I’ve been asked several times about the process I go through when writing a blog post, so here’s the behind-the-scenes look.
The first thing I do is figure out exactly what I want to write about. I usually go to one of the many ideas lists I have and see if anything jumps out.
For example, looking at the list today, the topic “behind the scenes” popped out, and I thought,
‘now there’s an idea; I can write about how I write a post.’
The very first thing is getting that first sentence written. This can be the most challenging part, and quite often, I will start with something like “once upon a time there was…” and go from there. Obviously, that gets changed once I’m into the post and my creative thoughts have materialised, and the document I’m writing (typing) on is no longer blank.
The spell-check is turned off as soon as I open the document. Why? Because it is distracting to see little red lines appearing under words. I’m so OTT about correcting when I see them!!!
I keep writing until I run out of things to say. At this point, I’ll do a word count check to see how many words I’ve written. For blog posts, one needs to have a minimum of 500, but if you want the search engines to like the content, you can go up to 1500-2000 words.
I’m not worried about the number of words in my blogs, but I consider them when writing for someone else. Plus, I know many people get put off reading anything that will take them longer than a couple of minutes. Yes, we live in an age of instant gratification and quick absorption (although how much is absorbed is anyone’s guess).
And if you’re curious – the word count presently is 512. But I’m still at the beginning of the writing process.
Once the draft is completed, the next move is to sort out the SEO. Getting the right keywords and inserting them into the correct place. If you want to know a bit more about SEO, read my post How to SEO the Right Way.
This also means getting the title search engine friendly. And, it’s about now that I change the first sentence if it needs it.
Once I’m happy with the draft, I start the editing process. The best way to do this is via Grammarly.
I use this piece of software every single day. It’s the easiest and most thorough editing and proofreading program I’ve ever seen. Plus, it makes my job a whole lot easier as it does the heavy lifting.
After a final check with all the SEO parts in place, it’s time to do the Featured Image graphic and load it all up into my website.
Boom! The blog post is done and published.
If you want to know more about writing a blog, jump on my Basic Guide to Blogging Course – it will get you started.