Once you’ve chosen to begin blogging (full-time or as a side-hustle), it’s important to know how to write a blog post from start to finish.
After nearly five years of creating content, I’ve finally mastered a blogging workflow that has made the time I spend in front of my laptop much more productive and successful. Before we dive into the logistics, there are a few things you need to be aware of, such as the platform I use and the purpose of my blog.
I have been self-hosted on WordPress.org from the very beginning. Learn more about why self-hosting is important if you want to run a successful blog.
My blog is my business, and I treat it as such. I don’t blog as a hobby, and I do blog in order to support my family and my lifestyle. That’s not to say I don’t enjoy what I do or that every post needs to make a sale. I only want to be transparent.
I don’t claim to know everything. I am self-taught and continue to learn by doing and researching on my own. I highly recommend this to anyone looking to blog for business or pleasure. Don’t rely on bigger bloggers to teach you everything, and don’t bombard forums with questions you could easily Google or search on Pinterest. It will be ten times more satisfying when you figure out the answers on your own.
All of that being said, I do hope to provide some insight on how to maximize your blogging workflow!
Let’s start at the very beginning…
I’m going to try and simplify how I write a blog post from start to finish. This is the method I use, and it works brilliantly for me. Use this as a jumping-off point and piece together a process that suits you!
Collect data and browse current trends.
Before I begin writing a blog post, I want to know what I’m writing about. I search through Pinterest analytics, dive into past content that performed well, and see which keywords are trending on Google. I take into account the knowledge I have on certain topics, and decide whether what I want to write about will benefit my audience.
Write headlines.
At the beginning of the year, a fellow blogger recommended something I’d never heard of: a headline analyzer. Talk about genius. CoSchedule offers a free webpage that allows you to test potential headlines and titles for your blog posts. It often takes me around 10-20 tries before I have 3-4 headlines that rate well and describe what I intend to write about.
Time for photos.
Attaining photos can be a daunting task to some. If you’re uncomfortable in front of a camera, or you don’t feel as though you have the right props or location for the message you’re trying to convey, I highly recommend stock photography. Finding some of the best photos is a click away (search ‘stock photos’ on Pinterest, and you’ll enter a whole new world). You can also take your own photos for the article. I use a mixture of both my own photography and stock photos that match my aesthetic (like the ones in this article) throughout my blog.
Write your post.
This might be the most time-consuming portion of the blogging workflow. I recommend downloading the Yoast SEO plugin if you utilize WordPress. This gives you the chance to see how well your post will perform on search engines. I also suggest a Grammarly subscription. Too often do I begin reading a post, only to be turned away due to poor grammar. Keep your writing evergreen. You can read more about what that means right here.
Prep social media content.
Social media – a blogger’s burden to bear. Okay, so some people love it and others hate it. I’m in the middle. Instagram feels meaningless, and Pinterest brings in 90% of my blog traffic. Put your effort into the platforms that perform the best for you. Remember those headlines we worked on earlier? I use them to create 4-8 Pinterest pins per blog post! I have a Canva membership and it has been an excellent resource for designing on-brand content for my social media pages.
Schedule and share.
This is the fun part (for me, at least)! I often spend an entire day or two a week just writing posts, so I schedule them for times I feel they’ll be most helpful. I might have a great idea for a holiday post in July, and I’ll write it out, but schedule it for November! Alternatively, I could write a post the day before I share it, and that’s fine too. All of my articles are published at 12am the day I want them to go live. Then, for the first 2-4 hours I’m awake on publishing day, I share them. I post to all my social media platforms, engage in Facebook groups (you can join one that I admin right here) and Twitter threads, schedule pins on Tailwind, and plan out my newsletter.
However, this isn’t where it ends.
Get my blog post creation checklist to make writing a breeze!
Keep on sharing!
I don’t post and ghost. Instead, I continue to stay active on social media that day and the following. I engage with other bloggers’ content by commenting or sharing, and I continue to bring attention to that article whenever it seems suitable. This way, the piece you’ve written maintains exposure, long-term!
related posts
8 Apps Every Blogger Should Download // How to Make the Most of Your Home Office // Time Management Tips from a Full-Time Blogger
Fellow content creator, what does your blogging workflow look like? Is it similar to mine?
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I follow a similar plan for writing blog posts. My problem is I have too many ideas for posts, products, etc. and limited time. I’ve heard a lot of bloggers use batching to stay productive but I haven’t been able to make that work for me yet.
I’m hoping to make blogging my full time gig one day so this was a great look in to your process! So many awesome tips!
I appreciate learning how other bloggers write their content. Thank you for sharing your process. I am thankful to have a husband who excels at grammar as i know that is a challenge for me.
You have a great workflow here! You’ve been doing this for so long, you’re an expert!
Wow, this is so helpful! Love the checklist. I’ll have to check out that a headline analyzer.
I love these tips! I do pretty much the same except I had no idea about the co-schedule headline checker thing! Definitely going to give that a try! I wish I self-hosted from the beginning lol!
Lizzie
http://www.lizzieinlace.com
I’m always curious how other bloggers write their post! So thank you for taking the time to go over this. There are some things we do similar and I also have something new to take away too!
http://www.rdsobsessions.com
You definitely have a flow to your posts, and I feel like you never forget anything. It’s always so well written, and well done so I think you sharing this is super helpful!
These were great tips! Browsing trends is a great idea, and something that I need to look into along with the headline analyser. Becca x
Great post! Having a solid workflow is so important because there’s so so much to do when it comes to blogging, gotta stay focused! Thanks for sharing!
Maria Black https://mysoulbalm.blog
These tips are great! Since there isn’t a manual to this business, I’m always interested to hear about how other influencer’s create their content.
This is a really great, informative post! Especially for those just starting out. Love your workflow girl and always love your posts!
xo Laura Leigh
https://louellareese.com
This is so neat! I love seeing how others get work done. I had never heard of the headlines from CoSchedule. I’m definitely checking it out!
I loved seeing your process, especially the tip about checking headlines at CoSchedule. I tend to batch my own content – otherwise, I tend to get bored. Very detailed and informative post.
I wish your post existed when I started blogging. There’s a lot mentioned here that took me the better part of 2019 to figure out or learn about.
Generally speaking, I blog for fun now more than anything else which has cut out a lot of the time-consuming stuff from my process. I work out what I’ll be writing about and when and then just work through one post at a time. 🙂 I’ll definitely bookmark this for when I get more serious again though, I’m sure it’ll happen sooner or later haha. Fantastic tips, thank you for sharing!
Such a good post – very helpful and informative!!!
Ooh! It sounds like I need to use a headline checker. That is FAB advice! I normally strive for something interesting and keyword-friendly, but sometimes it doesn’t feel right. I am a HUGE fan of Yoast and Grammarly (especially as a freelance writer – what a life saver!). These are fab tips, and I love to hear how others are going about their workflow.
Thank you for sharing these gems
This is such a great resource and I can tell that your posts are always so well thought out and you cover everything needed on that topic.
❥ tanvii.com
This is so helpful! I’d love to do blogging full-time, and these are great tips. Thanks for sharing!
This was SO interesting to read. I love learning how different content creators do things. It’s such a ‘behind the scenes’ job that I feel like we do on autopilot and then are mind blown when we hear of other people’s ways. So cool.
Thanks for sharing this! I will keep this in mind for my blog, with such a great information, I’m sure this will help people!
Such a fun post to read, I love hearing about other people’s creation techniques. Thanks for the tips too 😍
Anika | chaptersofmay.com
These are great tips and a lot of things I incorporate into my workflow. I’m going to look in to the Co-Schedule feature! Also, Yoast is a lifesaver, such a gem!
These are all great tips and many of them I implement as well! Thanks for sharing
These are great tips and it’s so interesting to see the thought process behind your posts!! I love reading them! Xx.
Thank you so much for sharing this! I love blogging and all it has done for me. I always encourage others to start!
This is how I plan my post! Writing deadlines are a great way to keep up with ideas, campaigns and posts
First of all, I love your new blog layout! So pretty and streamlined. Also, thank you for this inside look. I love learning the process that other bloggers use. And I will definitely be checking out that headline analyzer.
These are amazing tips girl! It’s a great breakdown and will be helpful to anyone who wants to start blogging.
Xx, Nailil
https://thirtyminsone.com
I learned so much reading this! Especially all the SEO stuff!
These are all very helpful tips. It takes me almost a month to post a new post and I don’t really incorporate all of these tips as my regular job gets in the way for the most part. I hope to be better at time management to get better. I’m loving your pins as well!
i love reading these “behind the scenes” type of posts! i try to plan out my content a week in advance and shoot photos on the weekend. trying to get better at time management and batch up parts of my process!
kileen
cute & little