5 Prerequisites to Publishing on your Blog

Writing quality content is a huge accomplishment and the first thing that you want to do after completing a blog post is to hit that “publish” button for its final send off. Don’t do it just yet! Blogging is much more than just writing and publishing. There are lots of other things to think about – images, links, affiliate links, SEO, social media and more!  Here is a checklist of items to do before finally publishing that post.

1.  Proofread & Edit

• Is your blog title catchy?
• Learn what makes an irresistible blog title. 
• Struggling to come up with a title for your post? Introducing Hubspot’s Blog Topic Generator – simply enter in three nouns and let the magic happen!
• Have you read through and proofread the post for any grammatical errors?  Did someone else also read it over for any errors?
• Does the layout of your post look correct?

2.  Test Links

• Have you tested each link to make sure it works?
• Have you cross-linked to some of your other blog posts?

• Have you added Affiliate Links where appropriate?

3.  Analyze Images

• Did you add relevant images or product images?
• Have you added titles and alt attributes to your images?
• Are your images optimized for social media?

**Pro Tip:  Product Images can also be deep-linked using an affiliate link.
 

4.  SEO Ready

• Is your title SEO-friendly?
• Have you included the keyword several times throughout the post?
• Need a little help when it comes to SEO – find a plugin!  WordPress SEO by Yoast is a great one to take away any confusion when it comes to SEO.

5.  Call-to-Action

This one sometimes gets forgotten, but it can have a powerful effect.  Leave your readers with a question to consider or give them a preview of what is to come on your site!  This will help keep them engaged and coming back for more.

Are there any other items on your checklist?