Here is a simple yet comprehensive guide to writing the perfect blog post that will convert. Follow this checklist each time you create a new blog post. You may also want to turn it into a digital checklist on your favorite project/business management tool such as Trello, Asana or whatever else you use to run your blog and business. This is actually recommended because you should be automating as many processes in your business as possible.
A Guide to Create the Perfect Blog Post
- Write your Blog Post
- Design the visual aspects for your post
- Format and optimize your post
- Upload and SEO your blog post images
- Publish your post
- Share your post to Social Media
- Write your blog post
- Brainstorm some ideas to write about. Many bloggers offer comprehensive lists of blog topic ideas as a freebie on their websites
- Research the topic, in order to position yourself as an expert in your chosen field
- Choose a keyword phrase. This is important because this is how blog post will be found in search engines. For this guide for example, a good keyword phrase might be “Create the perfect blog post”.
- Write the draft in Google Docs or your preferred word processor like MS Word or Pages if you work with a Mac. I personally love Google Docs for several reasons, because it auto-saves, and there are many options for formatting, publishing and downloading
- Upload the text to your CMS, like WordPress and create a new blog post
- Create an attention-grabbing headline for your post using the keywords. For example “How to create the perfect blog post that will convert into sales”
- Add the keywords in the first paragraph
- Add the keywords in the first heading
- Add the keywords 3 to 4 more times throughout your post
- Make all the paragraphs by writing a maximum of 3 to 4 sentences
- Make it easy to read, for example use bullet points, make important sentences stand out by using special characters or bold font.
- Double-check for spelling and grammatical errors, use an extension like Grammarly to help you with that
- Design the Visual Aspects for your post
- Choose a stock photo that matches the topic of your blog post for your featured image and pin, or add your own photography
- Collect additional photos to add to your post. For example, if it is about a recipe, you should add photos of the ingredients and the steps to follow when cooking this recipe
- Make it easy for people both in writing and visually to read your blog post
- You can also design your own graphics to make the blog post prettier
- Be sure to add elements of your own branding to it, like your logo
- Create a featured image and pin and save it as “Title of your post and the name of your website. For example I have designed a number of what I call Inspirational Cards, where I create the image in Photoshop and then add an affirmation. On each card, I have included that the design is by me and my website
- Create additional images for Social Media
- Format your post
- Add your blog post to your website
- Edit the permalink so that it’s shorter and also includes the keyword
- Format your blog post heading, for example in bold, all caps etc.
- Make sure that you follow the required disclosure about Affiliate links and Cookies, which should also be part of your privacy policy and other legal things required by law on your website. Add this disclosure to the beginning of your post, before the first heading
- Add links to related articles and blog posts that you have previously published
- Format any outbound links to open in a new window, both on your own website and if you link to other websites or products
- If you use Twitter, add a Click to Tweet somewhere in the middle of your blog post
- Add related articles to the bottom of your post (with links)
- At the end of your blog post, add a CTA = Call to Action
- Chose a blog category where you will put your post (such as Recipes, Beauty, or whatever categories you have in your blog
- Add tags using keywords that people would use when searching for topics that are what your blog post is about
- Write a meta description using your keyword phrase
- Write an attractive excerpt for your blog page
- Double-check your links in preview mode
- Upload and SEO (search engine optimize) your blog post images
- Upload your featured image which you choose in section 2, title the image “Title of your post – Your website name” and write an alternative text in the alt text field ( one or two sentences that describe your post)
- Upload the additional images and graphics as described in section 2, again using “Title of your post – Your website name” and write an alt text but just a few words describing the image
- Publish your post
- Hit the Publish button
- Look it over again to make sure everything looks right and eliminate any errors (both visual and the writing). Do this immediately after publishing, so that nobody gets a chance to view your blog post with errors
- Share your post to Social Media and the rest of the world
- Add the blog post to the blog archive page
- Add the link to the blog post in relevant previously published articles and stories
- Click the “Click to Tweet” you have included sharing to Twitter
- Pin to your main board on Pinterest
- Schedule the pin in Tailwind to go out in a regular interval (like every 2 days) to relevant boards
- Add the pin the SmartLoop feature in Tailwind
- Share the pin in your Tailwind Tribes
- Post the article in Facebook
- Post the article also in relevant Facebook groups (you must be a member in almost all FB groups in order to post, and make sure that you follow their guidelines, meaning if it is allowed to post)
- Post it to Instagram
- Post it to LinkedIn
- Add your post to any other SM Schedulers that you might be using
- Write an email about your blog post and send it to your email list
Enjoy the success of your post hopefully going viral and reap in the benefits. Most of all, have fun with the content creation. For me personally the most fun of creating blog posts is usually the visual aspect of it, or to write about a topic that I am passionate about.
