The Best Blog Writing Workflow

“I would love to see a post about your blog post writing process. It is such speed bump for me! I take forever to write a blog post and then no one reads it anyway!” Anyone else?

Your wish, my command—today, I’m talking alll about my blog writing process, so you can cultivate a blog writing workflow too.

I’m old when it comes to blogging. I’ve been doing this thing for awhile and you know what I’ve seen over the years? Things have changed drastically.

Much has changed in the blog world since I first started tapping my fingers against a keyboard. But one thing hasn’t: I still have a content creation process, a blog workflow when I write.

I’m usually not going to sit down and stare at a blinking cursor. It stresses me out, and I hate it. I’m always going to sit down with some of the work done for me! Having a content creation process and blog writing workflow is how you can be 50% finished—before you even start.

Let’s jump in.

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Why Have a Blog Writing Workflow?

Every blogger goes through moments of *not feeling* the whole blog writing thing, and that’s ok. But, for the sake of our brands, we owe it to push through because only if we are consistent- we will make the mula. That’s why I believe in having a workflow.

In fact, marketers who use blogs generate 67% more leads than those who don’t. (Trust me, I’ve seen it! I just signed a brand new client who found me on Google!) Not only that, blog posts cost 62% less per lead than outbound marketing, according to marketing expert and SEO strategist Neil Patel (subscribe to his YouTube, it’s fab).

I will also say part of what makes a blog workflow better is batching your writing process. I’ve created a whole FREE class on that, so look below and you can watch the class instantly and become an organized blogger who writes weekly blog posts like you should.

How to Create a Blog Writing Workflow?

Let’s dive in deep and I’ll show you how to create your own blog writing workflow that will work for you!

Step One: Map Out Your 5 Categories

The first step is to find your niche. Once you have your blogging niche, then you want to choose 5 categories that you want to write about within that niche.

Then you will basically rotate through those 5 categories throughout the month. This is because:

1. You won’t get sick of writing for the same category again and again.
2. If your audience doesn’t connect with you in one category, they may connect with you in another.

For example:

My niche is Blogging

My 5 categories are:

-Blogging

-Business

-Selfcare/ Personal

-Branding

-Website Design

If a reader doesn’t connect with me in my blogging and business categories, they might connect with me in the selfcare one.

Step Two- Write a list of blog post ideas

Now I want you to head on over to Pinterest and search for blog posts or other bloggers who write the same things as you do. Write down all the great blog post titles you see. I like to copy and paste all of the titles into a Google Document so I can print this out.

Copying other peoples blog post titles is not copying and it’s actually really good for SEO to re-write other bloggers blog posts and make them 10X better. You do not copy their content, you simply find ways to make the blog post better and lengthier.

Step Three: Create a Content Calendar

Once you have a long list of blog post ideas, you want to plug them into a content calendar. But first, we need to discuss quarterly goals.

Every successful blogger out there plans the whole entire year in advance and you will need to as well.

To get started planning your year, you want to choose 4 things that you want to sell or 4 goals like gaining email list subscribers or making $500 on your blog.

For example:

Quarter One- I’m going to focus on growing my email list.

Quarter Two- I’m going to launch a new 1:1 blog coaching program.

Quarter Three- I’m going to launch a new process for website design.

Quarter Four- I will launch my 1:1 blog coaching program again.

Now that we have our quarterly goals mapped out, we want to choose blog posts that best fit those goals.

For quarter one, I would write blog posts that have to do with my freebies and advertising my freebies.

For quarter two, I would write blog posts about how to make money, why you need to hire a blogging coach, etc.

You want to write 4 blog posts per month and you always want to write blog posts that will help you accomplish that specific quarterly goal.

Now go ahead and plug those 4 blog posts/month into the calendar.

Step Four: Pre-Writing Questions

A rule of writing any copy for your blog and business: start with the end in mind. I do this with 6 questions that I write at the top of EVERY single blog I write.

Maybe you want to build your authority on a subject, show off client work, announce a new product, or share a personal passion project. Whatever the purpose of your blog, I’d still center on the why behind this post.

Ask yourself:

1. How does this fit into my overall strategy?
2. What’s the key takeaway action?
3. What questions do I get asked about this?
4. What’s my point of view on this? (ex. Do I get feisty, do I have a background in this, do I want to expand on an old idea, etc.)
5. Problem:
6. Solution:

I’m sure you could ask yourself 50 questions before you start writing. I don’t have time for that. I need to quickly just jot 6 things at the top of my document.

Step Five: Outline Your Blog Posts

If you know me, you know that I’m OBSESSED with outlining blog posts, eBooks, courses, etc. Before I write a blog posts or anything, I need to outline it and break it all down before writing the post.

Here I’m going to use a basic outline that I use for any conversion-focused, or goal-oriented piece of content in my blog and business.

I’m coming back here to what is more of a foundational pillar piece of content in my business.

I’m going to use a simple, easy go-to outline to hammer it out.

For example, here’s a brief 5-point outline sketch I used for years:

1. Intro story/anecdote/fact/etc.:
2. Core Message—what is it that I’m telling them? Say it clearly! In this blog, I’m explaining XYZ.
3. Sections/miniblogs (4-5):
4. Tell ‘em again:
5. Call To Action—this follows that art of tell ’em what you’re gonna say, tell ’em, tell ’em what you told ’em.

Sometimes I even break it down further than this!

Step Six: Inspiration

Before I go to write any blog post, I need to find inspiration or else my writing will sound like crap (kinda like it does today. Bleh. We all have our moments).

I head to Pinterest and I read some articles to get me motivated and then I will also head over to my favorite bloggers website and read their most recent articles. I really find their style of writing to be inspiring. If I don’t read something inspiring before I write a post, It will sound like a 5 year old wrote it (again, kinda like it does right now). If it does end up sounding like a 5 year old wrote it, I go back and edit it when I’m feeling less tired and more smart.

Sometimes I can write really good blog posts, and sometimes I just can’t. You will probably get like that too, but just remember to still write and push through because this is what helps us get better.

Step Seven- Writing a Blog post

In order to write a good blog post, you first need to know some things.

Tip 1: Write for THEM, not for you. Blogging is not a journal that you can use to pour out your heart about your life. Maybe your mom will read that but I can promise you that no one else will care. Writing blog posts for you will get you no where and it will especially not make you any money.

Tip 2- Use headings. Blog posts aren’t essay’s where you write 5 paragraphs and make it all professional before handing it into your teacher. It’s different. Take note of how I am writing this blog post. There are a maximum of 3 sentences within each and I break up the text with headings.

Tip 3: Make the blog posts scrollable. People have low attention spans these days and they will almost never sit there and read the entire blog post. Which is why you need to make it skimable. Go back through your blog posts and tell me, if you quickly skim through your blog post, can you still understand the message? If not, you need to make some changes.

Tip 4: Sound like YOU. Talk to your readers in a blog post how you would if you were talking with them at a coffee shop. You wouldn’t sound boring, would you? Don’t be afraid to use jargon words, swear words, pop in a joke hear and there. Be YOU.

Blog Post Structure

There is a certain structure for writing a blog post which is:

-Introduction

-Sections

-Closing

Let’s talk about each of these.

Introduction

The introduction should:

-Stop someone’s scroll

You want to:

-Start with a question that peaks their interest

Then:

-Give them the promise. Tell them why this post is going to help/serve them! Why should they read this?

Tip: No one reads a post if their is nothing in it for them.

Sections

You want to decide on atleast 3 key points that would help you get your point across.

Now it’s time to evaluate on the 3 key points.

What does someone need to know about those key points?

What will help your reader understand them?

Keep delivering on the promise you gave them.

If you promised you’d help them develop their niche, then the 3 key points need to actually help them develop their niche!

Closing

Finish it up with a conclusion:

-Summarize what they learned

-Restate the promise so they know that you definitely kept the promise you made them.

-Include words of encouragement so they will keep going

-Then a call to action!

Take them to your other blog posts, take them to your services, add a sign up form so they can sign up to your email list

Step 8: Edit

The first goal of learning how to edit a blog post is to make sure that the article gets the point across clearly, ideally in the briefest possible amount of time.

It’s okay if your writing style is a little on the wordy side, but eliminate any tangents or redundant phrases. You should also make sure any professional jargon is either explained or traded out for words your audience will understand. If you use professional jargon frequently, consider creating a glossary page you can link to.

Remember: You should still make the blog post sound like you. If you are funny, dramatic, etc. then your blog post should sound like that.

At this point, you should also double check all your research and links. One wrong fact or broken link can undermine your whole article, so read every source thoroughly before you use it.

Then go through and add in any images that make sense. You can add graphs, inspirational images, etc. Any image that you think will help get your point across, inspire or help your reader.

The third step to mastering how to edit a blog post is all about diving into the details of spelling and grammar. Breaking the occasional rule can be a great way to create a more conversational tone and sound like you (which is important), but your article should generally follow the established rules of grammar.

If spelling and grammar aren’t things that come naturally to you, use a tool like Grammarly to keep you on track.

At this point your article is ready for reading; now you need to prepare it to be found in search engines. I do part using the Yoast SEO plugin.

Before you wrote your blog post, you should have already done your keyword research. If you have no idea how to do keyword research, then sign up below to the FREE Video Library for Bloggers! You’ve now spent about 15 mins-30 mins editing your article and you’re itching to hit the “Publish” button, but I urge you to take one final step: click on the “Preview” button to view your blog post before.

This will allow you to see how the blog post will look on your website before you officially publish it.

I highly suggest you take a quick read through the post just one more time on your website to get a new perspective of the blog post and catch any additional errors or maybe even some things you want to add in.

Categories and Tags

If you are on a WordPress platform, if you look to your right and scroll a bit, you will see that there are categories and tags.

Remember the 5 categories I helped you decide on at the beginning of this post? Well now you will plug in those categories and check off what category that every blog post will fall into.

In the “tag” section, you can put some SEO keywords that are related to your blog post. All you need is a couple. I wouldn’t put more than 5.

You also need to know that tags need to be unique for every blog post you write. If you use the keyword “blogging” for every blog post, then this isn’t good for SEO purposes. You need to strategically choose unique ones for each post.

Featured Image

The featured image is also on the right hand side of your blog post editor on WordPress.

The featured image for a blog post will be the main image that shows on your website. This image should be branded and it should match your websites colors.

Only use an image that you know will blend and look good with the rest. Also use an image that is related to your blog post, and something that will inspire your blog readers to click and read.

Make sure you add alt text to all of your images inside your post, including the featured image.

Insert a Pinterest Pin Image

Last, but not least, you will want to insert a Pinterest pin image that you designed for the post inside of the blog post. I like to put my Pinterest image at the very top of the blog post and also 1-3 pin images at the very bottom.

This is important so that readers can save your pin and refer back to your blog post at a later date. This is also important to add so that other bloggers who read your post, can share it so that it gets infront of new audiences.

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Great copy isn’t written, it’s assembled, Ray Edwards said. Having a system and workflow can help you pound out your blog posts a WHOLE lot faster. I hope these tips for a better blog post help!

If you have any questions at all about blogging, business, getting organized, etc. then make sure you book your free 1 hour long blog strategy call here.

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