Everything Typepad

Using your Amazon Associates ID with Books & Albums Typelists

After you set up your Amazon Associates account, you can add your associates ID to your Typepad account. Go to Account > Other Accounts, select Amazon from the drop-down menu, and click Add.

In the pop-up box, select your local vendor from the drop-down menu, enter your Amazon Associates ID, and click Save.

Now, your Amazon Associates ID will be used for links to Amazon items included in Books and Albums Typelists.

Creating a new Typelist

To create a new Typelist, open the Library menu and select Typelists. Click the Add A Typelist link.

The type of Typelist will need to be Books or Albums in order to select items from Amazon which use your associates ID. Regardless of whether you select Books or Albums, you can mix and match items from Amazon and include items which aren't books or albums.

Enter a List Name which will appear as a heading above the list in your blog's sidebar. Click Create New Typelist to get started adding items to the list.

Adding Amazon items to the Typelist

In the Add Item section, you will need to use the Quick Add search to find the item on Amazon. If you enter the details for the item manually, the item will not link to Amazon using your associates ID.

Enter your keywords to search the Amazon database and click Go. Tip: If you want to link to a specific item, grab the ASIN (for non-books) or ISBN (for books) from Amazon and use that number in the Quick Add search. A list of results from Amazon will appear.

You can select the item based on the thumbnail image or the specific item you wish to link on Amazon. Click Choose Selected. After reviewing the item details, click Save Changes.

To add the Typelist to your blog, open the Blogs menu, select your blog, and click to Design > Content. Select "Your Typelists" from the Categories list, choose the correct module, and click Add This Module. You can drag the Typelist to the preferred location in the sidebar and click Save Changes.

When you view your blog and click any links in the Books or Albums Typelists, the link will take you to the Amazon page using your associates ID in the URL. You'll get credit to your Associates account if anyone buys an item through your links!

Note: You can add new items to the Typelists at Library > Typelists, and the module on your blog will update automatically with the new items. Update your Typelists and rotate items regularly to get more click-throughs.

How do you use Books & Albums Typelists? Share a link to your blogs in the comments so we can take a look!

Featured Blog: Reel Adventures Guide Service

Fishing Season is back and Reel Adventures Guide Service couldn't be happier! Dave Neal lives in Northern California and is passionate about steelhead and trout fly fishing.  He shares his fishing trips out on the river with his family and also conducts guided tours for fishing lovers.

Follow: Profile | Facebook

Add A Google Album To Your Blog

Have you ever been in this scenario? 

You're out on a great adventure and you take a tone of pictures with your phone. You create a great Google Photo album to share with your readers. Now you need to add it to your blog. Google doesn't offer embed code so now what do you do? 

No need to worry. You can create embed code using Embed.ly! It's fast and easy to use. Let us show you how. 

Create Embed Code

First, you'll need to create a Google Photo Album. If you already have an album created, open the album you want to use. On the top right, click on the 3 dots, then Options. 

Next to Collaborate, turn it off. Collaborate allows others to add to your album. Now copy the Link To Share. 

Once you have the URL go to Embed.ly and paste in the URL. 

A preview of the code will show below the URL. You can customize the code on the right hand side. Here you can add social buttons to the images, choose a dark theme, and embed SEO. You can also customize the width of the display and align the display. Once you are done customizing the display you can copy the code generated. 

Quick Tip: To keep the album mobile responsive leave the width on auto. 

Add To Typepad

To Publish on a Post

From the compose page, click on the Source Code button (<>). In the pop up, you will see the code for your post. Put your cursor where you want the album and paste in the embed code, then click on OK. On the compose page, you will only see text from the album. When you preview or publish the post, it will show the first image in your album. When readers click on the album, it will open in Google for them. 

To Publish on a Sidebar

You can also make an album to share on the sidebar of your blog. When you create the code in Embed.ly, you want to change the width to be 150 or smaller. 

Click on the Blogs tab, then the name of the blog. Click on the Design tab, then Content. Under Modules, select Embed Your Own HTML, then Add This Module. In the pop up, give the Module a label (like Google Album) and paste in your embed code. After the code add <br>. Click on OK, then Save Changes. 

Now your readers can view and comment on images from your latest adventure! Share with us what you would add to your Google Album. 

Embed.ly is a great tool and can be used to embed anything that gives you a URL. Here are some examples from The New York Post and Reddit. 

Seen On Typepad: Bee Bath

Seen on Typepad highlights new and interesting posts from our community of Typepad bloggers, enjoy!

From: Helmar Creative Team Blog

I have been reading up on all sorts of stuff about container gardening and veggie gardening when I came across a Bee Bath and it seemed like a really cute idea and a great way to use this broken chair I rescued from being sent to the tip as I felt it would work in my garden to rest my Bee Bath on. 

Read More at Helmar Creative Team Blog

Get Started With Amazon Associates

Now that you have been blogging for a while, you may be wondering "what's the next step?" You work hard to create amazing content, joining Amazon's Associate program is a great way to monetize that content. You can easily start an account and generate code to add to your blog.

Amazon's Associates program is a referral program. When a reader clicks on an Amazon link from your blog, you get a percentage of what they purchase in the next 24 hours. Let’s go over creating your Amazon Associates account. 

Join Amazon Associates Program

From the Amazon Associates homepage you can click on Join Now for Free to either log into your existing Amazon account or create a new account. 

Set-up Your Amazon Associates Account

Amazon will ask for your personal information. Add your name, mailing address and phone number. If you already have an account, you will see your information there. 

Add Your Blog URL

Amazon needs to know where you are on the web. Add the URL to your blog along with any social media sites (they only accept Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and Twitch.tv). If you have a mapped domain, add your mapped domain and your Typepad URL. Once you click on next, you will need to confirm your blog is not directed to anyone 13 years or younger. This is to be compliant with Children's Online Privacy Protection Rule ("COPPA").

Set-up Profile

Here you can tell Amazon about your blog. What is your blog about? How do you drive traffic to your blog? How many unique views do you receive each month? Most of these questions are answered with multiple choice answers or picking from a drop down menu. You will need to accept their terms of service and then click Finished. 

Payment and Tax information

Tell Amazon how you would like to be paid. You can get a direct deposit after you have earned $10, an Amazon gift card after you earned $10, or have a check mailed to you after you earned $100. If you are unsure how you want to get paid or need to gather information you can skip this part. 

Next, you can add your tax information. You can set it up as an individual or as a business. If you select individual, you will need to add your full name and SSN/ITIN number. If you select business, you will need to select a Federal Tax Classification and add your EIN. 

Congratulations! You've created your Amazon Associates account. At first you are under their Application Review Process. You have 180 days to generate at least 3 sales to continue with your account. Amazon offers several ways to generate sales. Something we will go over in our next post!

 

Support A Cause With Your Blog - GoFundMe And Kickstarter

If there is a charity or fundraiser you feel really passionate about, are you using your blog to share this with your readers?  Many websites offer an "embed" option to share information from their site to yours.  GoFundMe and Kickstarter include an Embed option to share their fundraisers to other places besides social media accounts. 

NOTE: Because you are dealing with a third-party script, it is recommended that you complete your blog draft first and then proceed to insert your script last, just as you're ready to schedule or publish your post.

Locate the "Share" button on the GoFundMe or Kickstarter page and select "Embed", this will direct you to a pop-up window where you can customize the appearance of your makeshift fundraising widget.

Embed Code from GoFundMe

Embed Code from Kickstarter

The code is generated for you, all you need to do is copy and paste it into your blog post. It's very easy to embed HTML code into your post using the HTML editor tab on the Compose Page. In your draft, switch to the HTML tab.

We do not recommend switching back to the Rich Text editor as this type of editor does not read javascript and you will not see the fundraising widget appear on the Compose page but it will appear if you click the Preview button. Just make sure you copy and paste the embed code entirely with all its closing tags to ensure it will display properly.

 

Quick Tip: Change The Color Of Your Navigation Links In Magazine

Our new Magazine Layout showcases your blog posts using a featured card layout. You can further customize this theme by changing the color of the navigation bar links to match your branding. Let us show you how. 

The Magazine layout is available to our Beta Team members. Join our Beta Team and have access to all the new features and provide feedback. To access the Custom CSS you need to have the Unlimited plan or higher.  

To add Custom CSS, click on the Blogs tab, then the name of the blog. Click on the Design tab, then Custom CSS.

Copy the CSS code below and paste it onto the page. 

.nav-item a, .nav-item a:visited {
   color: #DD77D2;
}

Next, update the color: to include the hex color value you want for your navigation links. Once you are done, click on Save Changes. 

Example of colors:

Black
.nav-item a, .nav-item a:visited {
   color: #000000;
}

Blue
.nav-item a, .nav-item a:visited {
   color: #002fa7;
}

Red
.nav-item a, .nav-item a:visited {
   color: #ff4105;
}

You can customize other parts of the Magazine. We have a great post to help you customize your blog title.

What other parts of the Magazine Layout do you want to customize? Let us know in the comments and you may see a post about it!

Featured Blog: Laowai

Laowai means "foreigner" in Chinese and is the name of a blog about an American family living in Switzerland - what?? Ok, they were supposed to move to China but that didn't pan out but the blog name stuck! Read about their adventures in Switzerland, how they stay connected to family back in the United States, crafty projects, cooking recipes and more.

Follow: Profile

Add Meta Keywords and a Description to Your Post

When you need to know something, what's the first thing you do? You Google it! But how does Google know what sites to bring up? Along with a complex algorithm, they use your Metadata. Let's talk about Metadata and how you can add it to your blog.

What Is Metadata 

Metadata is data about your site. Each page and post on your blog has data that tells Search Engines what's on your page. When someone searches, Google uses this data (and much more) to bring up the most reliable pages to answer the search query. You can add Meta Keywords and Meta Description to your post to help Google bring up the right information for the person searching.

Meta Keywords

Google had devalued keywords recently. Some bad apples would stuff their site with valuable keywords to help their site rank higher in search results. It is unclear what weight keywords have in Google’s algorithm but it is still good to have them. We recommend long tail keywords. Long tail keywords are more like sentences about your blog post. They include things like “How to create a get well card” or “How to cook a steak”. Long tail keywords are helpful because more and more people are using Google Voice Search to find information instead of typing it in. (Hey Google!)

Meta Description

This is the description that shows under your post title and URL in Google. It shows a brief description of what the page is about. If the keywords searched for are in the post, Google will highlight it here. This can be generic for you whole blog and detailed for each blog post and page. 

Add Metadata To Your Blog

There are two different places in Typepad you can add Metadata. The first is an overview of the blog itself and the second is for each post or page.

Add To Your Whole Blog 

Search Engines want to know what your blog is about. This Metadata shares with them the keywords and description for your blog on a whole. You can update this as your blog evolves.

From the Settings tab, click on the SEO tab on the left. Here you can add Meta Keywords and Meta Description for your whole blog.

Add To Your Individual Blog Posts and Pages

When you create a post or a page, you can add more customized Metadata that drills down what the particular post or page is about. Make sure to use keywords and phrases that show up in the post.
From the Compose page, scroll down to Keywords. Here you will enter your Keywords for the post. The Excerpt is where you will put a brief description about the post. Make sure to use as many of the keywords you can but sound natural as well.

A Quick Word About Google

You may spend some time crafting the perfect description for your blog, blog post, or page. You use the correct keywords and your readers can easily understand the description. Then you do a quick Google search and that doesn’t come up. Well, Google will do what it wants to sometimes.

First, if you recently published the page, Google may not have crawled it yet. They will use the first paragraph on the post or your blog description. You will need to wait for Google to crawl your page and update their information. If you are updating older posts or pages, you can ask Google to recrawl your page through Google Search Console.

Second, Google wants to showcase the search terms used. If your meta description does't have it, they will use text in the post that does have it. This is to show the searcher your post has the keywords they are looking for.

A great way to view what Google shares is to just search your site. To search just your site add site: before your domain.

Example: site:everything.typepad.com

Tip: You don’t need to add https or www.

Not sure which posts are popular or not? Add Google Analytics to your blog and let them do the tracking.

Here you'll see the description that shows when your post comes up without keywords. If your blog is older, you may have a few pages to review. We recommend starting with your least popular posts. If you add Keywords and a Description does it impove the page views? 

 

Quick Tip: Move Date Above Blog Post Title

Today we're here to bring you a quick CSS trick in customizing your blog's design.  In order to take advantage of the Custom CSS feature, you need to have an Unlimited plan or higher.  

By default, the post date appears under the blog post title: 

Some bloggers prefer the date to appear above the post title.  This can be achieved by inserting the following CSS code at Design > Custom CSS: 

.post { position: relative; }
.date-header.font-dateheader {
position: absolute;
top: 0;
}
.individual-post h5.date-header, .post h5.date-header {
margin: -19px 0 10px;
margin-bottom: 10px;
}

After saving your changes, the date will appear on top

You may need to adjust the measurement for the bottom spacing (in this example, it is set to -19px). 

What ways do you use Custom CSS to customize your blog's appearance? Let us know in the comments!