5 Changes you need to make, to bring your resources to TpT search front pages

I know, we are getting crazy with the changes on the TpT search engines. Don't worry, I'm here for you. You just need to improve the product description. Yes, I know, is not easy when you have + 200 resources. But I assure you it will be worth.

 These are the 5 tips:

1. Make your descriptions long. What I do is describe the best I can the product. You want to use keywords but inside a paragraph. Don't throw just words there, search engines don't like that. Also I include my Terms of Use to make the description longer.

2. Always link to another (or more than one) of your products. Also, external links will work, like your blog or social media. You've probably heard about SEO. If not, follow that link to know more. It will help you to understand better how the search engines work and how you will benefit from it.

3. Use bold, italics, underline, etc. This is not just to make the description look clean and organized. It works for SEO too. You will not want to make all the text bold. It works better if you only highlight keyworkds. That way, Search engines think those words are more relevant than the others.
Here is a blog post to teach you write bold and cursive text on your product description using HTML code by Ms. Idealistic

4. Snippets: This is the first 2 lines of your description. Its really important you to use the most descriptive and specific words there, I mean keywords. What I do is to repeat the resource title, using some bold text.

5. Have lots of reviews on your resources. Some people make their products free for the first hours so they can get reviews. Also, you can join support groups like The Teacher-Blogger Club where teachers work together to make each others stores grow, by giving feedback and sharing their Social Media accounts.

6 Tools to Optimize your Product Promotion

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This is a recopilation of online tools that will help you optimize the time you spend promoting your teaching products, so you can have more time to make more products.

1. Pin4Ever

Pin4Ever is a set of power tools for Pinterest that help you quickly protect, organize, create, and upload your pins. Includes different features deppending on the plan you have, but my favorites are:

Bulk Image Uploading
Pin multiple images from your local drive or images from the web, including  Facebook,  Instagram, Pinterest, and other sites, with an optional time delay between pins.

Update Pin Descriptions/Links
Update descriptions and/or source links on multiple pins simultaneously.
Pin Anything Tool
Pin pages that don't have any pinnable images by taking a screen shot of any part of the page.
Top Pins Board
See your most popular pins (most repinned and liked) on this automatically generated board.

2. Canva

Great tool to make covers and Social Media Images

3. Trello

It's like Pinterest but to manage your own project. I love it!

4. Dropbox and Google Drive for storage

5. TweetDeck and Hootsuite allow you manage several Twitter and Facebook accounts from one dashboard

6. Photobucket and Imageshack for hosting your images when you need to have the URL.

If you know any other tools feel free to share them on the comments so I can make this list bigger.

Social Media Images Recommended Sizes

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Your images need to be the correct size for each social channel to maintain their proportion and clarity. Here is a guide to help you get the most of the Social Media promotion.

Facebook

The recommended size for your Facebook page’s cover photo is 851 pixels wide by 315 pixels tall.

Your profile photo should be 160 pixels wide by 160 pixels high.
The recommended size for the images used in your wall is 1,200 x 650 pixels

The group cover photo size must be at least 400 pixels wide by 150 pixels high

Twitter

Your account’s header photo, the recommended size is 1500 pixels wide by 500 pixels high
Your profile photo should be uploaded at 400 pixels wide by 400 pixels high, although it will be displayed at 200 pixels wide by 200 pixels high.
Images for posts at 1024 pixels wide by 512 pixels high

Google +

The recommended size for the cover photo is 1080 pixels wide by 608 pixels high
The smallest size you can use for your profile photo is 250 pixels wide by 250 pixels high, although a larger size is recommended.
Post photos in the news feed display in different sizes, without specific recommendations by Google+.

If you run a Google+ community, your community’s profile photo must be a minimum of 960 pixels wide by 540 pixels high.

Youtube

Your channel art (similar to a cover photo) that’s 2560 pixels wide by 1440 pixels high.
The minimum size for your profile photo is 98 pixels wide by 98 pixels high, but it’s recommended that you upload an image that’s 800 pixels wide by 800 pixels high.
The recommended size for your thumbnail image is 1280 pixels wide by 720 pixels high

Pinterest

Your Pinterest profile photo should be 165 pixels wide by 165 pixels high.
Since you can’t upload a specific board cover image, you need to choose a pin within the board that has a standout section to crop.
Pins should be verticaly oriented, a 600 px wide image should be between 900 px and 2100 px tall.

Instagram

The suggested size for your profile photo varies across multiple sources from 110 pixels wide by 110 pixels high, to 161 pixels wide by 161 pixels high.
Instagram post images have increased in size, allowing you to upload images at 1936 pixels wide by 1936 pixels high.

Just in case you want to save time I've made a complete bundle of 18 Editable Power Point and 18 JPGs templates for you to use in your marketing strategy. Click on the image to see the resource:

Get it now (Only August 3 and 4 ) with 10% OFF by typing the promo code: BTS15

5 Tips to improve your writing and have better blog posts

Wording are the first way to make great content for your blog. Searching engines are always prioritizing well written texts and blog posts.

These videos show you the way to make better blog posts, just by writing better. Enjoy!

1. The case against "good" and "bad" - Marlee Neel

2. The art of the metaphor - Jane Hirshfield

3. Beware of nominalizations (AKA zombie nouns) - Helen Sword

4. A brief history of plural word...s - John McWhorter

5. Three anti-social skills to improve your writing - Nadia Kalman

How To Add A Custom “PIN IT” Button To Your Blog

Blogger has changed so much since I started to use it years ago. It has come a long way and there is so much more customization that you can do with a blogger blog without needing a lot of coding experience/skill.

Clic to download

One of the first things I learned was adding a hover Pinterest “PIN IT” button to my blog. It is not only is it EASY to add a hover “PIN IT” button to a blogger blog, but you can customize your “PIN IT” button too.



This is how:


1. Design your “Pin It” graphic & save it as a PNG file. I use photoshop CS5 for grapics, but you can easily make your own “PIN IT” button using a free application like picmonkey.com. Or feel free to use one of my buttons (above)


2. Upload your graphic to a photo saving website. I use Photobucket or ImageShack.


3. Go into your blogger account and go to Template > Edit HTML.


4. Scroll almost all the way down the template until you locate the </body> tag.

5. Copy the code below and insert it right above the tag.

<script> //
<![CDATA[
var bs_pinButtonURL = "https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkvZ77KvemKh_8qotyZKyJw1rTghR2FfW6HiNgWgJkdJJAzHRa-wcQaKFsEd19SPFR_3l9-SdwkeNXY-w-5hvLnDxyYlPmTl0LPZmQakifvKhvxcc6Dj-f6-jwbkGam81BNnuAsH537caO/s1600/pinterestx1_72.png";
var bs_pinButtonPos = "center"; var bs_pinPrefix = ""; var bs_pinSuffix = ""; //]]> </script> <script src='http://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.8.2/jquery.min.js' type='text/javascript'></script> <script id='bs_pinOnHover' src='http://greenlava-code.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/publicscripts/bs_pinOnHoverv1_min.js' type='text/javascript'> // This Pinterest Hover Button is brought to you by Oxana's Designs. // Visit http://oxanadesign.blogspot.com.co/2015/07/how-to-add-custom-pin-it-button-to-your.html // Feel free to use and share, but please keep this notice intact. </script>

6. To use your own button, replace the URL in line 3 with the direct link URL to the image. Make sure to keep the quotes.

7. Save, view your blog, and start pinning.

* You can also change the position of your “PIN IT” button. Find the part of the code that says “center” & try changing it to topleft, topright, bottomleft, bottomright. Play around with position to see what visually suits your blog.

Why should I have a blog signature?

The main aim of signature is to let others know who you’re. The signature must reflect who you are and what you blog as much as any other visual part of your blog. How often do you get FREE prime ad space to say whatever you want about you? Creating a custom signature allows you to really show off your personal style and add some fun to your posts.

You can use this easy tool to create your own (but I highly recommend to ask your blog designer to make one for you) :

MyLiveSignature

Now, I know is hard to remember to include the signature image every time you write a post... So, here is a little tutorial to make the signature appear automatically in your nexts posts.

Click here yo go to the tutorial by Her & Nicole

I'd like to see your signatures!!

6 Pinterest Marketing Tips for Success

#1 Pin great images!

#2 Share quality content

#3 Know your target market

#4 Follow pinners who have similar interests & share, Like, or comment on their pins

#5 Check your analytics frequently to see what pins are resonating with your followers & who's sharing your content

#6 Promote your Pinterest account on your website or blog with Pinterest widgets & share the fact that you’re on Pinterest across your social networks, via email & newsletter.

How to: Place your cursor over the image and it changes {BEFORE AND AFTER}

A rollover or mouse over image is a great image effect you will have seen used on lots of blogs and websites. When you use this effect with an image or picture you add to your blog, the image will change to a different image once you hover your cursor over it. It's also a very easy to use and can have so many uses.




Here's a preview of a rollover image. Place your cursor over the image to see it change:





You will need to have your images in a hosting service like ImageShack.

This is the code we use to make the image:

<a href="TARGET URL GOES HERE"><img src="URL OF FIRST IMAGE GOES HERE" onmouseover="this.src='URL OF SECOND IMAGE GOES HERE'" onmouseout="this.src='URL OF FIRST IMAGE GOES HERE'" /></a>

You now need to customize the code by adding the images you want to use & the address you want it to lead to when clicked. I recommend to copy this code and paste it on the notepad and there you can edit it.

Once the changes are made, you are done. You can place the image in your blog posts/sidebar or anywhere html can be used. To place in the post content you just need to select the HTML tab on the upper left and then paste the code.

HOW MANY page views is "normal" ?

The number of PVs (Page Views) per user will vary enormously from site to site. Whether having a low number of PVs per visit is good or bad will depend on the site.

You might expect a community site to have quite a few PVs, for example, but an editorial site with information on many subtopics might average only a few PVs per visit (especially if users are coming in through search) because users leave when they've found the information they're looking for.


To make matters more complicated, a user who looks at only a page or two today may come back again and again if he regards your site as an authoritative source of information on a broad topic.


That said, you may be interested in check out this study that shows some statistics to make you consider how is your blog/page doing:

 

Parenting blogs analytics study from Annie Phdinparenting

Also, here are 2 sites to help you check out the stats for your page:

Alexa       -       StatCounter

Using blogging statistics to build a better blog

You can easily find hundreds of blogging statistics around the web. Some of them are stats that mainly state why blogging is important and the others can help you create powerful blogs. I prefer reading the latter ones and implementing them on my blog to get better results.

Along with the blogging stats this infographic provides some tips on how they can be used to create a better blog too.

Why your Business Should Have a Blog

#1 To share your expertise
Sharing your experience, thoughts, tips and strategies on the blog can position you as a thought leader or an expert.

#2 To optimize for search engines

Search engines always like fresh content. Having a blog gives you an easy opportunity to update content frequently.

#3 To interact

Blogs are usually written in a conversational way. They add a personal touch to your business. You can easily have conversations or get instant feedback from your visitors.

#4 To grow your network

If you are posting informative content with value, a relevant group of readers are bound to follow your blog. This is the simplest way to earn subscribers and readership.

#5 To attract visitors for your main siteBlogs with good content and a growing base is a good source of visits to your store.

Working process: #1 Organization

I've been asked to write about my creative working process. This is the first post of a serie where I will try to explain how I work.

First step: Organization

I enjoy a lot this step. I'm a natural planner. Absolutely love to write "To-do" lists and make schedules. But this is not the main reason I do this step. Thing is I'm really busy, this is how goes a normal day to me:

5:00 am -Wake up, get my family ready to be in the school bus at 6:10 am. (You know, showers, breakfast, dressing, make up, kids being lazy and taking their time, me running, etc)

6:30 am - 2:30 pm - At work (I'm a full time PreK teacher)

2:30 pm- Get home, make lunch, help kids with their homework

about 6:00 -7:30 pm -Time for working on my projects (Includes a College Degree I'm taking, distance mode, Clipart and Teaching resources making, Blog and logo design, and writing in my blogs)

7:30 pm - Making dinner, clean the mess

8:30 pm -Go to bed (yes, I'm like a child, I need like 10 hours of sleep to be functional LOL)

So..... It's a lot

How do I do to work on my all projects in 1 and a half hour? Organization!

I use this little schedule + to do list to help me be fucus on what I have to do and don't forget anything:

I put myself deadlines every day to avoid procrastination. But sometimes there are incidentals that hinder me to finish that day's work. So, I write it on pendings and I work on it on sundays.

So, that's the big secret for me. I'd like to know how you get organized. Here is a blank page of my "Schedule + to-do List", please feel free to print it and use it for your own working process:

Enjoy!