Awesome blog posts: 17 ways to improve your post
Ok, so I have a few posts on my blog now so how about this one 17 ways to improve your blog posts.
Lucky or unlucky 13 at the moment!
So there are lots of things to think about with this blogging malarky regularly posting content social media and the list goes on and on.
So if you’re still feeling overwhelmed what about a handy checklist for things you need to do before you hit publish and after you hit that button!
(If this post contains affiliate links please see our full disclosure policy although I have to say I tried really hard to make it interesting and even I struggled to write it so if you really must read it you can find it here)
17 Ways to Improve Your Blog Post Checklist
17 ways to improve your blog posts:
THE TITLE
What you don’t’ want to do is use the first title you come up with ideally you need to make it SEO friendly using google to do keyword research- or using a site like Coschedule.com.
PINS
Don’t just create one you need at least two pins to use Pinterest to do your keyword research for the title of the pins to make sure its Pinterest optimized.
POSTS
Write the post then publish it – ideally, you want to leave a few days in between to think about your post.
Go back to it reread it, spell check it use Grammarly.
Read it out loud leave it and go back to it again.
It’s amazing how many mistakes you pick up just leaving it and going back to it.
Make it conversationally not full of jargon.
No long paragraphs break up the sentences.
IMAGES
Add images include a title and alt text.
Make sure the title of the photo is renamed and relevant to the post and Add alt text to your images – make sure they are keyword friendly too.
What is alt text- it allows Google to understand what the image is about and also those with special needs.
Title – hovering over the image will bring up the title given an added boost for google to know what the image is about and also for those with special needs.
PERMALINKS
Forget to change the permalink to something short and easy to copy and tell people about rather than
8 bloggers first income reports: how to make money in your first month
Consider instead – 8 bloggers first income reports much easier for someone to remember!
FEATURED IMAGE
Forgotten to add a featured image?
If you have followed the advice above and made more than one pin then you will have at least one extra pin you can use as a featured image.
This becomes a picture for your blog post if you have a summary of the posts.
META DESCRIPTION
Leave the meta description taken straight from your blog introduction?
Ensure your snippet for your blog post is keyword friendly and makes people want to click on the link to your blog post from Google.
You really need to change this is you want folks doing a search on google to click on your LINK.
CATEGORIES AND TAGS
Leave the category for the post to the default setting which means that either the top category is added to the post or it adds it into archive posts. Not cool!
You need to remember to add your post to the most relevant category on your blog remember you can add it to more than one.
What are tags- Basically an index for your blog post words? The key to tags is to make them super relevant to the blog post – for instance, I would tag this with blog post tips or may not even add them at all.
If you want to know more about tags and when to use them checkout how to use tags effectively post
ADD RELEVANT WEBSITE LINKS
Not bother to add relevant website links to either other posts on your site ( internal ) or external links to other respected websites
DISCLOSE
Forget to disclose if you add in affiliate links – for example, I will add in pretty links as I use this to shorten my affiliate links to make them well pretty. If you want to check them out have a look here they are free to use on your WordPress site.
I have already added my Disclosure statement make sure you also add one – see my guest post if you want more ins and out about blogging legally!
EMAIL OPT-INS
You have some fab email opt-ins but you don’t add them to your post- top tip you can use buzzsumo which is free to add in a bar opt-in at the top of the post pages you don’t even need an email scheduler for it! You just download the app.
PINS REQUIRE SHARING
You have created some gorgeous SEO friendly pins added them to your post then forgot about them!
You need to share them that’s the key to getting traffic to your website but NOT on your own boards – but with group boards, you are a member of!
SHARE ON FACEBOOK ON PROMO DAYS
Make sure you add your post to your favorite Facebook groups during the promo days to get more exposure.
You can also set up social sharing of new posts within WordPress if you have Jetpack plugin – under the sharing tab make sure you click to ON automatically share posts.
Check your Yoast SEO is up to speed
Make sure you have the Yoast Seo plugin and it’s up to date!
This plugin gives you a head start with SEO ensures that you are doing the correct things when it comes to your blog posts.
UPDATING YOUR OLD POSTS
Keeping your old posts without updating them – this is a big NO.
You should consider changing them into different content, for instance, can you change it to a video?
What about a podcast.
Or simply update the content within the post.
CALL TO ACTION
You haven’t put anything at the end of the post encouraging your readers to undertake an action – for example, opt-in to your freebie content upgrade, simply reply with a comment ask them what they have done with the information you present!
As long as you have added a call to action so your readers engage this can be great to get to know them.
REPLYING TO COMMENTS
Forgetting to reply to comments – big no no!
You want to be seen engaging with your readers!
Make sure you reply to any comments however small.
Ok so there you have it 17 ways to improve your post before and after you hit the publish button.
It’s never a done deal when you hit publish remember that!
You can always change your post.
There is always room for improvement.
So here goes my call to action-
So what have you done to improve your blog posts recently?
Interested in FIVE FREE printables to get your blog organised then grab them here
Lots of helpful resources for perfecting each blog post! Updating the meta description and optimizing it with keywords can bring tons of traffic. You’re right that old posts shouldn’t be forgotten and should continue to be updated. Will be working on adding call to actions on each posts and creating email opt-ins! Thanks so much for sharing.