Your Blog Checklist
I have been trying to focus a lot more on building up my blog and video content but I have been doing it without a clearly articulated plan which has been kinda haphazard and helter-skelter. I am not happy with this and decided that I would put a plan in place that would guide my approach.
Here are the steps that I am going to follow.
1) Resource Check
My camera has not yet arrived, and my webcam is showing a little darker than I am comfortable with. So I will be sending the laptop off to the repair shop to fix. I also have to buy a recording mic with headphones and an extension arm for my YouTube vlogs because my current mic just is not cutting it.
In terms of content tools I have
- Grammarly for grammar
- Canva and PowerPoint for graphic design
- Pixabay and Shutterstock for images.
- Screencastify for video recording with presentation images
2) Budget Check
Now that I have identified my resources that I will need I have to make sure I have the funds to cover the costs. I went over to Amazon and priced up the items and it’s not too bad. I have to make sure to add in the shipping duties and taxes that I have to incur since I am outside the US.
3)Time and Turnover Check
If you listen to any of the major bloggers many of them will repeatedly say that content is King Kong, well not the Kong part but you get my angle. That means content is a beast because it requires time to research, write or record, edit, publish and post. So you have to establish a writing period and posting frequency. I try to assign 3 hours daily hoping to push off 6 or 7 blogs a week across 3 platforms.
I have now challenged myself to write 4 blogs a week on one of my platforms. I am targeting So far so good. I am not as aggressive with videos as I am looking at 2 per week. Eventually, I will hopefully get up to the level of posting that Nathaniell and Roope do videos 1+ every day.
I realize as well that I have to dedicate time for social media posting along with monitoring and management of performance via Insights and Google Analytics.
4) Customer Check
Now that the plan is out of the way it’s time to zero in on your audience. Without them you are just writing a journal for your grandkids amusement. This next step of defining your Customer Avatar or Buyer Persona is key.
I won’t go into here but you can read my previous post Understanding who is your Avatar.
5) Content Check
Now that I understand my customers and their pain points I will begin to develop content topics around these issues. This content will be broken out into:
- Blog topic
- Focused keyword
- Complimentary keywords
- Content-type (e.g. review, advice, top tips, etc.)
- Word count
There you have it. Hope this has helped you further understand and develop the activities behind your blog delivery. Let me know if you like these and if are any other checks you would add to the list.
Al the best to you all,
Hugh
Recent Comments
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Thank you, Hugh! I want to know your thoughts on this one -- word count. 1,000 or 5,000 words? Is it really in the numbers or in the content itself? (I'm saying this only because I remember when 400 words was a half decent article.). (I'm old 🤣)
I seriously struggle with content atm. I can write a 5000 word post, but not without fluff. I think that alot depends on the niche and what type of post, but are longer posts better? (In your own opinion).
~Haze
Hey, Haze very good to see you.
From my brief experience, Google seems to like an average word count of 1500. That said you need to look at the average length of the top performers in your niche in the Google ranks to determine what their average blog length is. That would be the target you would have to shoot for if you want to get up there. This could be the same as 1500 or anywhere up to 4500 (depends on level of competition). A pillar post that connects all posts in your site can run up to 8-10k words.
Check out what Israel says What Should Be the Length of Blog Posts in 2021? The producing content struggle is real however if you practice it does get better. I would try to avoid fluff because while word count is one performance indicator there are very many more and low engagements will only push you down.
Hope this helps
Hugh
Thank you@ Good to see you as well 🙂
My competition is tough. They're mostly veterinary sites. But I'm getting ranked well here and there for certain terms. I started to build a different site with a different theme, but I've decided to stick with this one. I don't want to go backwards.
I will also read more about pillar posts. Those are different. But thank you so much for the link, it is very much appreciated!
Have an awesome day! 😀
-Haze
Wow, that's quite the list you got there, Hugh. Looks like you have it under control.
For me, I'm just going step by step, although I am writing notes for further blog topics and future affiliate products.
Keep up the good efforts, man!
Rudy
Go for it Hugh. Just make sure you upload on a very regular time plan, my viewers expect it now. Consistency pays dividends.
Good luck, everything is to play for.
Bux
Yes, indeed the bots too are expecting content to be delivered in frequency you put in motion.
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I like your checklist. One thing, I don't have many people reading my posts yet and no one has purchased anything. So how do I know who my audience is and determine how to focus on their needs? I am writing to the audience I think I have due to my topic but I do not know how to make sure if that's correct. Any thoughts?
Take a look at this article Nina I believe it will help you
https://neilpatel.com/blog/target-audience/
Thanks for popping in on me,
Hugh