Every time I blog I have a ton of things written on scraps of paper, keyword search notes strewn about and have a difficult time remembering if I answered my avatars needs or if my post is search engine optimized to the fullest. I can’t be the only one that wished blogging was easier at times. Although, I do use Plugins like Yoast, I am they type of person that needs to have everything written down which can sometimes make life even more difficult. This includes notes and checklist for my blog. Can you relate?
If so, keep reading for what you definitely need to have on your ultimate post content creation checklist so that you don’t miss a step.
A Set Schedule
Having a content creation and publishing schedule is critical to seeing growth on your blog. Although it does not have to be as extreme as posting daily, you will want to regularly keep your audience engaged. A great way to do this is to create a content calendar that will keep you organized. Personally, I use mine as more of a guide not something I stick to all the time because a more pertinent topic may come to mind that I prefer to blog about.
Do regular Brain Dumps
Every get writers block? Having a content brain dump is one of the perfect ways to combat it. I also talk about other ways to get out of a writing funk here. brain dump is just a way to get all of your ideas out of your head and onto paper. It helps in that once you have everything out of your head it’s a lot easier to concentrate on one focused goal. If you want to know a little about the research and psychology behind why this works check out my blog post here. A brain dump is also extremely useful when you’re having idea farts (yes, those are real things!). They are great to refer to when you’re all out of ideas so make sure to keep yours handy.
Research everything!
Doing research is a key part of a lot of post, especially if it’s related to health, education or science. If your article calls for specific or numerical information, make sure you research thoroughly and from reputable sources. Google scholar is a great place to find peer reviewed journal articles or books to use as sources.
BE organized
This may be a no brainer, but organization is key! When I first started blogging and had to do research, ideas were written on scraps of paper which sometimes I couldn’t find. It was a chore to have to go back and dig up those stats or numbers a second or even third time. Something else that is critical is keeping track of which articles you have or are going to interlink within your blog, this will save you a ton of time. If you start out like this, it will help in the long run! Always make life easier on yourself by keeping your research and notes in one central location.
Create an Outline
Making a skeleton outline prior to starting your post is an easy way to keep you on topic when writing. For those of us that truly enjoy writing, it’s easy to get off topic as you want to give your readers as much information as you can. I often find that I’ll start writing on one topic and shift to another by the end of a post. I’ve learned that many times, less is more when it comes to content and having one main focus for each post is best. Through outline creation you can decide if you will include certain key points or start a new article with them.
always Write to your avatar
My avatar is amazing, but I often forget to write directly to her. I have found that having a series of questions that I ask myself about her needs is extremely helpful in keeping me focused on my target audience.
optimize your posts
There are plug-ins to help with SEO, but in my opinion there’s nothing like having a checklist to keep you on point. This is a must have to ensure your post hits your optimal traffic goal.
use Blog Writing Prompts
Prompts are great to have in mind when you have a little writers block but also to develop new and fresh content. Check out the prompts that I created here, or do a search there are a ton of them out there. You can also create your own for future use, but I find if fresh content is your goal you may want to see how someone else’s brain works.
I hope you find these 7 tips useful, if you do let me know! Also, because I had many (all) of the same issues discussed in this blog I created a 6 worksheets encompassing everything in this blog to help me along and keep my main idea the main idea. You can check them out here free!
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