There can be a big learning curve when you start a blog for your business.
It’s not enough to be creative, funny and engaging in your blog — you also have to pull off a little technical finesse!
Keeping track of all the little technical details you need to know when you write your blog can be enough to stop you in your tracks. It’s the #1 complaint I hear from new bloggers when I help them get their blogs on track.
Here’s a post you can bookmark & refer back to whenever you need help with the technical details of blogging. This post will remind you of the little things you need to cover when you write a blog post — so you can focus on the creative, funny and engaging part!
I recommend you print up this article — I’ve even made it into a little cheat sheet for you. SIgn up at the bottom of this post to get the cheat sheet. You can post the print-up in a handy spot and pull it out each time you write a blog.
Blogging is something you will hopefully do on a weekly basis in your business, so it’s great to take the time to set it up properly!
(If there’s something you don’t understand yet on this cheat sheet, put a little star beside it. That’s something you need to learn more about. If you write me a note in the comments at the bottom of this post, I’ll answer your question or even do up a blog article to walk you through it.)
Cheat Sheet: 18 Little Technical Details to Remember in all Your Blog Posts!
What to Blog About — Your Topic:
Imagine you’re writing your blog posts for one ideal client. Write blog posts that solve the problems your ideal client is wrestling with — the same problems that your business helps them solve. If you’re still not sure, test out a few ideas and gauge the reaction you get to each of them!
URL (Permalink):
Make sure your URL includes Key Words for your blog post. If you can’t edit your URL, you may not have Permalinks set up properly.
Headline (Title):
Write a Headline that attracts readers, and focuses on the benefit they will get from reading your article. It’s worth taking time to write the best possible headline for each blog post!
Keywords:
Use Long-Tail Keywords in your titles and URLs. A long-tail keyword is a phrase or a question that someone might type into Google. Example: “How much does life coaching cost?”
Featured Image:
Include a Featured Image with every blog post. Look for ways to make it more “shareable.”
Additional Images:
Include additional images with every blog post. Try for 1 image per 150 – 200 words.
Optimize your Images:
Huge images take a really long time to load. This is terrible for your blog readers as well as for your SEO score!
Use an online tool to reduce your image size and quality. Canva.com is an amazing free tool for all your image editing and resizing. Save most images as JPGs, they are usually smaller than PNGs.
ALT Text:
Always fill in the “alt” text for every image.
Captions:
Consider adding text or captions to each of your images.
Subtitles (H2, H3):
Look for places to add subtitles in your blog post. Make them relevant — they stand out to search engines and make it easier to scan your article.
Easy-to-Read Formatting:
Add bold text, lists, and other formatting to make it more interesting. Try double-spacing your text — this is a CSS style option that you may need your web designer’s help with.
Inbound Links:
Include links to other blog articles in your post. One way to do this is by adding a “related posts” plugin.
Outbound Links:
Include links to other credible websites in your post if possible.
Categories:
Consider creating 4-7 categories on your blog. It’s important to offer a “niche” that you cover, as opposed to 30-40 different types of topics.
Tags:
Add Keyword Tags to your articles. These are included in search engine algorithms.
Length:
Aim for many 300-word articles in your blog, plus the occasional 800-1000 word article.
SEO:
I recommend using the Yoast SEO WordPress plugin on all your blog articles. Fill in the Meta Description and SEO Title. Add a “Focus Keyword” to see how your post measures up for that keyword.
Make your Blog Posts Easy to Share:
Make sure you have a plugin that lets readers share your article with their audiences. Of course, don’t forget to share your blog post on all your social networks. I find premium social sharing plugins are excellent as they provide a high quality user experience and offer stats on your sharing. Some to try: Monarch by Elegant Themes, Social Warfare and SumoMe.
If keeping track of everything you need to know about blogging is causing you to freeze — you’re not alone. This one-page blogging cheat sheet will help you remember what you need to do before you hit “publish” on your blogs.
Hope this helps!
– Lindsay
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