Business Blogging Pros

TypePad's Widget Gallery Goes Poof

A recent post on Everything Typepad informs us that TypePad's Widget Gallery has been pulled down.

I know I'm not alone when I wonder if we're seeing the decline of TypePad.  Turnaround time on help tickets now seems to be about 72 hours.  It's been nearly two weeks since I sent my email to TypePad's new GM and I've not received a response - a world of difference since the days when a comment on Twitter would prompt Anil Dash to call me on the phone.

The other day I made a foray into TypePad's Advanced Templates to see if we could use them to solve a specific customer's problem.  While the documentation for Advanced Templates was never great, almost all of it has been removed.  Advanced templates are now pretty worthless.

All this leads me to worry that TypePad's best days are behind them.

Online Image Resizing Tool

I found a great (and simple) online tool for resizing images.

While both Typepad and WordPress can automatically resize images in the body of a page or post, often you need to resize an image manually for placement in the sidebar.

This tool at http://www.photosize.com does exactly that and nothing more.

"My Blog Posts aren't Showing Up on Facebook and LinkedIn"

At least once a month someone calls me or send me an email with this problem.  The purpose of this article is to help you troupbleshoot it.

The fact that your posts aren't showing up in TWO places is significant.  It means the problem is not at either Facebook or LinkedIn.  What else is in common?

• Are both Facebook and LinkedIn being fed from Twitter?
• Are both being fed your RSS feed via Feedburner?

If the answer to either of those is 'Yes' then you have an additional point of commonality to investigate.

The Most Common Cause

Note the date of your last blog post that appears on Facebook and Twitter. That's important because the problem is mostlikely associated with the very next post, the first one that didn't get published on Facebook and LinkedIn.

Usually when I investigate the problem, I discover the culprit is the client has pasted directly from MS-Word.  Most people have 'Replace straight quotation marks with smart quotation marks' turned on, for example.  Smart Quotes are not legal characters in an RSS feed and will bring things to a halt.

Follow these steps to fix the offending post:

1. Carefully look for curly single and double quote characters.  Replace then with the stright variety.
2. Switch to HTML mode (There is an HTML tab at the upper right of the Body field).  Strip out everything that is not the text of your post.
3. Switch back to Rich Text mode and reformat.

TypePad Micro is the Bomb!

'Bomb', as in 'Fantastic'.

I've started a TypePad Micro blog as an alternate stream for my foodie blog. If you follow me on Twitter, you know that I tweet the progress of my Sunday evening meal preparation.  Just to torment you, this Sunday I prepared:

• Sliced FIlet Minon on a bed of Cippolini Onions and Wild Mushrooms
• Prosciutto-wraped Mozzarella on a bed of diced Heirloom Tomatoes

I usually include photos of the preparation as well as the finished product. While I can do so via TweetDeck, its a lot of button-pushing.

With TypePad Micro there is an easier way.

1. I created a TypePad Micro blog under my main Fumbling Foodie account.  I called that blog 'Fast Food''. 
2. TypePad provides each blog with a special email address.  You can create a blog post be simply sending an email to that address.
3. I take a picture using my iPhone and then email it to that address.
4. My TypePad Micro blog is connected to my Twitter account.  Each time a new blog post is published it will automatically tweet it for me.

BTW, you can see photos on my TypePad Micro blog of meal here and here. 

Get a FREE TypePad Blog

Admit it:  You've always wanted a TypePad blog. 

Now you can have one for FREE.  

Typepad has created TypePad Micro, a new free version.  The layout is intended for content that's somewhere between the 140 characters of Twitter and the longer content of a traditional blog (though as far as I know there is nothing limited the length of your posts).

And while it's called MIcro, it appears at first glance to have all the features you would expect from Typepad.

I apologize if I'm sounding a little like an ad for TypePad but the truth is I'm ecstatic about Micro. TypePad is the premier platform for hosted blogs, IMHO.  Great support.  Reliable.  The best integrated connections to other important services like Twitter and Facebook and Feedburner.  The best community-related features, bar none.  Built-in SEO that is world-class and second to none.

And now you don't have to sacrifice that to have a free blog.

I'm thinking about all the ways I can make use of Micro: It will be a great adjunct to my foodie blog.  I'll probably create one as an adjunct to this blog and use it specifically for video.

Which is Better? Convertible Sportscar vs Pickup Truck?

It's a ridiculous comparison and it's meant to me.  The two are designed for two completely different types of people and two completely different types of driving.

Mashable doesn't seem to see the distinction.  Last week they did a 'WordPress vs TypePad' poll, and it's just as ridiculous as the 'Convertible vs Pickup' comparison - the two are designed for two completely different types of people.

WordPress' template system is simpler and easier to understand.  If you need to heavily customize your blog then you are probably better off with WordPress (Having said that, I customize every client's TypePad blog and so so with only a few CSS changes.  I never modify the templates themselves).

The big issue is this:  Do you have the technical ability to host your blog, and understand all the maintenance issues that go along with it?  New Wordpress versions seem to appear every month.  Yes, WordPress has made the upgrade process easy, but is your theme compatible with the new  version? Are your plugins compatible? What if they are not? Are you prepared to handle it if something goes wrong?

My clients are business owners.  Their business is running their business, not running their blog.  For most of them, TypePad is a better choice.

TypePad Help: Display a Static Page as Your Blog's Front Page

If you are using your TypePad blog as a website then perhaps you will want to move the blog off the front page. You may want to have the front page be a static page that tells your visitors who you are and what you do.

Click on the Settings tab. Locate Posts & Pages in the left sidebar and click on it.  Scroll down until you see the section shown here.  Click on DIsplay a 'page' and select the desired page.

Typepad Help: Write Now, Publish Later

It's time for your long-overdue vacation.  You're about to spend two weeks at a spot so remote there is no Internet access (Yes, those places still exist).  But what about your blog?  You don't want your readers to feel neglected, do you?

Fortunately TypePad provides a way for you to write your posts ahead of time and publish them later. Look for the Status section in the sidebar. Change the drop-down to Publish On.

A pop-up calendar will appear.  You can specify the exact date and time you want your post to be published. Don't forget to click the green Publish button when you're done.

TypePad Help: Widgets

A Widget is a little piece of content or functionality provided by a third party that you can add to your typepad blog.

For example, I often get asked about adding a 'contact us' form to a blog.  There's a Widget for that.  Want to add a PayPal storefront?  There's a Widget for that.  Want to share upcoming events from your Google Calendar?  There's a Widget for that. Best of all, you don't have to be a geek to install a Widget. 

TypePad's Widget Gallery can be found here, but here are some of my favorites:

FormSpring forms.  Create a contact form.  Use it to gather opt-in data. FormSpring can connect to various shopping carts so you could use it as a simple online store.

Feedzilla. Build your own custom news feed using any search criteria and display it on your blog.

Google Calendar. Display your events from your Google Calendar.

PayPal Storefront. A mini store.  Displays title, price, and image for each item you want to sell.

OpenMind. Prominently display quotes from your blog.  When a reader clicks on a quote they are taken to the blog post containing that quote.

Job Search. Several widgets allow you to display job postings on your blog.

ShareThis. My all-time favorite.  Give your readers a single icon to click on and share your content via Twitter, Facebook, email, Digg, and more.

Lijit.  My second favorite.  Add a search engine to your Typepad blog.  User's enter a search term, click 'search' and see all your blog posts containing that term.

TypePad Help: Google Analytics

TypePad has made it easier than ever to add Google Analytics to your blog.  After you've set up your Google Analytics account and created a 'website profile' for your blog, all you need to do is:

1. When you log in to your Google Analytics account you should see a pae that looks like this. Find the UA Number associated with your blog. (If you can't find an entry for your blog in the table then you need to add a profile for it.  Look for the Add Profile link):

2. Log in to your Typepad account. Click on the Settings tab.  Then click on Stats.  Enter your UA Number in the field:

3. If you previously added the Google Analytics code snippet to a Typelist you should remove it from the Typelist.  If you previously added the Google Analytics code snippet via an 'Embed your own HTML' module (on the Design-> Organize Content page) then you should remove it that module.

TypePad help: Connecting your TypePad Blog to Twitter

If you have a Twitter account you can have your blog automatically tweet about your blog posts each time you publish them. Here's how to set it up.

Click on Account near the upper right corner of the screen.

Locate Other Accounts in the left sidebar and click on it. The Other Accounts page will appear. Locate Add an account and select Twitter from the drop-down.

The Twitter Authorization form will appear in a pop-up window.  Enter your Twitter username and password and click the Allow button. After a moment the Your Other Accounts page will refresh and you will see Twitter in the list.

Now it's time to set the default. Click on Blogs in the green bar at the top of the page and select your blog from the list.  Click the Settings tab.  Click on Sharing in the left sidebar. Turn on Twitter under Publicize Defaults:

When you create a new blog post, notice the Share This Post section.  Twitter will be checked by default:

My new book, Guide to the New Typepad is packed with tips and step-by-step instructions just like this.

TypePad Help: Technorati Tags

Very few people understand the significant Google juice provided by Technorati Tags.  You are fortunate for two reasons:

1. Support for Technorati Tags is built into TypePad
2. I'm going to explain how to use them

First The Experiment

It had been about 2 years since I last tried to quantify the impact of Technorati Tags upon Google rankings and so I decided it was time to run the experiment again.  

I created two blogs under my TypePad account and made them as identical as possible.  As the subject, I chose the Planet Magrathea (deliberately misspelled 'Magrathia') from the famous Hichhiker's Guide to the Galaxy book.  I posted the same content to both blogs.  I specified the technorati tag "Magrathia" in every post on one blog and used no Technorati Tags on the second blog.  Here's what I saw after about a week:

The blog in which i used the Technorati tags is ranked number 5 an 6 in Google for the term "Magrathia".  In fact if I expand the "Show more results from..." link, the results for the blog in which I used Technorati Tags both out rank and outnumber the one in which I did not.

Using Technorati Tags

When you create a new blog post, scroll down to the Keywords and Technorati Tags section and expand it if necessary.  You will see the Technorati Tags field.

What do you put there? Put words or phrases that describe what this post is about.  Put yourself into the shoes of your reader.  If this blog post answer's a reader's question, how would they type the question into Google?  Whatever that is, put it here.  You can use multiple tags separated by commas.  Each tag can be a word or phrase.  It helps if the word or phrase also appears in the body of your post.

Displaying Technorati Tags in the Post Footer

It does no good to enter TechnoratiTags for each post of you don't display them. Click on the Design Tab.  Click on Organize Content.  Locate the little edit icon (it looks like a pencil) adjacent to Post Footer and click on it.

Make sure that Technorati Tags is checked.

How to Create Landing Pages in Typepad

Not long ago, my friend Any Wibbels hosted a webinar describing how to use a TypePad blog as an eCommerce website.  You can view Andy's webinar here. An additional feature that I get asked about frequently is a landing page. 

Most of us eventually need a landing page.  We produce a book or white paper and we want to direct people to a page focused on our offering while providing them with as few other distractions as possible.

I'm going to describe three ways to accomplish this:

Method 1, The Simplest: Create an Ordinary Static Page on Your Blog

The simplest method is to create an ordinary static page on your blog. While it is the simplest, your landing page will display your blog's banner, nav bar, and sidebar(s). You may consider these elements too distracting.

Assuming you are on the New TypePad, click the down-arrow in the Compose button and select Page.  Create your landing page, making it appear exactly as you wish.

Method 2, Landing Page on a Second Blog

This second method allows your landing page to share your blog's look and feel while eliminating distracting elements such as the Navigation Bar and Sidebar(s).  You need to have a Pro account to use this method.

Click on Blogs in the green band at the top of the page and select Add a Blog. For the purpose of this post we'll name the new blog 'Landing'. On the Design Tab select Choose a Theme and select the same theme for your new blog that you use on your existing blog.  While still on the Design Tab click on Select a Layout and select the 1 Column layout. 

Next go to your main blog's Design Tab, click on Add Custom CSS and copy the contents of the large custom CSS field.  Now go to your new landing page blog's Design tab, click on Add Custom CSS, and paste into the field.  This will make sure that your landing page has the same look and feel as your main blog.  

Most of TypePad's themes are 940px wide except in 1-Column layout.  You'll want to modify the width of the 1-Column layout to accommodate your original blog's 940px-wide banner.  To do so, add this to the end of the CSS in the Custom CSS field:

.layout-one-column #container,
.layout-one-column #banner,
.layout-one-column #alpha {
 width: 940px;
}

While still on the Design tab, click on Organize Content. Uncheck:

• Navigation Bar
• Archive Headers
• Post Date Header
• Post Title
• Post Footer
• Blog Footer

Remove (by clicking on the white X in the red circle) the sidebar modules:

• Archives
• Categories
• Post Feed
• Powered By TypePad Link

Create a static page for your landing page content.(Click the down-arrow in the Compose button and select Page.) Very Important: Leave the Title blank. 

After publishing the page, click on the Settings tab. and select Posts & Pages. Scroll down to the Front Page section. Click on Display a 'page' as the front page. Since your landing page has no title the entry in the drop-down box will be blank.

Method 3: Landing Page on a Second Blog that Looks Completely Different from Your Main Blog

With two small modifications, the Journal theme makes an excellent blank canvas for a landing page.

Click on Blogs in the green band at the top of the page and select Add a Blog. For the purpose of this post we'll name the new blog 'Landing'. On the Design Tab select Choose a Theme and select one of the Journal themes.  While still on the Design Tab click on Select a Layout and select the 1 Column layout. 

While still on the Design Tab, click on Add Custom CSS and enter the following two lines into the large custom CSS field:

#banner{ display:none;}
.entry-header { background: none; }

While still on the Design tab, click on Organize Content. Uncheck:

• Navigation Bar
• Archive Headers
• Post Date Header
• Post Title
• Post Footer
• Blog Footer

Remove (by clicking on the white X in the red circle) the sidebar modules:

• Archives
• Categories
• Post Feed
• Powered By TypePad Link

Create a static page for your landing page content.(Click the down-arrow in the Compose button and select Page.) Very Important: Leave the Title blank. 

After publishing the page, click on the Settings tab. and select Posts & Pages. Scroll down to the Front Page section. Click on Display a 'page' as the front page. Since your landing page has no title the entry in the drop-down box will be blank.

Give Your Landing Page it's Own Domain Name

No matter which of the above three methods you choose, to finish this project in a professional way you should give your landing page it's own short memorable domain name. GoDaddy is an excellent place to register a domain name because they give you complete control over all DNS settings. The instructions are in TypePad's Knowledge Base here.

More Small Business Resources

Typepad has an entire website dedicated to providing help and resources to small business owners who want to make the most of their TypePad blogs. You'll find a series of webinars, tools, and experts dedicated to helping you leverage your blog and other forms of social media to grow your business. To visit TypePad's Small Business Center, click here.

TypePad's Google Analytics Integration

TypePad has made it easier than ever to add Google Analytics to your blog.  After you've set up your Google Analytics account and created a 'website profile' for your blog, all you need to do is:

1. When you log in to your Google Analytics account you should see a pae that looks like this. Find the UA Number associated with your blog. (If you can't find an entry for your blog in the table then you need to add a profile for it.  Look for the Add Profile link):

2. Log in to your Typepad account. Click on the Settings tab.  Then click on Stats.  Enter your UA Number in the field:

3. If you previously added the Google Analytics code snippet to a Typelist you should remove it from the Typelist.  If you previously added the Google Analytics code snippet via an 'Embed your own HTML' module (on the Design-> Organize Content page) then you should remove it that module.

Typepad vs Wordpress Again

No, I'm not picking on Wordpress. I just want to point out that you have important things to do.  Running your business is one of them.  Keeping your blog's software up-to-date to insure that the latest security holes have been plugged should not have to be one of them.

The other day, I woke up to see this:

Do you know how to do a Wordpress upgrade?  Probably not.  And you shouldn't have to.  For example, here's a wonderful little snippet from the Upgrading Wordpress page:

That's enough to give even me pause. As I write this, I am doing this upgraded for  my main website.  I performed the upgrade on my 'staging' website first just to make sure, and now - with anxiety level elevated just a bit - I'm doing the upgrade for the production site. 

So when people ask me why I recommend Typepad, This Is Why. Or at least one of the reasons why.

If you have a TypePad site all this stuff is taken care of for you.

Use Your Blog to Create Landing Pages

Almost everyone needs to create a Landing Page now and then. 

If you are using Wordpress, most themes contain a 'No Sidebar' template and you can use that. For this client we created a special template that removed the theme's extraneous background colors. 

Typepad users may be frustrated because they can't select the template on a page-by-page basis and don't have a way to eliminate the sidebar. Here's the trick but it requires a PRO level Typepad account: Create another blog in the same account. Select the same theme and give it all the same stylesheet customizations. Then select a Layout that contains no sidebars. 

The final thing you should do is to give the landing page it's own short memorable domain name. GoDaddy makes it very easy to forward a domain name to a specific page on your blog.

Why I DIslike Wordpress.com, Reason #46

The Navigation Bar

OK, first some background: I build blogs for small business owners.  What happens when your blog is also your website? (a good example is here)  You need some extra pages: Perhaps one to describe your services, one for your public speaking schedule, another for your press releases, etc. Maybe even one for your online store.

The logical way to provide visibility and access to these pages is via a horizontal nav bar, typically positioned just below your banner or header. Many (but not all) Wordpress.com themes support a nav bar.

The Wordpress.com nav bar has two serious deficiencies:

1. If it's not a page, I can't put it on the nav bar. I may want to have a link to something on another site (such as my website, an online ordering page, another blog for my podcasts) up there on my nav bar.  Can't do it with a Wordpress.com blog.
2. I'm stuck with my page titles as navigation items.  My page may be titled "Explore our exceptional, personalized services" but I probably want something shorter like "Services" on the nav bar so it doesn't take up so much space.  Again, I can't do it with a Wordpress.com blog.

Typepad Gets It Right

Typepad, on the other hand, lets you do what you want.  

Want a nav bar item pointing to something offsite?  No Problem.  

Want to use something other than the page's actual title?  No Problem.  

Want to use a special post category as a navigation item?  No Problem.

Want to point to another blog containing your podcasts or videos? No Problem.

This is the way it should be: empower the user. Yes, there is a little more copy-and-paste involved, but since Typepad introduced this functionality I've taught dozens of business owners how to add pages to their site.  And They Love It.  They love the fact that they can do it themselves without relying upon a webmaster who may later hold them hostage. (I'm working with a client for whom their ex-webmaster disappeared with the only copy of their website passwords.)

Understand that I use both Typepad and Wordpress.  When I have a new client, I spend time with them understanding what they want to do now, as well as what they may want to do in 2-3 years.  Then I pick the best platform for the circumstances.  Typepad's implementation of the navigation bar is one of the reasons the client usually ends up on Typepad.

Why I Avoid Typepad's Advanced Templates

I just got off the phone with a woman who has a Typepad blog and needs a couple of things added to her sidebar.  What's the big deal, you ask?

The big deal is that whoever originally created her blog used Typepad's Advanced Templates.  There is nothing wrong with Typepad's advanced templates per se.  They work wonderfully.  They provide the designer with complete freedom to do anything.

The problem is that when you go to Advanced Templates you give up all control over your sidebar content. In this case, she wanted to add a 'Follow Me On Twitter' badge to the sidebar.  If you've switched your blog to advanced templates then you must modify the HTML in the actual sidebar template module - not something your average non-geeky business owner can do.

My business philosophy is to empower my clients, not hold them hostage.  I want my clients to be able to maintain as much of their own blog as possible.  While I offer to maintain clients' blog for a nominal monthly charge and make these kinds of changes for them, I don't want them to be forced into that.  

When my client wants something done that requires advanced templates I always tell them what the cost will be in terms of the flexibility they will be giving up.  Invariably they make the right choice.

Frankly, setting up a client's Typepad blog in Advanced Templates without a compelling reason is IMHO professional malpractice.  It is not operating with the best interest of your client in mind.

Automatically Tweet Your Blog Posts

Typepad is quietly rolling out a great new feature:  When you publish a new post on your blog, it can automatically notify the world via Twitter, FriendFeed, LinkedIn, Facebook, etc.

I'm starting to see this option in some of the blogs I maintain.  You simply select the service you want to connect to Typepad, enter your login information for that service, and Typepad does the rest.

Typepad vs Wordpress vs Wordpress.com

Updated 1/5/2011: It’s been two years since I originally wrote this post and it is one of the post popular posts on my blog. A lot has changed since then and as a result it’s time for an update:

"Which platform should I choose?"

I see this question a lot. It pops up on Twitter about once a day. All three choices have come a long way, even in the past year. Here are my own admittedly biased opinions:

WordPress, the software you download:

Commonly referred to as Self-Hosted WordPress.

You can take WordPress farther and do more with it than any other choice. It is far more customizable than either of the other two alternatives. WordPress has evolved into a powerful Content Management System. What does that mean, exactly? It means that non-technical people can maintain their own websites. It means that you are in charge and in control of your website’s content. Need to update a paragraph? No problem: a few keystrokes and it’s done.

There are so many themes and so many plugins available that you can do almost anything with WordPress. One of my favorite plugins adds an event calendar to your site, for example.

The new built-in menubar system in WordPress 3 is a thing of beauty and IMHO was one of the final pieces that allows a website to be maintained by the non-techy. If you need to create a full-blown website then Self-Hosted WordPress is your best choice.

CONS:

WordPress wants to be installed in a Unix/Linux environment. You can install it on a Windows server but the effort is almost not worth it. Even then, in my experience - unless you are a geek - it is unlikely that the installation will go smoothly.

You need to establish your own mechanism and schedule for backups. Most web-hosting companies provide some sort of automated backup service. If your offers this – even at an extra cost – I recommend you use it. You’ll thank me someday.

You also need to consider that WordPress software is frequently upgraded to address security issues and you'll need to be upgrading your WordPress installation from time to time (more often than you’d like, actually). WordPress now has a ‘click-a-button’ upgrade function built in and it’s been around long enough that works pretty well.

In the past year or so, theme and plugin compatibility has become an issue. While there is an endless supply of WordPress themes and plugins, Many of them don’t play nice with recent versions of WordPress. Freqently we also see plugins that are not compatible with certain themes as well as plugins that conflict with each other. Because we are in this business, we have a list of themes and plugins we have certified for use on our clients’ websites.

And finally, all of that functionality comes at a price: complexity. If all you want is a simple blog then WordPress may be more complexity than you are willing to handle.

COST:

The WordPress software can be downloaded for free from http://www.wordpress.org. You’ll need a hosting account somewhere. Most web-hosting providers charge $10-$20/month for a basic account.

Wordpress.com:

The people behind the WordPress software have created a hosted version, meaning that you sign up for an account at WordPress.com and presto, you have a WordPress blog.

The version of WordPress at WordPress.com is a de-featured (if that’s a word) of the same software you would download from WordPress.org.

It is very inexpensive (in most cases free) It just works, no worries about trying to figure out what's wrong when it's down, no worries about backups. No software to install.

One of the most attractive things about a WordPress.com blog is the easy migration path to Self-Hosted WordPress. You can start with a free account at WordPress.com and then when you outgrow it (and you will) you can easily move to your own hosting account and Self-Hosted Wordpress. (Note: if you think you may need to do this be sure to register a domain name and map it to your WordPress.com blog so that you don’t end up with a bunch of broken links when you later migrate.)

CONS:

Unfortunately, many of the features and functions that are missing are the very ones that make WordPress so attractive.

The number of themes is growing but still limited. Finding a theme that has (a) a Nav Bar, (b) a color scheme and layout close to what you want, and (c) a customizable banner may be impossible. Few of the themes at WordPress.com provide the same menubar functionality that is in Self-Hosted WordPress. In most cases, every page you create will be on the menubar whether you want it there or not. Want that cool WordPress theme you saw somewhere? Sorry, you can’t install third-party themes at WordPress.com

If you wanted to modify the colors (modify the CSS) or map it to your own domain name then they will charge you.

WordPress.com does not allow you to install third-party plug-ins, reducing your expansion abilities considerably. Many of the coolest tools (like Quantcast.com, Feedburner, formspring, AddThis, ShareThis, etc) won't work with Wordpress.com because Wordpress.com prohibits you from embedding snippets of javascript into your blog. Want that cool event calendar plugin? Sorry, you can’t install third-party plugins at WordPress.com

WordPress.com will sometimes (but not always) display their own ads on your blog. I’m sorry, but to me this is a deal-killer.

Cost:

Probably the most attractive feature of WordPress.com is that it’s free. There is an annual fee for features like domain mapping, customizing your blog’s CSS, eliminating ads, etc.

Typepad:

Very easy to set up even for a non-geek. TypePad’s functionality is a subset of WordPress’ but within that subset TypePad is easier to use.

TypePad’s text-formatting features are still superior to what’s available in WordPress. Suppose you want to make a word stand out by using a different font and font-size than the surrounding text. TypePad makes it far easier than anyone else.

Though there are no third-party themes, TypePad provides hundreds of themes to choose from. You can customize the look of your Typepad blog easily by modifying the CSS and uploading a custom banner.

Excellent (the best IMHO) integration with the most popular blog-related tools (Feedburner, ShareThis, AddThis, etc)

It's a hosted solution so you don't have to worry about downtime, backups, etc.

Though they are a bit hidden, widgets are available to do polls, have an Amazon store, paypal shopping cart, etc. No software to install. There is REAL technical support (They even hang out on twitter - @sixapart ).

Mapping a dmain name to a Typepad blog is easy and is free – other than the cost of the somain name itself.

CONS:

With the merger of SixApart (TypePad’s parent) and VideoEgg into a new company (SAY Media) the long-term future of TypePad is unclear. My personal opinion is that TypePad will evolve into a platform optimized for people who want to build their own personal brand AND generate revenue from their blog.

Typepad's collection of widgets is not as extensive as the plugins available for Wordpress.

If you want to customize the appearance of your blog (modify the CSS) you have to be at the UNLIMITED level which is $14.95 per month.

If you want to host other applications (your own online store, for example), you'll need to put that stuff on your own non-typepad site and link to it.)

If you need to do really heavy customization then Typepad's underlying template code is harder to understand.

TypePad provides far less ability to create a full-blown sophisticated website than Self-Hosted WordPress. Adding things like event calendars and video carousels is just not possible.

Your ability to someday migrate from TypePad to another platform is limited. TypePad’s export facility can export your text but not your images. I recently performed a TypePad-to-WordPress migration for a client who’s blog contained over 500 photos. Each photo had to be manually moved, a process that consumed many hours.

COST:

I recommend that you get an UNLIMITED account at $14.95/month

Summary:

TypePad: Your best choice if you want a simple blog or website that you can easily customize to match your brand, never worry about backups, upgrades, etc, and you just want to write content.

Self-Hosted WordPress: Your best choice if you need more than a blog or website containing just pages of text and images.

WordPress.com: Your best choice if you want to get started with just a blog, envision it growing into something bigger at a later date, and can live with the limited selection of themes.

Adding a Footer to your Typepad Blog

I seldom see Typepad blogs with nice professional-looking footers. Most websites have them and adding on to your Blog helps make it look a lot more professional as well. We recently created a blog with a footer for a client and it occurred to me that I should share the technique. 

It's actually almost trivial to add a nice footer to your Typepad blog without resorting to Advanced Templates (I almost never use advanced templates because you give up so much flexibility and control.) To use this method the footer must be constructed entirely as a graphic image. 

One prerequisite: Your Typepad blog must be at the 'Pro' level or greater.

Most of Typepad's recent templates are 940pixels wide, so create your footer graphic the same width.  Make note of it's height in pixels and then upload it (Control Panel ->Files). Record the resulting URL of the file.

Next go to Weblogs->Design->Custom CSS and paste this into the field:

#container-inner { 

 background-image: url(URL-of-your-footer-image); 

 background-position:bottom center; 

 background-repeat:no-repeat; 

 padding: 0 0 131px 0; } 

Replace "URL-of-your-footer-image" with the url you recorded above when you uploaded your footer image.  Replace the "131" with the height of your footer image in pixels.

That's it.

Add 'Tweet This' to your Typepad Blog

In a recent blog post Guy Kawasaki talked about the value of making it easy for people to tweet on your behalf by including some kind of ‘Tweet This’ link or icon with every piece of content. The Twitter equivalent of Digg This, so to speak. 

This article describes an easy way to add such a link to each blog post on your Typepad blog using Feedburner’s FeedFlare service and a Personal ‘Twit This’ flare provided by Eric Olson. 

If your blog is not currently connected to Feedburner:

1. Go to http:/www.Feedburner.com and click on Register. Fill in the registration form. Remember the username and password you supply. After registration, you don’t have to do anything else right now. Go ahead and sign out.
2. Sign into your Typepad account. Click on the Configure tab. Click on Feeds.



3. Halfway down the page, locate the Connect to Feedburner button and click it. supply the Feedburner username and password you created in Step 1.
4. After connecting your blog to Feedburner, click on the Design tab. Click on Content. Look for a checkbox labeled FeedFlare. Turn it on and click Save Changes.
5. Time to log out of Typepad. Continue with step 6, below.

If your blog is already connected to Feedburner, start here.

6. Log into your Feedburner account. Click on the Optimize tab.
7. About halfway down the left sidebar is FeedFlare. Click on it.





8. Scroll down until you see this Add New Flare field. Click on the Browse the Catalog link.     
9. Scroll down until you see the Twit This! entry. Right-Click on the word Link and copy the link/shortcut.
10. Close the popup window, paste into this field and click the Add New Flare button. “Twit This” and a pair of checkboxes should appear just above the Add New Flare field. Turn ON both checkboxes.
11. Click the Save or Activate at the bottom of the screen.

The next time you create a new blog post, Feedburner will add the Twit This link to the end of every post in your blog.

Navigation Bars in Typepad

One of the little-noticed features of the new Typepad platform is that your blog can now have a horizontal menubar just below the banner. 

If your blog is on the new Typepad platform here's how to add and maintain your own menubar:

1. Click on the Design Tab
2. Click on Content 
3. Look for 'Navigation Bar' and turn it on.
4. Click on the Edit icon the little pencil) associated with the Navigation Bar feature. 
5. FIll in the titles and URLs in the popup window 

Up until now, the only way to have a menubar was to have a geek set it up for you.  Usually, this meant using 'Advanced Templates' which means giving up a lot of flexibility and control over changing the layout and content f your sidebars.

In the past, the method I used was to add some javascript to the page that would re-write the banner layer and add the menubar.  This lefty you in control over the sidebar content but it still didn't allow the non-geek to manage the menubar.

This is great news, particularly for people who want to use their blog as a website as well.

Blogging, The Next Generation: Typepad Connect

Maybe that title is an exaggeration but I've spent some time using Typepad Connect (I've turned it on for this blog) and though it has some rough spots I think it is going to be a big plus for those of us who want to build a sense of community around what we do.

The best part is the fact that you can now have threaded comments. In plain english, this means that when a reader leaves a comment, it is easy for a second reader (or you) to reply to the first reader's comment.  You can see in the snapshot to the right that my comment is indented under Larissa's, indicating that my comment is a reply to hers.  In the past with unthreaded comments these sort of conversations were very difficult to follow and participate it.  Typepad Connect makes it very intuitive and natural.

The second interesting thing about Typepad Connect is that you can click on the little picture next to my comment and see my profile.  You can learn a little about me, the conversations I am participating in around the blogosphere, and get a feel for my credibility, authority, and trustworthiness.

Typepad Connect has it's rough spots: the 'Post' and 'Preview' buttons are sometimes missing, and currently Typepad Connect's login screen is case-sensitive (Typepad's main blog login screen has always been case-insensitive) and this will cause great consternation until it gets sorted out.

The big deal here though is at a slightly more abstract level.  Typically (unless it's a community blog) the conversation on a blog is one-to-many, meaning that the blog owner is having conversation between himself and his readers.  There really have not been a good way to have conversations that are many-to-many (In other words, for readers to converse with each other).  

A tool that supports those many-to-many conversations is necessary in order to effectively foster a sense of community. (I realize that at a much higher level, we do have that with multiple blogs and the foodie blogosphere is a great example.) Up to this point we've resorted to using other tools such as Facebook groups, Ning, discussion groups, forums, etc to fill the gap.

Though it's not all the way there, Typepad Connect now makes it possible to build these ckinds of communities using our Typepad blogs.