7 Things Every Beginner Blogger Should Do Before Hitting Publish
Have you ever published a post only to notice that you forgot to add something?
I know I have! What’s worse is when you only spot those ‘forgotten elements’ a few days after publishing and the post has already received 100+ visitors!
For this reason, I like to run through a check list before I publish my articles in the hope that I catch any errors or missing elements before the end user, my readers, even get to see the post.
The great thing about having a pre-publishing check list is that it slowly becomes second nature the more you run through it, allowing you to create and establish some positive writing practices.
With that being said, I hope you find the following check list useful.
1. Introduction
Does your article have a strong introduction that tells your readers exactly what to expect from your post?
An introduction does not have to be lengthy but it should clearly describe what the post is about and who will benefit from reading it.
2. Clarity
Have you stated your point(s) clearly so that your readers know exactly where you sit on the topic you have written about?
It is okay to be ‘on-the-fence’ as long as this is clear to your readers.
If you are writing a list post, have you explained why each ‘tip’ is important.
Here are two examples so you can get a better understanding of what I mean:
BAD – ‘You should use Market Samurai for Keyword Research’.
GOOD – ‘You should use Market Samurai for Keyword Research as it will show you exactly what low hanging fruit is available for easy search engine pickings’.
3. Conclusion
After you have written your post do you have a summary, a conclusion, something that ties together your post and reiterates your strongest points.
Many readers will scan your post and grab snippets from here-and-there. By having a good conclusion and a strong introduction you will enhance your ability to grab your readers attention and encourage them to read the post fully.
4. Call to Action
Do you have a call-to-action at the end of your post?
It doesn’t matter what it is, you should always ask your readers to do something. Without a call-to-action, your readers may get to the end of your post and then simply hit the back button on their browser, leaving your site without any further engagement.
Here are some examples of calls-to-action:
‘What do you think about affiliate link masking? Do you mask your affiliate links? Let me know in the comment section below!’
‘We would love to here your feedback on our plugin so please share your thoughts in the comments below.’
‘The Elegant Themes membership has just gone up to $39. Click here now to make sure you lock in your membership before they increase the price again’.
No matter what it is, ask your readers to do something before leaving your site!
5. Images
Do you have any images for your post?
By having images in your post you will have an instant way to grab your visitors attention. If you have a long post you can break it up by having multiple images displayed throughout the post.
You can get free stock images (read the licence for each image) from sites like:
Or you can purchase royalty free stock images for next to nothing from IStock (I recommend this option as you’ll be hard-pressed to find quality images like you do on IStock from any of the free sites).
6. Headline
Do you have a strong headline that generates interest?
Be sure to have a headline that matches your content but also elicits some curiosity from your readers.
You see, many blog posts are shared across social networking sites (Twitter, Facebook, etc) and it is often only the headline that people will see. For this reason, be sure to write something that catches attention.
Some of our best converting headlines for this site have been:
The Really Sneaky CommentLuv Trick for Better Blog Marketing and Promotion
Who Else Wants Access to the Largest Database of CommentLuv Blogs on the Internet?
Are You Cashing in on Your Relationships?
Play around with your headlines and see what works best for you.
7. Optimisation
Now you have written your post and gone through the steps above, it is time to optimise your article so you can squeeze as much love from the search engines as possible.
Are you targeting a keyword or keyword phrase for your post?
Make sure you have a strong Title Tag and it includes your target keyword.
Do you have a meta description?
Write a compelling description that includes your keyword phrase and write it in a way that it is an enticing introduction to your post.
Although this does not influence the search engines, the meta description is shown in the Search Engine Results Pages so is important from a visitors point of view; a good meta-description can easily increase your click-through rates from search engine users.
For tips on other on-page elements you should be targeting be sure to read our Understanding SEO guide and SEO Moz’s Perfecting Keyword Targeting and On-Page Optimisation.
Bonus Tip
Make sure you run spell-checker before publishing and re-read your post to catch any spelling errors spell-checker may have missed.
Conclusion
This post was created in the hope of sharing a quick overview for bloggers when writing their posts to eliminate missing steps in the publishing process.
In short, the check list items that should be worked through before hitting the ‘publish’ button are:
- Do you have a strong introduction?
- Do you have a clear viewpoint or stance?
- Do you have a strong conclusion?
- Always include a call-to-action?
- Have you used any images to grab your readers attention and enhance your post?
- Have you written a compelling headline?
- Have your optimised your post?
- Proof-read your post to tease out spelling mistake
Now over to you.
Do you have a pre-posting check list that you work to? What does your check list look like?
Be sure to share your tips in the comment section below.
Warmest regards,
Kelly-Anne Foxley
34 Comments
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Yes I have a couple of thing I do before posting, mostly it involves the SEO part of the article before hitting publish.
Anyways thanks for the tips!
Ali Mujtaba recently posted..Symptoms Of Tinnitus
The importance of a good introduction cannot be overstated! I recently read a blog post about some new blog service called Blogger Luv, and after the read, I still have no idea what the service is or what it does. Worse, when I visited the Blogger Luv website, there was STILL no explanation of what the site does. A good intro is so easy–all you have to do is ask yourself, “What’s the most important thing the reader needs to know about X.” Most likely, it will answer the question “What is this and why do I care?”
Okay, thanks for listening to my rant. Feeling frustrated!
Jenn recently posted..VoIP company Skype buys Qik
The call to action is the most forgot aspect. You gotta close the deal! Ask for the sale! Same principal. Great share, I refer my clients to look at this.
Hi Kelly-Ann-
This was a very comprehensive post. I really enjoyed reading it because it reminded me of the things that I SHOULD be doing regularly.
I’m starting today!
Nice post Kelly, I think this should serve as a reminder for all of us not just beginners. So many times I have to go back and change a typo etc after I’ve published. Timely advice, thanks.
Great, specific list. Will point my clients to this post.
Alison Moore Smith recently posted..How to Create Compelling Content that Ranks Well in Search Engines
Spell-check is very important. This should be in the top of the list. Every blogger should realize that quality content is the most important thing that attracts readers and followers.
Absolutely John.
Those are awesome advices!
To me, which English is not my native language, i of course, need ages to edit my posts. LOL.
Once i published it, i can edit it probably 10 times. It can be disaster if i don’t have ping optimizer.
Btw, you may want to correct/edit the #1 “Introduction” to fit the title of your post
Thanks Kelly!
Kimi recently posted..WordPress Add Video To Post
Hi Kimi, thanks for the feedback.
I feel the introduction describes the post and my intended outcome but thank you for the suggestion (unless you were referring to my intentional spelling mistake to see who was really paying attention).
The post is well described.
Yes, i meant the spelling
But it’s corrected already, great.
Kimi recently posted..WordPress Add Video To Post
I usually read it over and over again to make sure that I understand what I’ve wrote and if it’s good enough for other people to read it. I’m actually still a beginner when it comes to writing and I’m picking up ideas from your tips above. Thanks. Keep posting.
Keith recently posted..Oct 4- Norman Rockwell Thanksgiving Gallery- Part One- Getting Ready
It varies for me depending on what I’ve written and who my intended audience is. I spend a lot my time on a piece of sales marketing text than I do a blog post. I may write a sales piece and leave it for a few days before revisiting it again and making amendments (usually removing unnessary words).
Thank you for taking the time to visit and comment.
Kelly
Alongside spell checking, I would add checking link target (href) URLs and image (src) paths. It’s as easy to make a typo in these than it is to misspell a word (check the title of point 1 of your article
)
Anyway, pretty solid checklist Kelly!
Leo recently posted..Link-building- site trust- page relevancy- link position- anchor text
Thank you Leo, your addition certainly makes sense. I’ve often linked out and forgotten the all important http://.
I left that spelling mistake in to see who was really reading the post. LOL. Well spotted Leo and a further indication of why spell checking and spell checking again is very important.
Nice post to remind the steps to make a post best and fruitful. I’m still learning to use MarketSamurai. I’ve heard so good about it from everybody. Hope I’ll be able to handle the tool efficiently.
Suresh Khanal recently posted..3 Awesome Video Tutorial Sites for Bloggers
MarketSamurai is a great tool Suresh and it is well worth the time-invested in learning how to really get the most from it.
Hi Kelly
Rand Fishkin over at SEOMoz has some great free SEO info – I’ve spent hours on that site and learnt so much.
One thing about hitting that publish button… what do you do when you hit it by mistake?
I’ve only done it once, but it is so easy to do.
Keith Davis recently posted..Two way traffic
Yes, Rand shares some great info and you’ll get so much more from a Pro membership (I flit in and out of my pro membership over on the site as I’m also a member of other membership communities).
With regards to hitting the publish button by mistake, I bet if you do a search you’ll find a WordPress plugin that prevents that or even delays the post going live for another five mins or so; I’ll have to have a look now to see what there is!
Hello Kelly, this was excellent. You bring up some great points regarding writing a post. I gave this a tweet for you.
Rose recently posted..How to change your WordPress slug
Tweet and great feedback, always appreciated.
Thank you Rose.
All good advice here. I know I need to work out a few things such as stronger introductions to my articles and things like that. I actually have never really used images in my posts; just not my thing, but never hurts to look into making a possible positive change.
I think pictures can really enhance a post so certainly test them for yourself Eric and let me know how you get on.
Great list and very useful. You included some really awesome hints.
Small additions to #5. Make sure the Image name and alt tag are keyword optimized. Both can help for seo purposes. The alt tag to drive up uses of a keyword and the image name can actual get a few people to come through to your site if they find the pic indexed on Google Images when looking up the keyword.
Steve recently posted..Getting Real With Setting Goals- 10 Tips
Absolutely. I would generally do the ‘alt’ tags etc when I work on the optimisation of the post but I totally agree with what you are saying.
Hi Kelly, it’s nice to see you and your hubby hard at work blogging here. I wish I could get my wife to start posting but she’s to busy doing other stuff all the time.
This is a great topic for bloggers of all kinds to be reading. I’m always publishing articles and not double checking to make sure I have completed everything.
I’ve even had times where I published an article, submitted it to blog engage and then found out I had a spelling error in the title.
I’ve never checked even half of the stuff your mentioned here. I’m sort of a freak like that. When I go back and read my own articles I get a sense of unwillingness to actually publish the thing.
I don’t know why but I’m very hard on myself like that and tend to be far to judgmental on my writing style.
bbrian017 recently posted..Top articles at blog engage week of Aug 30 – Sept 03 2010
I actually know quite a few people that experience what you are saying there Brian. One close friend actually didn’t start blogging for quite some time because they were such a hard critic of their own work. It took them quite some time to overcome this and see that their writing was well received by the majority of their website visitors.
Excellent list Kelly, but interesting just the same.
It’s basically about ordering a post, yet the list itself is somewhat backwards and inside out. lol
As for me, 7 outa 8 so far (including the bonus), not bad. Karl will get that.
Dennis Edell @ Direct Sales Marketing recently posted..The Official DEDC-Network Comment Policy
I was almost concerned when I didn’t see a spell check in there until it appeared as a bonus tip. Can’t appear professional if your posts are riddled with spelling and grammatical errors
Absolutely Dave, especially true when it comes to those all important white-papers.
Kelly,
Great Post. You can also use scribe seo plugin for the keyword optimization. And for link masking i’m using Ninja Affiliate and it works awesome.
Thanks for sharing this great Post Kelly.
Devesh recently posted..4 Ultra Simple Ways To Get More Comments On Your Blog Post
Thank you Devesh.
Great list for shopping blogs posts. I really don’t think it all applies to personal blogging though.
Anne recently posted..And… I’m back!
Thank you Anne for the feedback. I believe it applies to personal blogging if you have something that is intended to be ordered in an easy to read (and typical) format. I suppose that is the great thing about blogging, we can suggest rules, but it comes down to the preference of the blogger and their readers.