What to do before you click “Publish” on your latest Blog
Your next written masterpiece is finished and you’re ready to click ‘Publish’ to share your blog with the world.
Wait! Have you checked you’re ready to push the button? Use my handy hints below to make sure you’re post really is ready for your the world wide web…
Firstly, and somewhat obviously have you checked your spelling, grammar and punctuation? Don’t leave this solely to your computer’s spell checker as mistakes can be missed (example: ‘your inviting me’ would be picked up as correct although ‘you’re inviting me’ is in fact the correct version!). Give your blog a thorough read through to make sure you’re happy with it: if in doubt, call a proofreader.
It’s fine to use sources from across the web to inform your writing, but make sure you haven’t made such liberal use of them that you could be accused of plagiarism. If you’re borrowing elements of another person’s work, be it a word, line or paragraph, make sure you give them the correct credit. The same applies to media elements such as photos, videos and downloadable content. Credit where credit’s due: if it’s not yours, it’s not due to you!
Make sure your post is engaging and meets the requirements of your audience. Make sure your writing is targeted to the people that you want to read it (if you’re writing for children, avoid complex language, for example). You’ve set your title, say ‘The Best Cycle Paths in Cheshire,’ so be sure that, by the end of your article, you’ve suggested the best paths.
Use formatting to draw attention to particular points or elements of your post. Some blog clients will use rich text editors, allowing you to make wide-ranging changes to formatting, others will be more limited. Be sure to make the most of what you can do!
SEO. Everyone’s talking about it. Making your blogs ‘SEO-friendly’ will help your content to be found online. Take a look at this excellent article for an idiot’s guide to SEO.
Post links in your content to create a journey for readers to follow or find out more. The aim of your blog should be to foster interest in something you’re interested in: for a business blog, in most cases you want people to find out more about you, show interest and eventually buy from you, so make it easy for visitors to do this. Use engaging calls to action throughout and at the end of your post to urge readers to take an action that’s been predefined by you.
Be sure to follow these tips to make sure your blog is really ready for publication. And don’t forget, if you need any professional assistance with proofreading or editing your content, then get in touch with me today.
