The Art of a Blog Post – Part 2

I’m back, as promised, with PART TWO of this mini blog series: The Art of a Blog.

On Monday, in part one, I went over the “main hub” of details to get you going (or back on track if already blogging like a genius). Now today, we are going to dive a bit deeper into the actual blog writing aspect of things … a checklist for while you are writing those Rockstar posts/stories, as well as the before and after (re: what to do).

So, get comfy and let’s begin …

The Ultimate Blogging Checklist:

Before you even think about doing research to decide on some ideas for your blog, you need to think about what type of blogger you want to be …

We must not only blog about what is popular. We must blog about our passions, no matter how quaint. This is true empowerment. ~ Anonymous Blogger

Now that you’ve made your decision and are ready to take strides to become successful in the blogging world (also using the tips provided in Part 1), it’s all about the writing … Yes, now it’s time to decide on your idea!

Many people want to start a blog, but they just can’t seem to decide what to write about. So, to get your idea ball rolling, here is a short list of questions to ask yourself …

What are your passions? Dreams? Ideas?
What are the blogs you currently read? Favourites?
What’s missing from the ones your favourite bloggers?
What are you able to teach others? How can you inspire them?
What solutions can you offer to problems you/or others want solved?
What if you could write to someone you know? Or wished you knew?
What type of work style/portfolio do you want to have in 5 years? 10 years?

Now that you have answers to some of those questions, you probably have a long list of ideas. Why not plunk some of those ideas into a blog generator to come up with the “perfect” one to start with and many additions to follow through with. And with all those ideas, you want to start thinking about keywords. Yes, good ‘ol SEO! To make things easier, try using something like Wordtracker.

Keep in mind, that you will be adding SEO to things like:

Post title and URL;
Several times within the content body;
Headers and sub-headers within the body;
Image, infographic and video (if you choose to use these) file names; and
Image, infographic and video description areas.

After you’ve got your topic, title and SEO/keywords ready to go, it’s time to make an outline for your blog post. If you’re writing an in-depth post, it should have …

1,500 words (or more)
Solves a problem (no matter how big or small)
Involves clear steps to follow (re: actionable)
Showcases your content in a readable fashion (review Part 1 again if need be)
Speaks to your readers in a personable manner – not stuffy or like an AI bot

The Before and After of Every Blog Post:

Congratulations on your new blog post. Now comes some fun stuff … the before and after to make your work shine!

Let’s breakdown the BEFORE (not live yet but almost):

Did you spell check? More than once?
Does your post provide value?
Is it easy to identify the main points?
Did you include all your keywords?
Did you include a feature image? Other images?
Is your post “on brand”?
Did you link it to other posts of yours? Posts of others?
One more time … did you proofread?

If you’ve done all this, go ahead and hit that PUBLISH button!

Okay, now let’s breakdown the AFTER (yay, it’s time to GO LIVE):

Read and re-read over the live post.
Share your post to all your social media platforms.
Post and share during “optimal” time frames.
Share your post to other blogging platforms (e.g BlogLovin’).
Promote. Promote. But not in a sleezy “pitchy” kind of way.
Make sure to respond to all comments (when not spam).
Keep tabs on your analytics to see how your engagement is coming along.
Re-use this post to create more great post content or as a hyperlink.

Okay, now I know that was a lot of information to process near the end of the week. And especially if blogging is new to your life. However, it’s all very important things to keep in mind. Especially if you want to make a living out of blogging. Not every blog will look and/or feel “perfect” but truthfully, it’s not supposed to be. It’s you on digital paper. And nobody is perfect. But we do improve with age … And so will your blog.

So, let’s end things on a fun note with some interesting fun facts about blogging …!

There is a lot to discover in the world of blogging but now that you know the art behind it all you should be able to choose your type, figure out your style and start your own blogging journey. And when you do, I would love to see what you’ve come up with so feel free to share on VU’s Facebook page with the hashtag #TheArtOfMyBlog so the whole world can see!

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Crystal Kordalchuk

Crystal is an artist, a writer, an organizer, a dreamer, a doer, and down-right proud of it NERD!.

Struck with a love for #AllThings creative at a very young age, Crystal dreamed of a life fueled by her passion for creating and bringing the stories and images in her mind into reality.

As she worked toward her dreams, she earned a diploma as a Computer Applications Specialist then another in Graphic Design and from there began to develop her extensive background in multimedia and the arts. She began her worked in the magazine industry as a layout designer and had a succession of design jobs thereafter. It was her role as a graphic/web designer that gave her the first real glimpse of her future. Soon she began a side job as a freelance designer while keeping one foot in the corporate world. A spark was lit! She turned her freelance gig into a full-time business combining design work with her other passion: creating organization from virtual chaos.

Crystal is one of the most organized individuals on the planet. She is by all means a Zen master of her crafts. She excels at helping others become “untangled” and provides her clients with tools to run their businesses smoothly while she takes care of the details behind the scenes. Thus Virtually Untangled was born. A successful business where her work as a top notch creative in graphic and web — with a twist of virtual assistant — married into one amazing place where clients can come with their virtual messes and become magically untangled. Crystal can always make sense of even the most unorganized chaos and offers a virtual detox of order and peace, so her clients can get busy doing the work that they love the most.

The Art of a Blog Post – Part 2

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Crystal Kordalchuk

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