You’ve written your blog post. Congrats! You’ve tackled the toughest part of the process – getting it written. Take a moment to give yourself a pat on the back.
But wait! DON’T HIT ‘PUBLISH’ YET!
What? Why not?
Because you aren’t done. There are a few more steps between getting it written and getting it out there. And trust me, these steps are just as important as the post itself. They are where snazzy gets separated from sloppy and ‘good enough’ becomes ‘great.’,
These are the steps that give your one-off post gets some legs.
1) Headline Assessment
Does your post have a snappy headline? Does it contain keywords? Would it convince you to act? If the answer to any of this is ‘no’ or even ‘well, … hmmm.’, then give your headline a bit more time and attention. I’ve said before that some of the ways you can boost engagement with your headlines is to focus on who rather than why. Here are some other ideas:
- try a bit of alliteration,
- include numbers,
- swap in active/strong words instead of passive ones.
Here’s a quick example: Which is stronger? ‘Widgets You Can Use’ or ‘5 Reasons You Need More Widgets’?
2) Internal Linking
Have you considered how this post can do a bit of extra work by boosting previous content? Is your new content is related or can it be made to relate to something you’ve already produced? Then make that connection literal and keep readers with you a bit longer. It gives them more info and saves you time by reusing existing content.
3) SEO-Ready Images
Does your post contain images? Is the name of the image file something like ‘2762_1015510__o’ or ‘IMG_1213’? Sure, the image works but it doesn’t add value to your post. File names like ‘VintageCarRally2018 can boost SEO and make images easier to find later on.
Alt-text for images can also boost SEO and – importantly – helps readers who are visually impaired understand what the image is about.
Extra tip: pick an image size and stick to those whenever and wherever possible. Consistency of user experience contributes to return visits and perception of usability.
4) Wrap Up with Engagement
Social media is a two-way street. One-way content is basically a press release. Press releases have their time and their place. But if you want feedback or insights from readers, you need to invite them to engage, to leave the door open so to speak.
How? End your blog post with a question.
Ask if anyone has experienced the situation you are describing? Do they have any tips, tricks or hacks for products you’ve reviewed? Have they seen your services implemented somewhere else? Some people will comment on anything and everything, but most people need a bit of encouragement. That’s all the wrap up question is about.
5) Proofread
Don’t roll your eyes. We all know we should do it and most of the time we do. But we’ve all been in that rush where we think ‘yes, it’s fine’ only to discover it isn’t. Depending on electronic spellcheck isn’t a great idea either.
It doesn’t tell you that you’ve used the wrong ‘they’re’ in there. If you’ve used shut instead of shout but you’ve spelled shut correctly, it’s not necessarily gonna catch that.
Use it if you like, but only alongside to your own eyes. Or your proofreader’s eyes.
It doesn’t matter how much of a rush you are in. Take a breath; go do something else for a minute or two – then come back and read it. Ideally, read it in another format or even out loud. If I’ve composed something in Notepad or in WordPress, I’ll always paste into Word and read it there.
Ah ha, I hear you cry – you said not to depend on electronic spell check. I don’t. I find it a useful aid, but I still actually read the whole thing – one sentence at a time. Often I start from the bottom to strip away the chance that I ‘see what I expect to see’ vs what is actually there. I don’t let the machine do the heavy lifting.
That’s my post-writing, pre-publish check list. What’s yours? Have you found other steps helpful as part of your blogging process? I’d love to know what others are doing and finding work for them.