Typepad's planned migration has successfully been completed. We appreciate everyone's patience during the maintenance window. If you feel you may be encountering an issue related to the migration, please reach out to us by opening a ticket within your Typepad account at Help > New Ticket.
For problems accessing your Typepad account, you can email [email protected] or use the form here.
On October 22nd, Typepad is going to be migrating data to a new data center. At the time of migration, we will have approximately a four-hour maintenance window starting at 12:30AM United States Eastern Time. During this time, your blogs and photo albums will not be available online, but you will still be able to access your Typepad account.
Typepad support will be available during the maintenance period to answer any questions, and we will be posting updates to Twitter - https://twitter.com/typepad - and on Everything Typepad - https://everything.typepad.com.
Composing posts with a smartphone or tablet is a common occurrence these days. What do you do, then, when your image orientation isn't saved and those uploaded images are turned on their side? Our image editor is a quick solution to fix the orientation of your image.
Why is it being uploaded sideways in the first place? This is not an issue limited to Typepad but can happen on other websites. Many mobile devices store an image's orientation in the EXIF metadata. EXIF stands for Exchangeable Image File Format - and there are still platforms that are not capable of reading this information such as image orientation.
After you've inserted your image, and you notice that the image is showing in the incorrect orientation, simply double-click the image. The image editor will pop up in a window, presenting additional image editing options. One of the first options shown is the Orientation tool, which is what you will use to rotate the image left, right, or flip it top to bottom.
The menu bar will toggle as you scroll up and down so it may appear above or below the image. The process takes less than a minute to complete and all you need to do to get back to composing your post is click the rotation button, the image orientation will change in your draft. Once your image is set, you can continue to edit your post and save your changes.
Any image tips you think would be helpful to a new blogger? Feel free to share in the comments below!
Recently we posted about Linktree, a platform that allows you to link to multiple URLs in Instagram. While writing the post, we got to thinking… You could do the same thing by creating a page in Typepad!
With a Typepad page, you can create a landing page to use as your Instagram bio link. Creating the page in Typepad allows you to keep your blog branding and you don’t have another account to keep track of. Let’s get started creating your landing page.
From your Typepad account, click on the Blogs tab, then the name of your blog. Click on the Posts tab, then Pages. Here you will see all the pages for your blog. Click on New Page to create a page.
Here is where you will design the landing page for Instagram (works exactly like creating a blog post). Once you are done designing your page, click on Publish. Copy the page URL and add that to your Instagram account.
If you are not sure what to add to your landing page, here are some suggestions:
We would love to see the landing page you create for Instagram. Share the link in the comments! What tips would you add to encourage readers to explore your blog?
Many Typepad bloggers are also YouTube vloggers. YouTube allows everyone to create videos showcasing their knowledge or talent. You can use our YouTube embed feature to quickly find and embed your videos directly into your blog post to share with your readers. To help your videos get found outside of your blog, you can use these simple SEO tips to optimize your channel. Let us show you how!
Before you create your video, search for the keywords you want to use. You want to find keywords that people are searching for around your video idea. What comes up with those keywords? If there are lots of videos about those keywords, try to narrow down your search or focus on a specific issue in your video idea. The point is to find keywords that are not used so your video will stand out in those search results.
The best way to start is to use YouTube’s search feature. Start searching your keywords and see what comes up in the drop-down. Here you can get an idea of what people are searching for concerning your keyword. Click on the keywords and see what shows up. Are there a lot of videos that cover the keywords or will your video stand out?
Once you have your keywords selected, USE THEM! You can use these keywords in multiple places so search engines will pick up your video and share it in search results.
The first place to add your keywords is in your video file name. When you upload your video, the name tells YouTube what your video is about.
The title of your video should also have your keywords. Don’t try to stuff your keywords into the title. Make it flow naturally in the title. Put your keywords at the beginning of your video title so it is not cut out when it’s truncated (you can have 100 characters for your title but YouTube truncates it at 70 characters).
YouTube gives you 5,000 characters in your video description, make sure to use it all! Be sure to use your keywords multiple times. You don’t want to shoehorn the keywords in, it should flow naturally within your description. The beginning of your description should include your keywords and exactly what the video is about. YouTube truncates the description at 160 characters. Your first 160 characters should entice your readers to click on Show More. Once they see the whole description, that is your chance to promote your brand with links and a call to action.
YouTube allows you to add subtitles to your video. These subtitles or transcripts need to be reviewed and edited to make sure they are correct. You want to make sure your keywords are clear in the subtitles as well. Subtitles allow Google and YouTube to “read” your video. When they know what is in your video, they can provide the video when someone searches for it.
At the end of your video, you want to include a call to action. What do you want viewers to do after they finish watching your video? The most popular are to comment, subscribe, and share. All of these can lead to increased SEO. The more viewers that interact with your video the more YouTube and Google know that your videos are providing the information needed in searches. If your video is popular it will show higher in search results.
YouTube is a visual medium. The first thing viewers see when searching is the thumbnail. You want to create a thumbnail that stands out and entices viewers to click on your video. First, your thumbnail needs to accurately represent your video. You want viewers to watch your full video, so they need to know what it’s about beforehand. If the title of your video is long, you can use a shortened version of your title in the thumbnail. Make it short and snappy to draw your viewers’ attention. When designing your thumbnail make sure to use contrasting colors for your text and background. Also, include your brand logo. This should not overtake the title of your video but should be put in the same place for consistency.
The thumbnail needs to be large enough to look good as your thumbnail and as your preview image in an embedded video player. So the thumbnail looks great in both places, YouTube recommends the image be 1280 pixels wide by 720 pixels tall.
Isn’t it nice when you are searching for something and you find a nice playlist to teach you all you need to know? Playlists are a great way to group videos. Once viewers finish one video, it will go to the next. Your playlist can be about an overarching idea and each video talks about one section under that idea. When creating playlists, it’s good to use the same thumbnail layout so viewers can visually see all the videos are related.
Your profile page is what viewers use to get an idea of what your channel is about. You can show why you're an expert in your area and why they should watch your videos. If they are on your profile page, that means they are very interested in your videos and you can use this to convert them to subscribers. Here are a few tips to help optimize your profile page.
Your banner is the first thing viewers will see when they go to your profile page. Make sure it has the most impact to encourage subscribers. The image size is your first consideration, the size should be 2560px x 1440px. This will make sure your banner image will display clearly on all different devices. While the image is large, you want to make sure your banner content is placed in the “safe area”. The safe area is the center 1546px x 423px of the banner. Any important text or images need to be put in this area so they can be viewed on all devices.
Now that you know your size, what do you put in your banner? It should be clean and clearly show everyone what your channel is about. Some things you can include in your banner are:
Your channel name
Your tag line
What kind of videos you make
Your posting schedule (if you have one)
Your social media handles
Once you know what you want in your banner, make sure your design does not obscure the information. You want a simple, clean design. Think about using a solid background and minimal text. Your banner should encourage viewers to subscribe to your channel.
The About section tells viewers more about your brand and channel. Here is another great place to add your keywords from your different videos. The description area allows you to have 5,000 characters, use them to describe your videos, your brand, and why someone would want to subscribe to your channel. The strongest text should be in the first 100-150 characters because that is will show in search results. The About section also lets you add links. Add links to your blog and your social media pages. Encourage viewers to follow your social media channels to get more information and to be notified when new videos are posted.
You can do everything right but if your videos are not entertaining and engaging, no one will watch or subscribe (which is your goal!). Think outside the box and look for new ways to educate and entertain your viewers. It should still fit your brand but you want to make sure the content provides the information needed. At the beginning of the video, make sure to tell your viewers about the video and why they should stick around until the end. Your videos should reflect the passion and energy you feel, viewers will pick up on this.
These tips are all designed to help you be found in search results and show your viewers you are a trusted source. What other tips would you suggest for other Typepad vloggers? Share with us your YouTube channel! We would love to see your videos.
With the announcement of Feedburner being shut down by Google, bloggers have been scrambling with their RSS subscribers. Many bloggers rely on email notifications to alert subscribers to new blog updates. There are also readers who like to read blog posts directly from their inbox. In addition to Feedblitz, which gives you great feed enhancement services, like podcasting and statistics, we would like to share another service which allows you to set up an email subscription for your blog: Follow.It
Follow.It offers a very easy setup. Simply enter your blog's RSS URL where it says "Add the follow feature to your site". Your blog's RSS is the blog's address followed by atom.xml or rss.xml. For example:
https://everything.typepad.com/blog/atom.xml
or
https://everything.typepad.com/blog/rss.xml
After you click "Next", you will be taken to a new page to a design a signup form you can place on your blog. You can change the size, font, and color to match your blog's design. At the bottom of the page an HTML code is generated with your customization. It will look similar to this:
Copy the code Follow.it provides and, in a separate browser window opened to your Typepad account, in your blog settings go to Design > Content > Modules > Embed Your Own HTML, paste this code in the pop-up and click OK.
The module will automatically appear on the top of your sidebar in the Content page. You can click and drag your new module if you want it appear elsewhere in your sidebar. After you save your updates, the new sign up form will appear in your published blog's sidebar.
Going back to the Follow.It page, the "Continue" button will take you to another addition you can use, which will allow you to add a Follow button to the end of your posts. The Follow button is optional but, if you want to add this feature, it's only two steps.
Step one, pick an image to download.
Step two, use the link in this field to link to the image you download. You can either upload the image to your sidebar or insert it as a signature at the end of each blog post.
Follow.It provides access to your list of followers once you've claimed your feed. The feature is available via their free Basic account option, which is robust enough for a majority of bloggers. They offer additional plans if you wish to obtain more details about your subscribers, statistics, and more.
Do you offer email subscriptions for your blog? Share the link with us in the comments so we can all check it out!
On April 14, 2021, Google announced FeedBurner's email subscription feature would no longer be available starting July 2021. We know many Typepad users have relied on FeedBurner to email readers when a new post is published to their blog. Read more about the changes coming to FeedBurner on Google's site.
If you're utilizing FeedBurner, you'll want to take some time over the next few weeks to find a new email subscription service that best meets your needs. FeedBlitz, an email subscription service we have recommended over the years, has a great article on what to consider when choosing a new email subscription provider here.
Some things to consider when looking for a new email subscription service:
Before the first of July, you'll want to make sure to back up your subscriber list. FeedBurner has information on downloading your email subscribers here. Make this your last step so you don't miss any recent signups.
We have made FeedBlitz easy to integrate with Typepad. Learn more. However, you can also check out Follow.it, which has a free version, or do an online search for other tools. Most services will work seamlessly with your Typepad blog's feed.
If you need any help with the transition away from FeedBurner, just let us know by opening a help ticket in your Typepad account at Help > New Ticket or emailing us at [email protected].
Lots of Typepad bloggers use Instagram to share images of their crafts or adventures. One downside to Instagram is you can’t add a link to your post. A common practice is to add "Link in bio" in your Instagram post. You can only have one link in your bio, if you add your blog link, readers would have to search your blog to find the post they want. That's not a great experience for your followers.
LinkTree has a better idea! They provide you with one link to use in your bio that will take your viewers to a list of links you can easily customize. Add links to your blog, to current posts, to previous posts, to your store, and anywhere you want to share. Here's how the link looks on @everything_typepad's Instagram page.
Go to https://linktr.ee/ and click on Sign Up. Enter in your email address, what you want your LinkTree handle to be, and your password. Next, they will ask for your name and to select 3 categories that will best describe your LinkTree. Last, you will be asked if you want the Free plan or the Pro plan. We recommend you start with the free plan. You can always update later if you feel you need more from LinkTree. With your account set up, you can customize your LinkTree page.
The next step is to add your links. From the Link tab, you can add links to your blog, your social media, and your latest posts. We recommend you limit the number of links to posts you have. You'll need to update your LinkTree page as you publish more posts.
Once your links are set, you can click on Appearance. Upload an image your viewers will recognize across all your platforms, like your logo. Next, you'll give your LinkTree a profile name and description. Keep your description short. You want viewers to focus on your links. LinkTree has some customized themes you can choose from. For complete customization, you do need to upgrade to their Pro plan.
Now that your LinkTree page is complete you are ready to add it to your Instagram profile. On the top right in LinkTree, you will see your page URL (https://linktr.ee/example) copy the link and go to Instagram to update your profile with your new LinkTree link. Now when viewers click on your LinkTree link, they can see a custom page with multiple links. Here's the LinkTree page for @everything_typepad.
LinkTree provides analytics for your links as well. In the free plan, you can see how many views and clicks above all your links. Scroll down to specific links to see how many clicks each link has received. If you need more information, you can upgrade to the Pro plan and view their advanced analytics.
What other Instagram tips or tricks do you use to stand out. Share them in the comments!
Collecting information from your readers doesn’t have to be hard. Google Forms is a great (and free) way to create a form your readers can fill out. There're all kinds of things you can do with your Google Form. Once you have it created you can easily add it to a post, page, or sidebar.
To use Google Forms, you first need a Google account. If you don’t have one, it's easy to set up. Once your Google account is created, log into your Gmail account and click on the 9 dots (top right). Select Forms and your Form account will come up.
Google offers a multitude of premade templates for you to select and customize. Look for a template that fits your needs or create one from scratch.
Google Forms allows you to add different types of questions to your form depending on the answer you want. To add a question, click on the Plus (+) sign on the right and a new question will be added to the bottom of your form. The questions types are Short Text, Paragraph, Multiple Choice, Check Box, Drop Down, or File Upload.
You can also structure the question in different ways. You can have Linear Scale, Multiple-Choice Grid, or a Check Box Grid. These are great for ranking questions.
Pro Tip: You can add more than questions to your form, you can add images and videos as well.
If you have a larger form for your readers, you can break it up into smaller sections. Each section will be on a separate page and can have as many questions as you need.
Once you have your questions in order, you can customize the theme of your form. You can add colors to match your branding. Add a banner image to the form that includes your logo and a title for your form.
When creating your forms there're a few best practices to keep in mind.
Plan out your form. Make sure to plan out what information you want your readers to provide. Are they signing up for a newsletter or giving feedback on your blog or services? Be clear on what you want to get from the form.
One theme at a time. Don’t try to do everything with one form.
Only ask for information you will use. Readers may not want to fill out the form if you ask too many questions. It may feel personal and invasive to ask for a lot of personal information.
Keep it short. Now one wants to spend all day filling out a form. You can let your readers know about how long it will take to fill out the form (ex: This form should take around 5 minutes to fill out. Enjoy!)
Test your questions. After you have created your form, give it to a friend or co-worker to fill out and ask for feedback. Sometimes a question that might seem clear to you, may be confusing to the reader.
Now that you have the perfect form you need to add it to your blog. We're going to focus on adding it to a post or a page and your sidebar.
Get Your Embed Code
Once your form is completed in Google Forms, click on the purple Send button. You'll see different options to send your form, click on the Embed option (<>). Here you will see the embed code you need to copy. Before you copy, you can adjust the height and width of the form. If you plan on publishing on a blog post or page, you can leave the default width and height in place. If you want to add to your sidebar, change the width to be between 200 and 300 px wide (you don’t have to adjust the height). Once you have the correct width and height, copy your embed code.
Post/Page
From the Compose page, click on the HTML tab. Paste in the code where you want it then click on Preview to view the form in your post. If it looks great, click on Save Changes or Publish.
Sidebar
To add your form to your sidebar, click on the name of the blog, then the Design tab. Click on the Content tab, then add an Embed Your Own HTML module. In the pop-up, give your module a name and then paste in the embed code. Click on ok, then save changes.
Using a link to your form
If you don’t want to display the form on your blog, you can always link to it in your sidebar. In Google Forms, click on the Send button then Link (looks like a chain). Here you'll see the URL to your form. You can create a custom image and use the Sidebar Image Module to insert an image and make it a clickable link.
In Google Forms, you can view your results by clicking on the name of the form on the main page then clicking on Responses. Here you will see the answers to all your questions. You can review the results as a summary, by questions, or by a person. This will let you drill down to find more specific information.
Now that you know about Google Forms, how will you use it to learn more about your readers? What other programs do you use to learn more about your readers? Share with everyone in the comments.
Did you know when you add a title to your blog post or page that Typepad uses it to make your permalink? While the title may be great for drawing attention to your post, it may not be the best for your URL. Today, we're going to walk through how to change your permalink (AKA slug) and discuss the benefits of changing it.
On the compose page, you'll see the permalink displayed under the title. The permalink contains your domain, the publish date, and your slug. When you choose to edit the permalink, you are editing the slug.
Pro Tip: A slug is the part of a permalink that comes after the domain extension.
As stated earlier, your title may not make the best permalink. Your permalink should be short, descriptive, and SEO-friendly. Let's review these recommendations together.
Short
Your slug should be around three to five keywords. Anything longer and it may become difficult for readers to remember the URL. The full permalink will also look more professional when you sharing it on social sites.
Here is an example from Everything Typepad:
Post Title: Need New Pinterest Followers? Showcase Pinterest On Your Blog
Original URL: https://everything.typepad.com/blog/2021/03/need-new-pinterest-followers-showcase-pinterest-on-your-blog.html
Edited URL: https://everything.typepad.com/blog/2021/03/add-pinterest-widget.html
You can see that we shorten the slug so it's easier to remember.
Descriptive
Make sure your slug tells the reader exactly what they'll be reading about. You'll gain their trust when they see your link describes the information in your post.
SEO Friendly
When thinking of a good slug, make sure to include SEO-friendly keywords. This helps Google and your readers know what the post is about and can approve your rankings.
Use A Hyphen Between Words
When you enter the words for your slug, make sure to add a hyphen or underscore between them. If you don’t, Typepad will display an error when you attempt to save your new permalink, reminding you what is allowed in the slug. We advise using hyphens, but underscores work as well.
Edit Before You Publish
Edit the slug before you publish your post. If you have published your post and shared it with your readers, any edit will break the original post URL. This is a bad experience for your readers.
Leave Out Function Words
When creating your slug, try to leave out function words as long as the slug still makes sense. Functions words include the, a, an, is, etc.
Don’t Use Punctuation
If you try to use punctuation in your slug, Typepad will give you an error reminding you to only use letters, numbers, hyphens, or underscores.
Now that you know about editing your permalink, take the time with your next post to create a short, descriptive, SEO-friendly slug to improve reader's engagement and search engine ranking. You can use Google Analytics to help track your posts' views to compare older, unedited permalinks to your new, edited permalinks.
Do you have any tips you use when customizing your permalinks? Let us know in the comments!