Swipe My Blog Post Writing Process + A Free Checklist

Blogging is a lot of work. I’m quite sure that’s one of the top things that turns people off from blogging altogether, or from blogging consistently. But if you’ve got a consistent process under your belt, it makes blogging that much easier.

Here, I’m sharing my blog post writing process + a free checklist you can follow to write quality blog posts over and over again. It doesn’t matter if you’re a fashion blogger or a small business blogger, this blog post writing formula works for anyone.

My Blog Post Writing Process

Research the topic

First thing I do when writing nearly any blog post is research the topic at hand, aka google the shit out of it and see what else is out there. This gives me ideas and overall just helps get the wheels in my head churning. I can easily spot if there are any experts on the topic I may want to reach out to or quote and see if there are any interesting stats or hot news surrounding the topic, too.

Start an outline

While I’m researching, I generally get an outline going as well. I typically format my blog posts with a solid intro, a few supporting points and then a conclusion. (Check out my perfect blog post formula here).

When I say outline, what I’m generally doing is jotting down the subheads that will go into the main body of my blog post and perhaps a few notes on what each subhead means. I can tweak the actual titles later, but the idea is there. I do this process whenever the research has started, so sometimes this happens days before any actual writing has even begun.

Write and re-write the intro

One of the hardest parts of writing is the dreaded introduction. This is something I stare at, agonize over and have to write over and over again. In fact, I almost never use the original introduction. I have to write several crappy ones before finding the true “hook”. And oftentimes it’s buried a few sentences down, hiding underneath my fluff.

If you’re not sure what I mean, try it with your own writing. Look at your introduction and read a few sentences in. Are the first few lines really necessary or are they just filler content, dragging the reader along for no good reason? Can you cut the first line or so out altogether and get right to the point? Being direct, especially when it comes to blog writing, is always an effective way to hook a reader.

[Tweet “When it comes to blog intros, get straight to the point. No fluff!”]

Fill in the bones

Once my intro is flowing I’ll begin the process of actually writing. That’s right, I’ve already researched, outlined and done an intro 10x before the writing process has even begun. But once I’m in the writing groove, it’s easy to just keep going and fill it all in.

You may also like: How to write conversational copy

Edit and edit some more

Writing is just the beginning, the true magic happens in the editing process. After you’ve finished writing, be sure to let your content breathe. This means resisting the urge to hit “publish” right away! You have to be able to step away from your content to clear your head and spot new issues. Step away for an hour, a day or a week if you must! But the point is to just take a break.

Here are some other ways you can improve your editing:

  • Print it out and read it
  • Read your copy out loud
  • Have a friend or writing partner read it
  • Run it through an editor, like Grammarly

Load up the photos

People are visual creatures, and your epic content needs a Pinterest-worthy photo. That’s a nice tall image with the title overlaid on top. Pinterest is my No.1 referrer of traffic for this blog and my lifestyle blog, and I can’t stress enough how important it is to harness this beautiful platform. So take the time to invest in some blog post templates that you can use over and over again.

You can use Photoshop or Canva to create Pinterest graphics. And you can find plenty of beautiful blog post templates on Creative Market. Customize to your color scheme and fonts and you’ll have easy-to-use blog templates for each and every post.

SEO Optimize

Once you’ve loaded up your blog post template, be sure to change the title to something that mirrors your actual blog post title and write a description in your alt text as well. When somebody pins your content, the description gets pulled in from your alt text so you want to be sure it’s descriptive, includes keywords and includes a call to action. What you don’t want is someone to pin “IMG.133423453”. Here’s an example:

Swipe my blog post writing process + get a free worksheet with business blogging tips! Click the photo to read the full post.

Of course, that’s just the beginning of your SEO fun, you want to be sure your post is optimized as well. If you’re on WordPress, I highly recommend SEO Yoast plugin which gives you easy-to-follow guidelines on how and where to integrate keywords into your post. You’ll want to use your keywords naturally, of course, and be sure to use them in a title, your headline and throughout your content as well.

Don’t let the word “SEO” scare you; it’s just a way to make sure your content is search-friendly!

Publish and promote!

All set? It’s time to hit publish! Just remember to start promoting that post. There’s no point in putting it out there if you’re not sharing it with the world. I use CoSchedule to help me promote and re-promote my content, Boardbooster for Pinterest and Planoly for Instagram scheduling. Buffer, Hootsuite and Meet Edgar are also great social media tools to try.

Remember to promote in other places as well, like your Facebook groups and LinkedIn. There are a lot of resources online with exhaustive lists on everywhere you can promote your post, but try and focus on the few that you see the most results in so you aren’t running yourself ragged trying to be everywhere at once.

Like this post? Pin me, please!

Swipe my blog post writing process + download the free checklist for easy blog writing! Click the post to view more.


My blog post writing process may look lengthy, but it ensures quality blog posts every time. Research, outline, write, edit, add photos, optimize and publish and promote! You can download the quickie blog post writing checklist here.

 

Do you have a blog post writing process? What’s yours entail?

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