You’ve just finished your latest blog post and you are ready to share it with the world. *throws a hand up* Don’t hit the publish yet! Let’s make sure this post is wrapped in a pretty little package, with all the bells and whistles so that the online world will actually read it.
This post contains affiliate links for products that I personally use and/or believe are the best of the market for fellow bloggers. If you purchase through my link, you won’t have to pay a cent more, but I get a small commission. Thanks for supporting my site!
1. PROOFREAD!
It’s easy to miss mistakes through the whole writing and editing process. Misspellings can make your brilliant post look like amateur night at the Apollo AND lower your credibility.
- Install Grammarly. It’s an awesome tool!
- Read it out loud to yourself.
- Have a friend read it. Another pair of eyes will catch things that you might have continuously missed.
2. CREATE A KICK-ASS TITLE
Ok, this one is pretty important. You want to create an enticing headline to draw your readers in and make them want to read more.
- Use relevant keywords and phrases for the search engines
- Keep title between 8-12 words long
- There are many headline tools online to help you create better titles. Just Google “Headline Tools”
3. USE SUBHEADINGS
I admit that I ignored using subheadings in the past and my posts suffered in the search engines from it. Google likes it plus it breaks up all the writing within your post so it doesn’t look like a big block of boring text. People like to scan articles for important information, and having subheadings creates a better readability experience for your readers.
- Check out this article from Yoast HERE. It does a nice job visually showing you what the different headings look like.
4. EDIT THE PERMALINK
I bet you probably never gave it a thought to change, but you should. And it’s important to edit BEFORE you publish and share your post because it’s part of your link structure.
- Keep your permalink short with between 6-7 words
- Your permalink should be similar to your blog title and definitely contain your keyword(s)
5. ADD TO A CATEGORY AND TAGS
Keep your blog post organized from the beginning by adding each post to a category. Both tags and categories will improve your SEO, plus help guide readers within your site.
- Use keyword(s) when adding tags
- Use 2-3 categories
6. MAKE IT SEO – FRIENDLY
I bet you hear that word a lot! SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. And if you want to turn up in Google or Pinterest than get serious with it. Ranking higher in results means more traffic to your website. And more traffic means more eyes on your content that could lead to more sells!
- Get the Yoast SEO Plugin for WordPress. It makes creating SEO content SO much easier
- Add focus keyword(s)
- Nail that meta description. Play around with different phrases and feel the satisfaction of the GREEN dot. (You’ll see what I mean)
7. CREATE A PIN-ABLE IMAGE
It’s a given that you will use an amazing visual to include in your post. Make sure you also create an image that can be easily shared by your readers to Pinterest. Tailwind is a used by thousands of bloggers, including myself, to schedule and push out images from our blogs. If you haven’t already signed up for an account, you must! It’s free and you won’t believe how much traffic it can bring to your website.
- Create images that are the Pinterest friendly format. Your dimensions should be around 735 x 1102 pixels
- Include catchy and relevant phrases for your title. It doesn’t have to be the exact title you use for your blog post headline, but it should be similar as to not confuse readers
- Use Canva! There are tons of templates over there with endless design possibilities.
- Create at least 2 pin-able images
8. SEO each IMAGE
You gave your post some SEO love by editing the meta tags and keywords. Now do the same for EACH image.
- Upon uploading each picture, fill out “Title”, “alt text”, and description to make them searchable
- Remember the “alt-text” will show on your description of your pins when pulled over to Pinterest
9. FEATURED IMAGE
Easy and straightforward to do but I tend to forget to add for some reason.
- Featured image will be seen on your blog’s feed
10. LINK TO OLD POST
Chances are you post about similar topics that can help further your readers’ interest. Take advantage of all that gold sprinkled around your website and add internal links to those older posts. For example, if you missed a list of my best blogging tools, you’ll find them all here. It helps guide readers to other useful related topics PLUS it keeps them on your site longer which is always a plus.
- Install a related post widget and add to the bottom of your body text
- You can also pepper in relevant internal links throughout your blog post
11. ALWAYS END WITH A CALL-TO-ACTION
CTA is what us fancy blog folks call it. You want your readers to feel like they want more, not at the end of a tunnel. End your post on an encouraging and helpful note!
- Encourage readers to leave comments by asking a question that’s relevant to the post
- It’s a great opportunity to promote your product or freebie
- Get them pumped up to follow you on your other platforms with social media buttons
12. TEST LINKS
You know how frustrating it is to click on a link that doesn’t go anywhere? Exactly so don’t be that website. TEST. THOSE. LINKS.
- After you have tested them, ask a friend to the same but on a different device.
- For those external links, make sure they open a new tab for that link. You don’t want to send your readers away to another site and make it difficult to return
BONUS! ADD AFFILIATE LINKS & DISCLOSURE
I didn’t forget about my affiliate peeps. You must be upfront with your readers if you are gaining anything from mentioning products or companies within your post.
- Make sure you added the correct affiliate code/personal link to ensure you receive credit for referrals
- Again for those external links, make sure they open a new tab so readers can easily return to your site
- Include a disclosure statement towards the beginning of your post
Do you have an important step that are MUSTS before hitting that publish button? Please share it with us in comments!