Over time I’ve gotten into the groove with blogging because I’ve found out what works for me.
I follow a sequence of events which allows me to keep on top of writing. Yet, it still means I can get on with the stay at home dad stuff I need to do during the day.
I don’t stick to a rigid publishing schedule because it doesn’t work for me. I write every day though and publish when I’ve finished a post.
The trick for me is not to focus on sitting down to write and complete a post in a day. I like to have several posts on the go at various stages of completion.
That means I rarely get fed up with blogging. If I get stuck with something I’ll move onto another post. I find that by coming back to a post, I often get renewed inspiration.
Do I do things differently to you? Let’s find out…
SEARCH FOR RELEVANT KEYWORDS
With any blog post I write, I always start with some keyword research.
I don’t focus on writing for search engines but finding some relevant keywords that will help a post rank won’t hurt.
What I look for in particular are long tail keywords. That is, I look for longer and more specific keywords that have less competition and may be easier to rank for.
I use a couple of different programs to search for keywords.
MARKET SAMURAI
Market Samurai is a useful keyword research tool that has some plus points over its rivals. I particularly like that I can visualise ways to get onto the first page on Google.
LONG TAIL PRO
Long Tail Pro is faster than Market Samurai and less complicated. I use it to get an idea of how competitive a keyword is without having to do manual research.
PRODUCE A WRITING PLAN
I write as often as I can and usually every day. I can’t always write a whole post in a day though.
It’s not that I don’t want to but often I have other commitments which won’t allow it.
A few weeks ago, I came across a tool which makes my blogging schedule so much easier. It’s called Pacemaker Writing Schedule.
What this allows you to do is work out a daily writing schedule by entering a few details about your task.
You can tailor it to your style of writing depending on how you approach things.
If you like a slow start and to take on more later you can. Maybe you’re the opposite and like to get more done at the beginning.
Pacemaker can work out a blogging schedule exactly to your specification.
WRITE WITHOUT DISTRACTION
Once I’ve got my plan, I’m good to get writing.
I used to write in WordPress with the distraction-free writing mode but now I use Hemingway instead.
I use the desktop version that allows me to write completely distraction free. I click on the write button and get writing.
There is also an online version too which you may find useful. The only difference between the desktop and online version is that you can’t save your writing in the online version.
I check every now and again how I’m doing to meet my writing schedule for the day. That’s as simple as clicking the edit button.
The edit view also gives me some useful information about my writing.
Hemingway:
grades the readibility of my writing;
tells me how many paragraphs, sentences, words and characters it contains;
confirms whether there are any hard to read or very hard to read sentences;
tells me how many adverbs I’ve used;
advises if any words or phrases can be simpler;
highlights the use of passive voice.
It also advises how many adverbs and uses of passive voice may be acceptable.
All fantastic information to ensure your readers aren’t put off by your writing.
SEO OPTIMISATION
Whilst I use the Pacemaker as a guide for my blogging schedule, I don’t use it as a rigid structure.
There’s no point in writing more or less than a post requires. So once it’s complete and edited using Hemingway, I transfer it to WordPress.
That’s when I analyse it with Scribe.
Scribe is different to other SEO tools I’ve used.
It gives you a picture of how your post fits in with the content already on your blog.
It advises how easy it would be to rank for your keyword phrase. That’s based on content, social media strategy, page authority and backlinks.
You can also use Scribe in conjunction with WordPress SEO by Yoast to optimise individual posts.
It’s not cheap. Scribe as a standalone product starts at $97 per month.
If you use Synthesis to host your site though, it’s included with your hosting account.
THINK ABOUT PRESENTATION
Once I’m happy with the wording and structure of a post, I then think about how I’m going to present it.
OK, so the easy way would be to grab a picture, add it to the top of the post and hit the publish button.
I want more than that from my posts though. I want to be able to highlight sections, change the style of any bullet lists, add full width images if applicable.
That’s where WP Profit Builder comes in.
I could mess around with code to do some of those things but I want the process to be easy.
WP Profit Builder makes tricky things in blogging easier. It lets me add columns, opt-in forms, countdown timers and all sorts of other things in my posts without any code.
It’s a front-end builder so you can see exactly how things will look as you update your post.
It’s also a landing page builder so you can use it to spice up your landing pages too.
SET UP A SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY
The final thing I do before publishing is to set up an automated social media sharing strategy.
You can do that right from WordPress using Coschedule. You don’t even need to leave the post screen to do it.
I usually set up sharing over a two month period. Depending on the network depends how often I share within that period though. I’ll share more times on Twitter than any other network.
You can also choose between posting to your social media networks as a text, image or a link post. I find using the image post on Twitter to be particularly beneficial.
DO YOU HAVE A BLOGGING ROUTINE YOU FOLLOW?
When you write a blog post, do you follow a routine?
Are there any essential services and plugins you use to make your blogging life easier?
