One Blog Post at a Time: The Ultimate Tip for Success

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Guest Post by Mukosi Fulufhelo

Blogger overwhelm is real, especially if you are just starting out. For me, it was a result of many things, one of them being my studies. It was imperative that I find a way to help myself deal with all the stress that came with blogging and my studies.

… otherwise, my blogging career would go down the drain faster than I could say ‘I love blogging’.

When I started blogging, I was so excited that I wanted to learn everything all at once. After setting up my blog, I looked up articles on blog post writing and essential things to do after my blog is up. The articles I found were informative and helpful in many ways.

Most of them, however, advice that I must post two times a week to a few times a month for my blog to be a success. That is not at all bad advice because blogging is content based.

The more your content the more your engagement. Of course,  that also depends on the effectiveness of your promotion methods, your search engine rank, and many other factors. but how can you promote or rank higher if you don’t have content?

So, I took the advice and aimed to write one blog post a week.

It was a disaster! sure I was able to get several blog posts up on my blog in the shortest time, but it took from the quality of my blog posts.

My posts were too short, displayed a lack of research and had notable grammatical errors. I had to go back and re-edit most of them which were tricky because I had to be careful not to stray from the original point which would make me lose credibility from my audience.  

Even with a constricted timeline between blog posts, I always I had something to figure out or learn about blogging; Like what the hell is SEO and why is everyone talking about it? what are backlinks?  How do I start making money with my new blog? How do I get traffic? How do I get more followers on every social media?

The list goes on!

I just wanted to master everything all at once but is it really possible? Can you master everything all at once without compromising something else? Of  Course not!

All that piled together left little time for research and experimentation hence my blog posts were poor.

One blog post at a time is a simple cycle to help you get in the habit of blog writing in the midst of all other things you have to do for your blog, and equivalently, your personal life.

The cycle is comprised of four simple steps;  Research and experimentation, writing, post and promote and breathe. Each step is independent and can be done over a few days or weeks. You can take on one other blogging aspect you want to master with each.

Before you start with the process give yourself a reasonable deadline and allocate time to complete each step accordingly.

Step 1: Research and Experimentation

It goes without saying that to write a blog post there must be some research and/ experimentation done. It is the most fundamental part of writing a blog post unless you’re doing creative writing. Different rules may apply.

It is important to get the facts right. You do not want to have a very good post with mixed up facts. That will show people that you are not entirely sure of what you are talking about. That is NOT what you want your audience to think of you. basic research will take care of that.

Use google to find out what the facts are and make sure your blog post is not messed up by something you could have found that easy.

A very important and smart thing to do is to google what you want to write about (your title)! The main aim is to read the top-ranked articles to identify areas you can take advantage of to make your post better.

There are a number of things you can identify and use to your advantage from other people’s work, here are a few:

• You can draw inspiration from their posts, what do you think people love about their posts?
• You can identify the gaps they left. What didn’t they cover that you know?
• Identify any patterns between different blog posts

Identifying these gaps could increase the potential of your post ranking. Searching your title should very easily make your blog post that much more valuable and interesting.

So, go on, type in your topic and find out what others have to say.

The only thing you ought to be careful of while reading other people’s articles is losing your voice. Remember all these opinions are already written, and believe me, they were not helpful for everyone. So, write about your experience. Your research plus your experience equals an amazing blog post!

Of course, you will not be researching and experimenting all day every day, so when you are not doing anything, take some time to learn more about Search Engine Optimization (SEO) which will come in handy in the next step.

Step 2: Write

Now we get to the fun part. Yes, writing!  This part is obviously just putting your word skills,  experience, and research together into one coherent piece to make an amazing blog post. There are several things to consider when writing a blog post.

Here are some basic things to take heed of:

Choose a compelling topic/ Craft your headlines or title

It goes without saying that your title or headline must be capturing. People will decide whether or not they want to read your post from your title. So yes. It is a big deal. Strategically craft a headline to contain your keywords while also capturing your audience. Make me want to read your post! here are some proven successful eye-catching headline suggestions

Create an outline

I don’t know about you, but I like structure. I like to have a plan. I like to see where I’m going. So, it goes without saying that an outline is something that is always part of my scope.

An outline can act as a mind map and can spark ideas and creativity when you’re writing. It gives a sense of direction and can help you organize your thoughts.

It is important to have that natural flow of ideas on a blog post hence why you need to create an outline. list all the important key points that makes the basis of your blog post and tackle them individually.

An advantage of this, particularly when you cannot write in one sitting, is that you will just complete each part of your outline at a time and still have a perfect flow of ideas.

Write a capturing intro

This is another part of your post that your readers look for. It will determine whether your post is really worth their time. Make sure your intro captivates your reader.

They are already reading your post, so they already have your attention. All you need to do is to keep them interested. This requires you to use your originality and whatever style you may see fit.

A good intro must give a clear idea of what the blog post is about. It must identify the problem that your post is trying to solve and highlight the main aim of your blog. More like a broader explanation of your title.

Start putting it the essence of the post. Your experience. Your expertise

This part should pass in a breeze. All the research that you did on your topic and the experience that you gathered is fitted into your outline. Find linking opportunities (from within your site and other sites) to make Google trust your site.

Conclude

Write a short summary of your whole blog post. What were the solutions? List or restate your main points.

Take care of your blog’s aesthetics

Find images and make your most beautiful and attractive. Take the time to preview your work to check for any formatting issues, like inconsistencies in the font. Have someone proofread it, or use online editing tools. If your post is infested with typos, you’ll lose credibility with your readers’

Make sure your post is Search Engine Optimized

While at it, why not explore different social media management tools that will handle the distribution of your posts for you. Tailwind is amazing for Pinterest and Instagram. It auto-posts your posts at best time for engagement.

Step 3: Share and Promote

Finally, be proud of what you wrote and share it with the world. Don’t just Tweet it out once and forget about it. Share it over and over again!

I really thought that sharing once was enough. I did not want to annoy people by sharing the same thing over and over and over again. And while you really do not want to annoy your followers, you can still share the same post a few times in a while and maybe even changing the title, or main picture but keeping the same link to the same post.

Because honestly if you think of all the work you put into writing a blog post, you’ll realize that sharing it once is not enough at all…you probably won’t even reach most of your audience that way.

Share it on Instagram, Facebook, and any other social networks you use, remembering to customize your post for each one. Use social media management tools to distribute your posts.

Setup a google analytics and search console accounts to monitor how your posts are doing, find out what works and what doesn’t.  Get your site indexed (LINK https://www.eebew.com/seo-tutorial/on-page-seo/website-indexing/).

Step 4: Breathe

Perhaps the most important step. Take time out!

Assess what you’ve done and identify what needs to be improved for your next post. Find possible ways you can facilitate those improvements. Use google analytics to find out what people are reading most on your blog.

You can use that insight to find out what works for your blog, what people are most interested in. monitor your traffic and where most of it comes from and take advantage of that medium of acquisition.

But above all, give yourself credit for your work.  Identify the areas you feel you’ve done well and appreciate them.

Lastly, take one last deep breath with a smile of self-appreciation, find new ideas for your next blog post and repeat!  Happy blogging!

Conclusion

Here’s what to remember: Follow through a simple four-step cycle to reduce overwhelm.

Research and Experiment

• Make sure you get the facts right
• Read the top-ranked articles to identify areas you can take advantage of to make your post better

Write

• Choose a compelling topic/ Craft your headlines or title
• Create an outline
• Write a capturing intro
• Start putting it the essence of the post. Your experience. Your expertise
• Conclude
• Take care of your blog’s aesthetics
• Make sure your post is Search Engine Optimized

Post and Promote

• Be proud of what you wrote and share it with the world
• Realize that sharing it once is not enough, you won’t reach most of your audience

Breathe

• Give yourself credit for your work.
• Identify the areas you feel you’ve  done well and appreciate them

Mukosi Fulufhelo was born in South Africa, Limpopo. She is a full-time student at the University of Venda studying towards an Honors in physics. She is also a part-time blogger from perfectishf.blogpost.com

Perfectish is a lifestyle blog that focuses on hair, travel and personal growth. It was started as a  creative outlet which is evolving into an online job.

https://www.pinterest.co.uk/perfectish/

https://www.instagram.com/perfect_ishf/

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