Everything Typepad

2019: An Early Guide To The Shopping Holidays

The holidays are coming. While you are getting your home ready for friends and family, think about your plans for your blog. You can give your blog a new look for the holidays and start planning your holiday promotions. Being prepared will make the holidays go by smoother. 

Dates

The main shopping holidays to start planning for: 

Thanksgiving Thursday, Nov 28th
Black Friday, Nov 29th
Small Business Saturday, Nov 30th
Cyber Monday, Dec 2nd
Giving Tuesday, Dec 3rd
Hanukkah Begins Dec 22th
Hanukkah Ends Dec 30th
Christmas Eve, Dec 24th
Christmas Day, Dec 25th
Kwanzaa Begins Dec 26th
Kwanzaa Ends Jan 1st
New Year's Day, Jan 1st

These are the main holidays that US customers expect to find promotions for. Use that to your advantage. These holidays encourage people to purchase gifts for their loved ones. 

You should have a plan for an overall promotion and each shopping holiday should have its own version of the promotion. If you are blogging for business, we recommend you take the time to think out a Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, Cyber Monday, and Giving Tuesday strategy. These are the main shopping days readers plan for. Letting readers know you will be providing deals during these holidays will help them plan their shopping strategy.

Organizations to help you prepare

This is a one stop post to help you get started on your strategy. We did the research for you and prepared a list of places to start. Their websites are full of information that can help guide your holiday strategy. 

Small Business Saturday	Giving Tuesday
How to participate in Small Business Saturday Create Material for your Small Business Saturday Promotions	Giving Tuesday Blog Giving Tuesday's Tool Kit
Typepad	Constant Contact
Call To Action Button Pre-Schedule Posts	Constant Contacts Holiday Blog Constant Contact Holiday Help

Hashtags

Hashtags are a great way to get found through social media. We have gathered a list of all the hashtags we could find for each of the shopping holidays and put them in an easy to read infographic for you to use! Use them along with your branded hashtags to help  promote your blog and deals. 

You will feel relieved after all the planning is done and you can sit back and relax during this holiday season. What promotion strategies have worked for you in the past? What has not worked? What is your go to source to help get ideas for the coming shopping holidays? Share with your fellow Typepad Bloggers in the comments below! 

Did You Know? Submit Your Own Design

Do you currently use a Design Lab theme as your blog design? Tap into your creativity by submitting your blog design to be featured on Typepad! You may have noticed an orange "For Designers" button when you click the "Design" tab for your blog. 

This button is only visible if you currently have a Design Lab theme applied to your blog.  While you may not consider yourself to be a "Designer", if you put together your own blog design, then you are! Go ahead and click that button, here's what you'll see: 

A preview of your current design along with the design settings enabled.  Scroll down to section 2 where you can submit your theme. Give your design a fun name, include your name and blog URL. Then select a default layout (e.g., Two Column Right) and check off the box confirming that you are the owner of any images you may be using in the design.  If you are unsure about what kind of images to use on your design, refer to this article about what you need to know about using images on your blog.

If you want to play around and create more than one design, we recommend creating a test blog in order to test out design changes. This way, you can edit your design without it effecting your primary blog and submit your design through your test blog.

Theme submissions are curated and if approved, your design will be included in our selection of pre-made designs that bloggers can use for their own blog.  Don't delay, submit your design today!

6 Tips For Creating The Best Domain

After creating your blog, you will start thinking about where your readers are going to find you, that is your domain. Make a domain that is memorable for your readers. While we make it easy to purchase your domain, it may not be easy to think of a unique domain for your blog. We are here to help!  Here are 6 tips to help you create the best domain for your blog. 

1) Represents your blog
Your domain should tell your readers what you are blogging about. It is like the title of an amazing book. Readers should get a sense of the story or journey you are going to take them on. 

2) Make it easy to spell
Only Mary Poppins and Google knows how to spell Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. Use common spellings of words in your domain. Don't be tempted to use unique or complicated words to help your blog stand out. Your readers may not remember the special spelling and get frustrated when trying to find your blog. If you really want a unique name, check out the Pro Tip in #3.  

3) Select the correct top level domain
Top level domain is what comes after the dot (.com, .org, etc.). Most readers will automatically use the .com when typing in your address. If you can get the .com version of your domain you should. You can also look into other top level domains to help your domain stand out. For example, if you're blogging about beer you can purchase a .beer domain.

Pro Tip: You can have more than one domain point to your blog. If you purchase a fun top level domain, like .beer, you can also purchase .com and have it forward to your blog. The same is true for different domains. If you have a name that may be spelled wrong, you can register the wrong spelling and forward it to your blog.

4) Avoid a long string of words
You want to make sure it is clear what your blog is about. Keep your domain short and  memorable. Don’t add too many words or it may be awkward to say out loud or too long to type. Think of an overview of what you are blogging about.

Example: You are blogging about how cute your toddler is. Would you want your domain to be TheToddlerYearsofBrianMcGruffin.com or ParentingMoments.com

The second one is more memorable and can be used throughout your child’s life. They will only be a toddler for a few years.

5) Say your domain out loud
While it may look great on paper, keep in mind you may have to tell people your domain in person. You want to make sure it sounds good out loud. Does it roll off the tongue? Make sure the words are easy to pronounce and are understandable to all.

Pro Tip: Use your thesaurus! If your domain sounds awkward and you need to think of a new word, the thesaurus is here to help.  You can find new words with similar meanings to make your domain stand out. 

6) What about social media?
Once you find the perfect domain your job is not done yet. You need to go to Facebook, Twitter and Instagram and make sure to start an account with that domain name. Even if you don’t plan on using those platforms you want to register them so they are under your control.

What other tips would you add to our list? Share in the comments your secrets to the perfect domain. 

 

Typepad 101: Buy Your Own Domain Name

One of the first things you may have noticed when you created your account was the URL created for your blog looks something like example.typepad.com.  Many bloggers are ok with their blog link looking this way, but if you want to customize your blog name and make it easier to remember for your readers, you can do that by buying your own domain name through Typepad.  Setting up a custom domain name for your blog is done through a process called Domain Mapping. Domain Mapping is available with Pro Plus accounts and higher.

Choosing a Domain Name

To get started, go to Account > Domain Mapping, at the top of the page you can do a search on the domain name you are interested in buying (ie: www.ilovestamping.com).

After clicking the "Check Availability" button, you will be redirected to a new screen showing the name availability in addition to other names you can purchase with different extensions. 

After you select your name it will appear in your Shopping Cart. Your cart will also include the option purchase additional privacy protection which is recommended if you wish to keep your personal information attached to your domain name private.  When you are ready to purchase, click the green "Checkout" button.  

Create Your New Account

You will be taken to a new page with your cart overview and a prompt to create or login to your account.  If this is your first time purchasing a domain name through Typepad, you will need to create a new account.  This is not the same as your Typepad account and it can have different login credentials. 

Once your account is created, you will proceed with your purchase by choosing the Typepad Billing option and select to Pay Online.  This will set it up so you are charged with the credit card or PayPal account you have saved in your Typepad account. You will be directed back to Typepad where you click Approve to complete purchase of the domain. With successful payment, click Complete Registration.

Set Up Domain Mapping

In your Typepad account, go back to Account > Domain Mapping.  Your new domain should appear under "Domain Map with Typepad." Confirm that it's status is "Verified" - if it's not, that means the domain name registry waiting for you to pay your invoice or confirm your email address.  If it's marked as verified, click the button "Map a Domain Name" to set up Domain Mapping for your blog.

You will be asked to enter a subdomain for your blog.  The most common subdomains used are "www" or "blog" for "blog.domainexample.com".  Then select if you want to map your domain name to your entire site or just a specific blog in your account. 

The next step is to check the box to "Forward the non-www domain to this subdomain?" This will allow visitors to access your blog with or without typing the "www" for your URL.

Activate Your Domain Name

Scroll to the bottom of the page to "Mapped Domains."  Your new name should be listed but not activated.  Click the "Activate" link to make your Domain Mapping live.  The SSL status will first appear as "initializing" but if you refresh browser a couple of times it will change to "pending validation" to "active."  This means your blog is now loading securely with it's own SSL certificate.

 

Make Printing Your Blog Post Simple With Print Friendly

Do your readers want to print out your posts for use later (like a recipe)? Make it easy for them by adding a print option from Print Friendly. They optimize your blog post for Print and PDF formats, readers can save money and the environment by printing only what they need. Print Friendly removes ads and other non-essential content to allow only the blog posts to be printed.

Go to Printfriendly.com and scroll down and click on "Get Your Website Button". Select the HTML option under Type of Website. 

Select the type of button you would like on your page. 

Select from a list of features. 

Once your button is designed the way you want, copy the code provided and add it to your Signature Module. To find the Signature Module, click on the Design tab, then Content. Next, click on the pencil at the top of the module and paste in the Print Friendly code. Select Ok, then Save Changes. 

Now you will see the print icons you choose at the end of each post. When readers choose to print your post, they are taken to a preview where they can remove any content they do not need. They can print, save as a PDF, or email the version they created. 

We'd like to hear from you about how you use Print Friendly, and how you feel it's benefited your readers. Leave a comment below to share your experience with us!

Add Custom Google Search To Your Blog

Everyone knows that Google is the top search engine globally.  Why not incorporate their search to cater to your blog specifically? You can add a Custom Search from Google to your sidebar in a couple of easy steps through your Google account.

First, go to the Custom Search Engine Page and click the blue "Create a custom search engine" button. You will be brought to a new page where you can add your blog link (ie: https://example.typepad.com or https://www.example.com) and blog name.  You can add as many websites as you'd like.

Click "Get code" to view the code to add to your sidebar.  In your Typepad account, go to Design > Content > Modules > Embed Your Own HTML - paste the code here, click OK and save your changes.  The Google Search bar will appear in your sidebar. 

Immediately after I added the search to the test blog above, it showed me results when I entered a search criteria. The search results will appear as a pop-up: 

Adding a search feature to your blog will keep visitors at your blog longer and learn more about what you'd like to share!

Why You Should Still Use Twitter To Promote Your Blog Posts

Twitter is one of the more established social media platforms out there. It is a valuable tool in expanding the reach of your blog to new readers and in driving more traffic to your blog. It is also one of the easiest social media platforms to integrate with Typepad.

Free Promotion

With over 330 million users, that is a large pool of readers you can tap into at no cost! 

Connect With Your Readers

Being active on Twitter is an additional way to connect with your readers outside of your blog.  When a new visitor checks out your blog for the first time and wants to stay updated, they are likely to look for a social media account to follow such as Twitter.

Don't Forget Search Engines

Did you know that tweets show up in Google search results? It's true! As long as your tweet includes relevant keywords and hashtags along with your post URL, they will appear in Google search results.  Now that Twitter allows more characters per tweet, this gives you more room to play around and get creative with how you word your tweets.

Check The Numbers

Each tweet shared collects statistics which you can review by clicking the bar graph icon included in that tweet.  It shows the number of impressions, total engagement, and clicks per link.  This gives you a better idea of what kind of tweets gets more attention.

Easy To Share Through Typepad

It is very easy to connect your Twitter account with your blog.  First, connect your Twitter to your Typepad account by going to Account > Other Accounts, and select the Twitter option.   Next, under your blog settings, click on the "Settings" tab and go to "Sharing."  You can set up your Twitter Card information which includes sharing the first image uploaded to your blog post. 

Do you use Twitter to promote your blog? Let us know in the comments! Share your Twitter handle with us! Our Twitter handle is @typepad, follow us today.

Tips For Creating An About Me Page - Share More Than A Bio; Tell Your Story!

Does your blog include an "About Me" page? Each Typepad account comes with one About Me Page which automatically pulls information from the account owner's Profile settings.  Depending on which theme you are using, your About page will display the same theme.  You can access this page by going to Account > About Me Page. 

You have the option to use the Default Template or write in your own HTML.  For the "Default" option, there is a "Biography" box you can you fill in with more information about yourself. 

Not Sure What To Say About Yourself?

Sometimes it's hard to talk about ourselves. Instead of listing off your hobbies and interests (not that there's anything wrong with that!), why not take a different approach? Talk about what inspired you to create your blog and when you started your blog. What is your blog about?  What kind of things will visitors find when they visit your blog?  And what kind of value will visitors get from your reading your blog and make them want to come back?

What Else Can You Include In Your "About Me" Page?

• A photo of yourself
• Ways to contact you directly
• Call to action! Add links to your Social Media accounts to encourage new followers
• Indicate important milestones in your life
• Interesting facts about your blog

"About Me" Page for Nimble

If you are using the Nimble theme, you will find that you cannot apply your design to the default About Me page. As an alternative to the About Me Page, you can use the Pages feature to create additional pages with similar information. These Pages could include information about specific authors or you could create a different "about" page for each blog in your account.

A new page can be created by opening the Compose button drop-down menu and selecting New Page. Pages are managed at Posts > Pages. Read more  information about creating additional pages in our Knowledge Base.

More Tips On Improving Your "About Me" Page

• Proofread! Print your About page and read it out loud to yourself. How does it sound? 
• Have someone else read it your About page, a fresh pair of eyes can bring a new perspective.

Publish Twitter Posts On Your Blog With The Help Of IFTTT

IFTTT is a great platform that allows different apps, web services, and devices to communicate with each other. These are called Applets and you can set as many applets as you like.

All blog posts don't need to be 1000 words long. Sometimes 280 characters are all you need. IFTTT allows you to create an applet so Twitter can communicate with Typepad and publish a post when you use a specific hashtag.  Easily share your Twitter posts to your blog readers. 

Create a IFTTT Account

From IFTTT.com you will need to create an account. Click on Sign Up to create an account. You can use Google, Facebook, or Email. Once you create your account, you can create an applet. 

Get Your Secret Typepad Email

In Typepad, click on the Blogs tab, then click on the name of the blog. Click on the Settings tab, then Post By Email. Copy the Secret Address and save it somewhere safe so you can use it to create your Applet. 

Create an IFTTT Applet

Click on the down arrow next to your account name, then on New Applet. Select +this then select Twitter.

Select "New tweet by you with hashtag". This will set a trigger to publish any Twitter post that uses a specific hashtag on your blog.

Enter your hashtag and Create Trigger. Enter a hashtag that you don't use often. Whenever you use this hashtag, it will trigger this Applet and post to your blog. 

Now you want to click on That, then select Gmail. From Gmail, click on Send An Email.

Next to Email Address you will enter your secret Typepad email address. This email address is used to publish posts to your blog from your email.

The subject will be your blog post title. We recommend using something that can be used multiple times (like Twitter Musings from @ (UserName)).

The body of your post will by default include: the Tweet, link to your Twitter account, and links to show it was created by IFTTTT. 

You can add to what is published as well by adding more the body of the email. After you have customized the body, select Create Action.

Now you can review the applet and click Finish. 

Now that you created one Applet, explore IFTTT.com and see what others useful Applets you can create. 

Blog Smarter with Master Templates

Everyone has heard the saying "Work smarter, not harder." At Typepad, we are here to give you tips and tricks to make sure your blog is a success! Today we are going over how to create a Master Template for sharing recipes.  

First, you want to copy the code below and put it into a new blog post by clicking on the HTML tab on the Compose page. 

Code For Recipe Template

<h1>Title Of Recipe</h1> <table style="height: 17px; width: 60.0386%; border-collapse: collapse;"> <tbody> <tr style="height: 17px;"> <td style="width: 41.2403%; text-align: left; height: 17px;"><a href="#Recipe"><strong>Jump To Recipe</strong></a></td> <td style="width: 50.7749%; text-align: left; height: 17px;"><strong>Print Recipe</strong></td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <p> </p> <p><a class="asset-img-link" href="https://annad.typepad.com/.a/6a01b7c892952a970b0240a46f157d200d-pi" style="display: inline;"><img alt="Banner Recipe Image" border="0" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a01b7c892952a970b0240a46f157d200d image-full img-responsive" src="https://annad.typepad.com/.a/6a01b7c892952a970b0240a46f157d200d-800wi" title="Banner Recipe Image" /></a></p> <p>Write about what makes the recipes great. Share reactions from friends and family who loved this dish. Add some pro tips that would make the preparing the dish easier. If the recipe has a sentimental story (the first dish you prepared with your grandma) share it with your readers here! </<<gwmw class="ginger-module-highlighter-mistake-anim ginger-module-highlighter-mistake-type-1" id="gwmw-15530985049279069352623">gwmw</gwmw> class="ginger-module-highlighter-mistake-<gwmw class="ginger-module-highlighter-mistake-anim ginger-module-highlighter-mistake-type-1" id="gwmw-15530985049278121691290">anim</gwmw> ginger-module-highlighter-mistake-type-1" id="<gwmw class="ginger-module-highlighter-mistake-anim ginger-module-highlighter-mistake-type-1" id="gwmw-15530985049274564880519">gwmw</gwmw>-15530984370462066335342">p</<gwmw class="ginger-module-highlighter-mistake-anim ginger-module-highlighter-mistake-type-1" id="gwmw-15530985049270327553392">gwmw</gwmw>>> <p>Does your recipe require any special equipment? This would be a great time to talk about how to use that equipment or where to purchase the equipment. Add links to any affiliate programs you participate in. Does the recipe call for any advanced baking techniques. Describes these techniques in more details here.</p> <table style="width: 100%; border-collapse: collapse; background-color: #d1cbcb;" border="0"> <tbody> <tr> <td style="width: 100%;"> <p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18pt;"><a id="Recipe"></a>Recipe Title</span></p> <p>Ingredients</p> <ul> <li>Recommend grouping dry goods and wet goods.</li> <li>Don't forget to add the measurements.</li> <li>Use simple generic names, not name brands.</li> </ul> </td> </tr> <tr> <td style="width: 100%;"> <p>Directions</p> <ol> <li>Short bite-size steps are the best.</li> <li>Have someone read over them to make sure they are easy to follow.</li> <li>Use common language when describing preparation.</li> <li>Don't forget to include cooking time and temperatures.</li> </ol> </td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <p> </p> <div id="featherlight-gallery" data-featherlight-filter="a" data-featherlight-gallery="" data-featherlight-type="image"><fieldset class="asset featherlight-gallery border" gallery-width="150-auto"><legend class="featherlight-gallery border">Use the Image Galler to display more images!</legend> <div class="featherlight-gallery">Use the Image Gallery to share preparation images and family enjoying the dish! Try to keep the images around the same size so they display consistently in the scroll bar or grid. </div> <div id="gallery-container" class="gallery-scroll"> <ul class="asset-thumbnails"> <li class="asset-thumbnail" id="li0" draggable="true"><a href="https://annad.typepad.com/.a/6a01b7c892952a970b0240a46f17ae200d-pi"><img alt="Food One" class="mceNonEditable" src="https://annad.typepad.com/.a/6a01b7c892952a970b0240a46f17ae200d-150si" /></a></li> <li class="asset-thumbnail" id="li1" draggable="true"><a href="https://annad.typepad.com/.a/6a01b7c892952a970b0240a46f17b2200d-pi"><img alt="Food Two" class="mceNonEditable" src="https://annad.typepad.com/.a/6a01b7c892952a970b0240a46f17b2200d-150si" /></a></li> <li class="asset-thumbnail" id="li2" draggable="true"><a href="https://annad.typepad.com/.a/6a01b7c892952a970b0240a46f17b6200d-pi"><img alt="Food Four" class="mceNonEditable" src="https://annad.typepad.com/.a/6a01b7c892952a970b0240a46f17b6200d-150si" /></a></li> <li class="asset-thumbnail" id="li3" draggable="true"><a href="https://annad.typepad.com/.a/6a01b7c892952a970b0240a46f17ba200d-pi"><img alt="Food Three" class="mceNonEditable" src="https://annad.typepad.com/.a/6a01b7c892952a970b0240a46f17ba200d-150si" /></a></li> </ul> </div> </fieldset></div>

Now click on the Rich Text tab to see the post and make changes. 

TIP: Name this post Master Recipe and save it as a draft. Make any changes to the font, color, and branding you want to have in every post.  Change the status to Draft and click Save. Now you have code to reference for future blog posts. 

Table For The Recipe

The recipe is in a 1x2 table. This gives you a section for the ingredients and a section for the instructions. You can change the background of the table to match your brand colors. 

To edit the background color, click in the table then click on the Table Properties icon in the bar under the table. On the Advanced tab, click on the little square to select a color. Put in the hex value or RGB values of the color you want. Click Ok. You will see that color in the little box and the hex value next to it. Click OK to save your changes. 

You can do the same thing to add a border around the table. Keep in mind this will add a border around each cell. 

Add Code To New Post

Now that you have the Master Template post set up, you want to save it as a draft. Next to Status click on the drop down and select Draft, then Save. 

When you are ready to create a new recipe post, search for the Master Recipe post and click on the title to go to the Compose page. From the Compose page, click on the <> button to view the source code, copy the source code. Next, click on the Posts tab, and create a new post. Click on the <> button and paste in your code. Select Ok. 

Adding A Printed Version

Some home chefs don't like to have their phones out while they are preparing food. Always offer a way for your readers to print out your recipes. We recommend that you write them up in a document and save as a PDF. PDF's are easy to upload, download, and print on a multitude of devices. Look for 'Print Recipe' in the recipe template, then click on the File icon. Choose the PDF file of your recipe, then click OK to upload and link it to the highlighted text. The 'Print Recipe' text will change to 'Download NAME OF FILE'" where "NAME OF FILE" is italicized but not capitalized like in my example here. You can keep the default text or customize the text by clicking the newly made link and editing the text in the 'Change the Text to Display' field. Click OK to save the change. TIP: The Jump To Recipe link is an anchor link that is already set up to go down to the recipe. No need to change anything. 

Image Gallery

The Image Gallery is a great way to display your images. You can add images of you creating the dish or of your family and friends enjoying the meal. 

To change the images in the image gallery, select one image, then click on the Insert Image icon. Choose file and select all the images you want to add.

Tip: Hold down CTRL to select multiple images if you are using Windows. If you are using a Mac, hold down CMD. 

Select Insert Images to add the images to the scroll bar. Once you have added your images, you can delete our images. Select the Image and tap delete on your keyboard.

To change the text, click on the text and delete what is written. Now type in what you want to add.

We recommend using a master template to save time with formatting and managing images. We provided one example of how such a template could be used, but we'd love to learn what other types of templates you would like to see. Make sure to leave a comment with your thoughts and suggestions!