10 Things to check before hitting publish

When it comes to blogging there are two absolutely essential steps.

Building your blog (Learn how here!) and
Learning how to write great posts

If you can’t/don’t care to write posts properly than blogging really isn’t for you. You want to engage your readers and leave them wanting more. You want them to feel like you’re talking directly to them as if you were out to coffee telling them a story. After all, blogging is much more than writing a few diary paragraphs and hitting publish whenever you feel like it. When you’re trying to build an audience, great posts are #1 and there are quite a few very simple, yet easily over looked things that can change any post from awful to fabulous. Below are 10 things to check before hitting publish to ensure engaging and effective blog posts.

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1.Grammar

You can have the occasional misspellings, it happens to everyone. But constant lack of proper grammar is terrible. It screams you shouldn’t be writing and it reflects poorly on your brand. Be sure to always proofread.

2. Call to Action

Rather than ending your post with something like ‘have a good week’ test out different call to actions such as, “what was your favorite blank” , “what do you think about blank”. Tie it back to your post topic and engage readers to leave a comment.

3. Photo Titles

When people pin photos from your site, would you rather the caption be ‘How to promote your Blog on Bloglovin‘ or ‘DSC07658’? Not so pretty when you don’t give your photos titles and honestly hard to find. This will make it easier for people to find your images and posts in google search as well.

4. Title Title

Short, engaging, descriptive. Make people feel like they just have to know ‘How to have a happier work day when you work from home’.

5. SEO Ready?

WordPress SEO plugin is amazing for helping to get every post SEO ready. If you don’t have this plugin, just remember the key points: have the same keywords in your title, 1st paragraph, meta description, and url.

6. Pinnable Image

Make sure at least 1 of your images in a post is a pinnable image. This means they have #3 covered, they’re eye catching, and explain your post in simple words or with a simple image. The more eye catching your image, the more repins you’ll receive, resulting in more clicks over to your blog!

7. Keep them reading

Notice that threw out this post I’ve had words and titles linking to other posts? This is internal linking. This is a great strategy to keep your readers on your site! Give them a chance to easily click through to other posts they may enjoy.

8. Affiliate Link

If you’re just starting out you may not be involved in Affiliate programs yet, but if you are and you happen to be talking about a product you recommend, it’s essential to include your affiliate links! Want to start earning money through affiliate links but not sure where to start? Michelle’s Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing Course is an absolute must! She doubled my income in just 3 months.

9. Tested Links

All these links are wonderful and should be included but they’re useless if they don’t work! This is another reason #10 is so important. Take the time to preview your post and make sure all links are clicking to where they should be.

10. Take a Minute

So you’ve been sitting there writing this fabulous post, reread it, checked spelling and image titles and you’re ready to hit publish. NOT YET! Give yourself an hour to do other things (not on your computer) then come back and read your post from start to finish. It may not flow the way you first thought, sound like your voice, or you might have a few new points to add in. Never immediately hit publish.

You can create awesome posts with these simple quick tips! Have any of your own that I forgot?

10Things to check before hitting publish blogger

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