This week, I am helping you set up a system that you can do each week to make sure your blog post isn’t just published and then neglected. You’re dedicated and consistent with writing your blog post but what do you do with it after you hit the Publish button?
Here are 6 things to do with every single blog post you write.
Read It Again
Yes, I know you already did this but, read it again while you preview it on your site. Make sure everything is visually appealing to you and it reads right. As you read it again, is there anywhere in your post that you can tie in other blog posts?
Another step you can take to help your SEO is to link to 2-3 older blog post articles that you wrote that are relevant.
Is your title eye-catching? Does it interest you? How did you feel after you read your post? These are great questions to ask to make sure you hit the bulls-eye on the target with every post!
Optimize your post.
Scan your blog post to find your main topic keywords that you can use to plug into Google Adwords. See which words receive the most hits and what is the most popular and use those in your post. If you need to change your title to reflect the words, make those changes now.
You will also want to set a category for your post so that others can find it later if they are searching for it. This is an important step that many overlook. It helps create an awesome archived index of categories for every single post written.
If you have an SEO plugin, be sure to complete your description with no more than 160 characters describing your post using your optimized keywords as well. This is what will show up when you share or people Google it.
Send out to your email subscribers.
For me, this step always occurs after I hit Publish but it may not be a step you are taking. You want to make sure to not neglect your list, if they haven’t heard from you in 2-3 weeks, they have probably forgotten who you are, what you do, and how you are there to help them. The best way of keeping in contact with them is a consistent newsletter! Use your blog post as your content for the newsletter! Give them a teaser and then send them to your website. Don’t forget to invite them to share it with their friends as well.
Create a week’s worth of status updates for your social networks.
Create 4-5 engaging and descriptive updates that drive traffic to your blog post! Make them each different from the others so that it doesn’t seem redundant. Be creative with your post so you can make sure you stand out! Using your title as your post is BOR-ING!
Once you have them written, shorten the URL so you can track your traffic from each post. If you use Hootsuite, shortening your URLs in their program will do this for you! Keep track of what types of post headlines are working and which ones were a flake so you don’t make the same mistake next time.
Add a link in your signature
Think of how many different emails you send out every day and week, your signature is a great place to display your latest post! Make this part of your system so that you update it every week with the latest and the greatest post! Use a catchy headline that will capture their attention and get them to click!
Reply to EVERY comment.
If someone has taken the time to leave you a comment on your blog post, you must take the time to reply and thank them for the comment AND for reading your post. After all, your readers are who help spread the word about your posts! Don’t neglect them like I once did, it is a MAJOR party foul…
Leave Some Love <3
What steps are you taking with every blog post you hit publish with? Leave a comment below!
Don’t forget to share with your friends too!
Love the tip about adding a link to your current blog posts in your email signature. Thanks for sharing. Amazing as always.
Thanks Lynn!! I appreciate the kind words! That is always a fav tip! 🙂 xo
I like the idea of sharing the post 4-5 times spread within a week. Makes a lot of sense. Sharing to social bookmarking sites also helps. But would you recommend a specific number of social bookmarking sites to share to? Because there’s really a lot of these, these days.
Hi, nice article. I really like it!
Thanks for these awesome tips, Ali! Love them!
I also bookmark my posts on StumbleUpon and Delicious and share it on Social Buzz Club.