to your blog domain might still display the http:// version of the image URL. This can lead to your blog loading as non-secure. You can go in and simply update the URL to https:// and your blog will load as secure again, easy-peasy!
Review all the modules in the sidebar to make sure you know what they are and how they help your blog. Outdated widget codes will slow down your blog's loading time. For example, if you still have a Sitemeter counter in your sidebar, this service is no longer available. You can use Google Analytics to monitor blog visitor data instead.
If you have Typelists in your sidebar, check your Typelist lists to see if they are all still working. You can edit your Typelists by going to Library > Typelists.
Don't forget to check out other ways to clean up your blog from your friends at Typepad!
The spring cleaning season is here. You may be focused on cleaning your home or personal goals, but don't forget to give your blog some attention. It may be overwhelming to think about cleaning up your blog. Never fear! We have a great checklist to get you started!
Can your blog be read on a phone? If you're not sure, take a moment to check. We can wait...
Was it hard to view your text? If you find it hard, your readers will too. We recommend you update your theme to one of our responsive options. You can select one of our customizable Design Lab themes or our new Featured Cards theme. Our Design Lab themes, the Design Lab builder, and Featured Cards are all great options.
Our Design Lab themes allow you to customize your blog by choosing your own colors, fonts, and more for each section. Below we have some themes for you to choose. Find one that fits your style, then customize it to make it your own.
We have recently added Featured Cards to our themes. This theme is mobile friendly and has a very modern look. Your blog posts will show as a Magazine-inspired layout.
Quick tip: Create a test blog to select and customize your new theme. Once it's perfect, you can apply it to your original blog.
When was the last time you clicked through your blog? Are all your links still going to relevant information? Take the time and click on all the links of your blog and make sure they are going to their intended destination. Here is a list of places to check:
Keep a list of what needs to be changed. The first place to start updating links is on your Design tab. Under Content, you will see all of the modules that you can edit. Click on the pencil to update the module with new links. If your link is in a Typelist, click on My Library then Typelist.
If you recently mapped your domain, make sure to take a moment and check all to make sure they are using your new domain.
More and more people are dropping the www when they type your domain into an address bar. You want to make sure if a reader doesn't use www, it will still forward to your blog. To check if your forward works, we recommend you use a browser that you don't normally use or use a different computer. Type in your domain without the www and click enter.
Does your blog show up? If it does, great! Your forward is working great and no need for further steps.
If the blog doesn't show up, you will need to check your registrar settings and forward the non-www version of your domain to the www version.
When was the last time you looked at your logo or banner? Does it need to be updated or do you need a new one? Now is a great time to review your logo and banner and make sure it fits your blogs' brand.
If you want to design a new one, we recommend checking out Canva or PicMonkey. Both are paid services, but they offer free trials for you to utilize. You can see examples to help inspire you. Customize the templates provided or make your own.
When looking for images to use in your logo or banner, you do not want to grab any old image off of Google. You want to use an image that is free for you to use. There are many free image sites out there that offer Creative Common License images for you to use on your blog. You can search by keywords and use the one that works best for you. Some that Typepad uses are Pexels, Unsplash, Pixabay. There are many more royalty-free and free stock images sites available. Take a look and see what you can find.
If designs are not your thing, you can hire someone to create a logo for you. Typepad's design team can create a custom banner for your blog. We can take an existing logo or design you have and update it. Outside of Typepad, two of the most popular are Upwork and Fiverr. Many design professionals are on these sites and can work with you to create a banner for your blog or a new logo to help stand out. They make it easy to find someone, collaborate with them, then pay them for their services.
Your readers are curious about the person behind the blog. Your focus may have changed since starting your blog. Update your About page to include any new information to share with your readers who you are and what the blog is about.
Some information to consider for your About Page:
Your meta keywords and meta description are used by search engines to classify and describe your blog content. As you start blogging your message can evolve. Make sure the content you're blogging about is represented in the meta data.
The meta keywords help search engines know what your blog is about. You want to add keywords and phrases that describe what information is found in your blog. You want to use long-tail phrases as that is what people tend to use to search.
For example: What to cook vegan for dinner, How to cook vegan meals, How to find vegan restaurants, Find vegan recipes, Vegan, Cooking, Vegan Food, Cook Vegan
The meta description is what shows under the search engine results. It is a brief description of your blog. The primary goal of your meta description is to showcase the value of your blog and to encourage searchers to click. It can be any length, but Google tends to truncate after 160 characters. It should be written in your blogging tone and voice. Include your meta keywords in a natural conversational way.
If you are thinking to yourself "when will I have time to do all this?" We are here to help! Our Design Team offers a Tune-Up service to review your blog, identify areas that could use improvement, and then make all the changes for you.
After you have cleaned your blog, post a link in the comments. We would love to see your new and improved blog!
Seen on Typepad highlights new and interesting posts from our community of Typepad bloggers. Enjoy!
From: Goin' Down To Mama's
Sometimes you have to take a thing apart to understand it. You have to look at the pieces out of their typical order if you want to see them clearly. I experience that just about every day at work.