There is so much that goes into blogging above and beyond just writing a blog post. I have compiled the ultimate blog post checklist, this is everything that I do from beginning to end. Don’t let it overwhelm you. Think of it this way, write fewer blog posts if you need to. Just make sure you are spending the time to properly promote you work so that it has longevity.
Step 1:
Come up with an idea for a blog post, plan the types of photos you want to take to accompany the post.
Step 2:
Since my personal blog is a food blog, my next step is to test the recipe (often multiple times), take lots of notes, and then shoot the photos. Regardless, I like to shoot photos before I write, some people might do it the other way around.
Step 3:
Do keyword research to determine the title of your blog post. I recommend using Google Adwords Keyword Planner. Keyword research is often overlooked but it is so important – picking a solid keyword can be the difference between showing up in Google search results or not. And showing up in search results brings in longterm traffic to that blog post.
Step 4:
Write your blog post! You want your post to be a bare minimum of 300 words. If you are a food blogger, you want to reach 300 words not including the recipe instructions (which will likely go into a plug in).
Step 5:
SEO optimize the blog post. I recommend using Yoast to optimize based on the keyword you chose using Google Adwords Keyword Planner. If you have the pro version of Yoast you can optimize for multiple keywords. Make sure you include header text containing your keyword.
Step 6:
Edit the photos, import than into your blog, add alt text that repeats the keyword you have chosen. I also recommend creating a long pin for Pinterest.
Step 7:
Schedule the blog post.
Step 8:
Schedule social media posts.
Did we miss anything? Let us know!