Blog post checklist

Blog posts come in all different shapes and sizes and there’s no strict rules as to how they should be written, but every now and again you will hit publish and send a post out into the world, and then remember something you forgot to add. To avoid this ever happening to you again, we’ve put together this handy checklist that you can use for each post you write.

Subject Line

Does your blog post have a catchy headline that will appeal to your target audience?

Your subject line shouldn’t be too long and you should work to make it as snappy as possible. Its job is to draw the reader in. For SEO reasons it helps to put your main target keyword in the subject.

Intro

Does your intro identify a problem and hint at the solution?

The intro of your blog post should identify a specific problem and how it is solved. It should give just enough information to make the reader wanted to learn more. Don’t make it too long, a single paragraph is fine. For SEO reasons it helps if your intro includes your main keywords.

Research

Can you back up your blog post with facts?

Hopefully, you’ll have carried out suffient research before writing your post. You should refer to this throughout your writing to add credibility to your arguments. It’s considered good practice to include a link to any outside resources that you refer to.

Formatting

Is your blog post formatted in a readable way?

Keep your sentences and paragraphs short. Long sentences are harder to process and may put some readers off. Use H2 and H3 tags where relevant to break the page up and make the page visually interesting. Header tags are also good for SEO so place your target keywords in them too if it makes sense to do so. Use quotations, bullet points, lists, bold text and other formatting wherever possible to make important ideas stand out.

Links to other sites

Have you linked to supporting information?

Try to include 2 links to other relevant web pages. A link to another site should be of benefit to your reader to help them learn more about the subject matter.

Images

Does your blog post have at least 1 strong image?

There are 1000s of license free images available online. For starters, Flickr is a great source of free-to-use images. Even though they are free, be sure to include an attribution link to show where you got the image from. For most blog posts, an image approx 600px wide will be perfect. Don’t forget to include an ALT tag, it’s an easy way to add a keyword to your post for SEO.

SEO

Don’t miss a trick by getting your SEO wrong

Put your target keyword in the title, Header tags, ALT tag and meta description. Do don’t over staurate your post with your keywords, aim for approx 3% density. Don’t target a single keyword, make a list of relevant keywords that can be included in your post.

Voice

Do you know the sound of your own voice?

Create a consistent voice for your blog. Don’t be afraid to inject a bit of yourself, readers like personality, but make sure it matches with your corporate message.

Call to action (CTA)

What action do you want your reader to take next?

At the end of your post, give your reader something to do. It might be to leave a comment, share the post, sign up to your newsletter, follow you on social media. A well placed CTA engages the reader and helps you grow your audience.

Legal

Is your blog post 100% your own?

Plagiarism is seriously frowned upon and strongly discouraged. Avoid uneccessary legal action against you by writing blog posts from scratch, don’t copy and paste anything from anywhere. If you use statistics for someone else’s research be sure to cite it correctly and let the author know you have used their work.

Finalising

Check. Then check again.

Proof read your post a few times to make sure it’s typo free. Change anything that doesn’t flow. Use this checklist to make sure all the boxes are ticked.

Publish

It’s never to late to make improvements

Once published, get your blog post infront of as many people as possible using social media and email marketing. Act upon any feedback you receive. If a reader suggests something you’ve missed, it’s totally acceptable to add it to the post retrospectively. This will actually help your SEO.

What are you waiting for?

Now you’re armed with a checklist that can be used for every blog post you write, all you have to do now is get writing!

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