Blogging: What to do before and after publishing

If you’ve started to blog, you’ve probably quickly realized that it’s not a quick task. There’s so many tiny details that go into blogging and you’re all of a sudden a content creator, marketer, editor, SEO specialist, designer, researcher, and more. So, why do bloggers put in all the effort? Because the return on investment for blogging is massive. A TPT store I started almost a decade ago still brings me a healthy passive income every month. The main source? My blog and Pinterest which links to…my blog! If you’re ready to eliminate the guesswork and figure out what to do before and after publishing, this post is for you. 

1. Write a powerful post title with a clear topic

Just because you have 5 ideas to share doesn’t mean that you should include them all in one post. Keeping a clear topic helps eliminate the idea jumping for your reader. You should create a simple and actionable post that guides them to your goal.

In order to get them to read the post, you need a catchy and powerful title. To do that, your title needs to include a keyword and persuades them to want to click through. 

It’s like a subject line for an email. If it’s weak, teachers won’t open. Your content could be the most well written blog post, but it’s the title that they see first. 

You also want to ensure you’re adding keywords that you want to rank for, to do that, one trick is to add the keyword in your blog title. 

Not clear example: Pinterest marketing tips and tricks

Better version: Sell more TPT products with Pinterest Marketing

2. Deep link to past posts

It’s helpful to know ahead of time what products and content pieces you have that are relevant to that blog post so that when you being writing, you have an idea of what you want to naturally weave into the piece of content.

Back linking means that you’re looking previously created posts in your new posts. For example, those reading this blog post will probably be interested in how to make money from their blog, which I wrote about here.

While this is helpful for SEO, it’s also helpful for your readers since you’re giving them more information about your topic, and it keeps them on your site longer!

3. Organize your blog into smaller sections with headings

Nobody wants to feel like they’re reading a thesis. If there’s a big block of text, readers are just going to click out. You know it because you do it, too. Try to include no more than 5-6 lines of text in your paragraphs and divide up sections with longer headlines (like this post!). 

Time and attention are your competitors. Creating an easily scannable post will ensure your reader will want to stop and take time to read your work. Without headlines or subheadings, it’s hard to tell what your post is about. 

Additionally, you should reflect back on the paragraphs you do have and decide if you can break them up by formatting the content into a bulleted or numbered list. This will break down your content so that it’s more readable even more. 

4. Create and add branded images

Branding is a way for people to see your work and know it’s you without even seeing your name. Scan through my blog post list and you’ll see a color palette, font and template trend with every post. Not only does this look on brand, it’s also much easier to create blog post images since I’m not starting from scratch. 

Don’t forget to change the file name to the keywords you want to rank for. 

5. Ensure your post is SEO-friendly

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) sounds like a fancy word, it’s just a method to get you to rank on Google. There are many different ways to do this (free and paid). While the most expensive will be easier and help you monitor, sometimes you just need to get started.

You can get started with the free YOAST SEO plug in. Yoast walks you through steps you need to take for each post to improve in SEO. 

6. Proofread and audit for readability

Have you ever gone back to read something you wrote and thought, ‘what was I thinking’?! Exactly. No matter how awesome you feel your first draft is, it can always benefit from a re-write. You probably already know this, but how often do you actually do it?

I recommend going back to your content a day later so you’re reviewing it with fresh eyes. Sometimes you can get super close to a piece of content that you naturally overlook something you would have caught normally. 

Make sure you post is as readable as possible, which is what the algorithm takes a look at when assessing ranking on Google SERPs. Don’t use super complex words, and improve the flow of your writing by adding transition words. Cut long paragraphs and make sure you don’t have consecutive sentence that start with the same word. Need more details? This Blogging Boost Playbook covers readability and more. 

Looking for copywriting tips? Read this: Copywriting tips to improve your marketing

After you hit publish

1. Pin your blog post to pinterest

Create a board specifically for all your blog posts and always pin to that board + any other relevant boards. I use tailwind to make my life easier and do all of the scheduling for me. Click here for $15 off!

2. Share your post to additional channels

People will not magically find your brand new blog post unless you share it! Share your new post to the channels that matter to you in a way that feels authentic to that channel. Ex: recycle a snippet if the blog post as a tip and then link to the blog post to get the full details. 

3. Look at past published content and backlink the new post

Check past blog posts to see if you’ve written about the same topic. If you have, find a way to sneak the link into the older blog post. This is because that older blog posts has already been indexing on Google, so it’s probably already ranked higher. 

Also, when you backlink, people find more content that is of interest to them and as a result they stay on your blog longer, which build credibility and trust!

4. Recycle the post into other forms of media

Don’t waste one amazing idea to live on just one channel! Make a plan to recycle content so that you can stretch the idea to the audiences that follow you on other channels.  

Unsure how to recycle content? Read this: 5 ways to Recycle Content

Get the Blogging Playbook

Snag my tried and true method for managing an SEO friendly blog. This is the same method I used when I managed Nearpod and Flocabulary’s blog, and now Clayful’s! Nearpod and Flocabulary are still using this same method to manage their Blog.

Want more blog content? Read this – How to make money from your teaching blog