So you want to start a blog, or you already have one.. but maybe you haven’t written your first post. Or your blogging schedule is, well, hit or miss. It can feel overwhelming to put out long-form blog content. You need copy annnnnd photos, and then you have to consider getting the post in front of an audience after it’s published.

I’ve found that by creating a system for publishing a blog post that I can repeat every single time, I can have the whole thing banged out and be spamming the internet within a couple of hours.

Disclosure: Please note that some of the links below are affiliate links, and at no additional cost to you, I earn a commission if you make a purchase. I would never recommend anything I don’t personally use, and the income goes to keeping this site updated and free for everyone!

There are two Big Parts to this post that are important to setting up your blog posts for success!!

Part 1: Steps to Publishing a Blog Post

1. Choose your topic

Thinking of a topic to write about is at least 70% of the work. If someone gave me a nice long list of all the content my audience wanted from me, I’d probably be able to write all day. When I DO happen to think of ideas, I like to save them in a note on my phone or create a Google Sheets (Excel) document to keep track. We can also use resources like IG polls or IG questions to gauge what our audience wants to see from us. Hello, free market research!

2. Writing

I’d say it takes me 45 minutes to 1.5 hours to write and edit a blog post. The hardest part is getting started, but after the first three sentences, I’m usually off to the races.

3. Photos

Not all posts need photos! However, visuals such as pictures and graphic images do make the copy as a whole more enticing. One long, dense paragraph can be overwhelming to a reader and might deter them from reading it together. I’d shoot for 1-3 photos or graphics per blog, even if it’s just a photo to start off the post. I find that because I write a lot of informational content regarding Instagram Marketing, it’s hard to take appropriate photos. What will I include as a photo of my iPhone open on Instagram? Yep, I do that, but it gets old real quick, so it takes some creativity to think of other photo concepts to help tell a story. If you are blogging food recipes, travel, etc., photos should be super easy to come up with.

4. Add a cover photo

You can totally use one from the blog post; in fact, I’d encourage it so the reader knows they’ve landed on the correct page.

5. Add a meta description

Add a meta description with a summary of what’s covered in the blog post, including keywords.

6. Edit the default URL if necessary.

Edit the default URL if necessary. WordPress automatically adds the date to the URL. For example, digitallykynd.com/11-05-2023/-how-to-write-a-blog-post. I don’t want that date in there, so by going into the settings, I can just remove it and choose my own URLs.

Part 2: How to Effectively Promote Your Content on Social Media

Once your copy is written and edited, your photos are shot, edited, and uploaded, your cover photo is set, and your SEO is in place, you can hit that publish button and watch your work go live on your site! Now how are we going to tell people that our amazing new content is live?

1. Instagram

One Instagram post with a photo that correlates to the blog. The caption should have a little teaser of the blog content and direct followers to the link in your bio.

2. Instagram Story

Make a story talking to your audience about your new post and what you’re excited about sharing or how it could help them. Luckily, everyone now has the link feature on Instagram, so be sure to add a link to your story. Also remember to add the link in your bio for at least 7 days, if possible, and re-promote through stories on the third and fifth days.

3. Pinterest

You should have your blog posts and photos Pinable from your website. I use WordPress, and I use the Pinterest plugin. From here, I pin at least 3 photos from my blog post with the same link and title as the blog and write an SEO-friendly description of the content (use keywords)

4. Other social media channels, such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and Snapchat

Share the link! Don’t be scared to put your hard work and passion out there.

Now set a reminder in your calendar or phone to RE-PROMOTE this content in 3 months. Repurpose, repurpose, repurpose. This is the most important step! You don’t want to spend three hours producing a blog post only to have it die 7 days later once it’s been lost on the Instagram or Facebook feed. In 3 months, you could have 20, 50, or more new people in your audience who didn’t see the material the first time, or there are people who saw it but forgot to follow up and read it, or audience members who thought it wasn’t for them but now it is! Instead of resharing the exact same Instagram post and caption, try to change it up but direct followers to the same content.

You did it! Your blog post is live and being shared across all social channels! Make sure to follow up on comments as soon as possible to continue the discussion around your post’s content.

PS. Re: Step 1: “When I think of ideas, I put them into a spreadsheet so that when I’m ready to write, I remember what I wanted to talk about.”

Here’s an example of how you might lay out your spreadsheet:

Here’s a simplified checklist for you to repeat over and over when going through your blogging process:

• Choose a topic
• Write copy
• Edit and ensure the copy is broken up into sections with SEO-friendly headers
• Take photos
• Edit photos
• Upload photos into the blog post
• Add cover photo for blog post
• Add meta description
• Publish
• Share IG post
• Share IG story
• Share on Facebook
• Pin 3 times to different boards
• Bonus: Share on LinkedIn and Snapchat if you show up regularly on these platforms
• Follow up with comments as soon as possible
• Set a reminder to re-promote blog post in 3 months

Follow this checklist every time you write for seamless blog execution!

xxx

Janine