• Home
  • Free Marketing Templates
  • Products
  • Social Media Speaker
  • News
  • Blog
  • Podcast
  • Webinar
    • Navigate Next 90 Days
    • Digital Marketing for Consultants
    • Linkedin Crash Course
  • Events
  • Contact
  • Search
Bluewire Media - Web Strategy
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Contact Us
  • More
  • Free Templates & Training
    • LinkedIn Templates
      • LinkedIn Headshot Guide
      • Linkedin Profile Checklist
      • LinkedIn Nurturing Process
      • LinkedIn Video Guide
      • LinkedIn 10 Minute Daily Plan
      • Linkedin Blueprint
      • LinkedIn Conversion Guide
      • LinkedIn Content Plan
    • Marketing Templates
      • All 33+ Marketing Templates
      • Web Strategy Planning Template
      • Editorial Calendar Template
      • Landing Page Design Template
      • Content Marketing Promotion Template
      • SEO Planning Template
      • Content Marketing Sales Funnel
      • Inbound Marketing Flight Plan
      • Inbound Marketing Methodology
      • Influencer Outreach Email Template
      • Skype Interview Template
      • Web Marketing Report Template
      • Email Lead Nurturing Template
      • Blog Post Planning Template
      • Content Ideas Generation Template
      • Communication Schedule Template
      • Content Publishing Rhythm Template
      • Aspirational Contacts Template
      • Email Sales Copy Template
      • Event Marketing Template
      • Web Marketing Health Check Template
      • Digital Marketing Methodology Template
      • Website Content Collaboration Template
      • Speakers Social Media Template
      • Business Cloud Planning Template
      • Website Checklist for Graphic Designers
      • Lead Magnet Checklist
      • Guest Blogging Strategy Template
      • WordPress Shortcuts Template
      • Google Adwords Planning Template
    • Free Social Media Templates
      • Social Media Guidelines Template
      • Social Media Planning Template
      • Social Media Corporate Approval Template
      • 8 Step Blueprint
      • Negative Comments Response Template (for Social Media)
      • Social Media Image Sizes Checklist
      • Instagram Daily 5 Minute Marketing Plan
      • Twitter Daily 5 Minute Marketing Plan
      • Twitter Cheatsheet
      • Facebook Marketing Plan Template
      • Pinterest Daily 5 Minute Marketing Plan
      • Google+ Daily 5 Minute Marketing Plan
    • Free E-Books
      • Free chapter of our book
      • 59 Web Marketing Tools
      • Web Strategy Secrets E-book
      • Content Marketing Magic e-book
      • Twitter Tips and Tricks For Business e-book
      • A Short Guide to Email Marketing & Social Media
      • Social Media: How to Get Started Guide
      • Inbound Marketing For Business e-book
    • Hablas Espanol?
      • Plantilla de Planeación de Estrategia Web
      • Secretos de la Estrategia Web
    • Marketing Mini Course – Tools of The Trade
  • Our Bestselling Book
  • Online Courses & Products
    • Web Marketing That Works Book $25
    • All Access Starter Pack $97
    • SEO Accelerator $97
    • Social Media For Leads $297
    • Double My Leads $597
    • LinkedIn Accelerator $97
    • LinkedIn Course $997
  • Corporate Training Courses
    • Accountants – Social Media Training
    • Financial Adviser – Social Media Training
    • Real Estate – Social Media Training
    • Mortgage Broker – Social Media Training
    • LinkedIn Training Courses
    • Social Media Training Courses
    • Digital Marketing Training Courses
  • Digital Marketing Coaching
    • Web Marketing Strategy
    • Social Media Marketing Strategy
    • Marketing Mentoring Programs
    • Coaching Program
    • Corporate Workshop Facilitation
  • Why Engage Bluewire Media?
    • 10 Reasons To Work With Us
    • Meet Our Team
    • Company Profile
    • Recognition & Testimonials
    • The Bluewire Story

Bluewire Media Web Strategy Blog

Home / Your Ultimate Blog Checklist

Your Ultimate Blog Checklist

Posted by Will Blunt

Share780
Share454
Pin38
Tweet3K
4K Shares

Updated on October 13th, 2019

Ultimate Blog Checklist

Your Ultimate Blog Checklist
This is a guest post by Will Blunt called Your Ultimate Blog Checklist.

[Note by Adam: Will was one of the first people to review our book on Amazon and we officially welcome him into the Bluewire community with this guest blog post!]

Welcome Will Blunt…

Ever wondered what it takes to write a killer blog?

Blog Checklist

Image Source: Shutterstock

That’s the question I’ve been obsessing over for the past 6 months leading up to the launch of my website.

After dedicating days on end reading the world’s most successful blogs, I created an ‘Ultimate Checklist’. Once you know what to blog about, if you use this checklist before launching a blog post it will help you optimise your content for readers, search engines and shareability.

Headline

Objective:

Get the reader to click on your blog.

There are varying opinions on how long you should spend on the headline of your blog. However, if you use the below suggestions you will significantly accelerate the time it takes you to create a compelling headline.

The headline for your blog should include at least two of these components;

  • A Surprise Element
  • A Question
  • An element of curiosity
  • A negative or positive statement
  • How to
  • Numbers or lists
  • A personal reference, ‘You’
  • Concrete facts

Your headline should also be optimised for an SEO key word or phrase. (Picking your key word or phrase is another question all together, here’s a great resource on everything to do with that thanks to Moz)

Bonus: Blog Post Planning Template – A simple, easy-to-use structure for writing a killer blog post.

Below are three examples of engaging blog headlines that highlight some of these components.

Example 1 (Numbers/Lists, Positive, Personal):

Hedi Cohen Headline Image

‘28 Amazing Content Marketing Ideas You Can Use Now’ via Heidi Cohen

Example 2 (Curiosity, Question):

Sales Lion Headline‘Great Brand or Great Inbound Marketing: Which comes first?’ via The Sales Lion

Example 3 (How to, Keyword or Phrase):

Mari Smith-Jay Baer - Headline
‘How To Succeed At Relationship Marketing With One Simple, Universal Method’ – Guest post by Jay Baer via Mari Smith

Remember the objective of the headline is to draw the reader in, if they click on your blog the headline has done its job. But that is why it is paramount that the headline is not misleading, and the reader gets what they came for. Otherwise your chances of a share are diminished.

Image

Objective:

Get your reader to start reading the blog once they have clicked on it.

It is extremely rare that the most shareable blogs don’t include at least one image in them. This is usually at the top of the post to catch the reader’s attention. When choosing your image make sure it is;

  • Eye-catching and unique.
  • Gives credit to the creator of the image.

Here are some valuable resources if you are struggling to find that perfect image for your next blog;

  • ‘No Photoshop? No Problem: 10 Visual Content Tools For Beginners’ – Blog post on HubSpot Inbound Hub
  • ‘53+ Free Image Sources For Your Blog and Social Media Posts’ – Blog post on Buffer

Content

Now we get into the content of your blog. This is where you boost your credibility and connect with the reader so they want to share it.  Use this social media planner to plan how you’ll share it on your favourite social platforms.

Connection/Hook

Objective: Give your reader the feeling that if they keep reading they will overcome a challenge of their own, OR be able to add value to someone else by sharing.

Towards the beginning of your blog it is essential to engage the reader and connect with them personally. The best way to do this is to;

  • Highlight a pain point of the reader. What challenge will they be able to overcome by reading further?

In his book ‘Likeable Social Media’, Dave Kerpen discusses the value of Social Media as a tool in understanding what your customers (or in this case readers) care about. I’ve adapted his advice to suit a blogger. Use this process to actively listen to your potential readers and discover their pain points;

  • Write down a list of five phrases people might use that would identify themselves as potential readers of your blog.
  • Conduct Twitter and Facebook searches for each of these phrases.
  • Develop a plan to formally or informally listen on a regular basis throughout the social web.

By listening, you will start to understand exactly what challenges your readers want to solve, then you can write about them.

  • Introduce your ‘Ace’. The topic or statement that you will anchor the rest of the blog around. (Hint: This will give you an idea of what keyword or phrase to optimise for search engines)

For example, the ‘Ace’ for this blog is;

‘A checklist to optimise a blog for readers, search engines and shareability.’

You will notice that I introduced this in the beginning, my content throughout is dedicated to that statement and I will re-visit that point in the conclusion.

Body

Objective:

Give your reader no choice but to share your content

If your reader has made it is this far it’s a great sign! There is now a significantly higher chance they are going to share your blog. Whilst all of us are busy, we are also keen to add value to others by sharing good content. Prepare the headline, image and hook to engage the reader and then concentrate on the body of the blog to make it shareable.

Use this as a checklist for the body of your blog;

  • The content anchors back to your ‘Ace’, the overarching point of the blog.
  • It’s optimised for your SEO keyword or phrase, without over doing it. (Learn more about why ‘Keyword stuffing’ is detrimental in this article by Moz)
  • Your sentences are short and easy for the reader to digest. Every word matters and you leave out the jargon. (Here is a great blog post on Convince & Convert that offers ‘Six Steps To Turn Jargon-Monoxide Into Human Speak That Connects’)
  • Where possible you include sub-headings and dot points (This makes it easy for the reader to skim through and pick up the key points, even if they are super busy. Hint: Using your keyword in H1, H2 and H3 headings boosts your Google search ranking)
  • You INFORM the reader, BEFORE promoting yourself.
  • It is written to one person. People like to feel as if they are the only person in the room, and that you wrote the blog just for them!
  • It doesn’t over-explain topics. (If something needs too much extra explanation and you find yourself going off topic, link to another helpful blog article that targets that more specifically.)
  • It contains helpful links where necessary. Help your readers find the information they need. They will repay the favour in the long term if you are generous enough.

Here are some more helpful SEO Resources that may help you optimise the body of your post;

  • ‘My 15 Favorite Free SEO tools’ – Blog on LunaMetrics
  • ‘10 Essential WordPress Plugins to Improve SEO & Usability’ – Blog on Search Engine Watch

Conclusion

Objective:

End with a bang! Make sure the reader wants to come back for more. And ask for something little in return.

If your reader has made it to the conclusion, and they are the type of person who likes to share content, they will. So that part of your job is done. You have written a compelling enough post for them to read the whole thing and want to share it. Now it is time to remind them of what you have just given them, and how helpful it has been.

Here is a checklist for what to include in your conclusion;

  • Make sure the length of your post is appropriate to your audience.
  • Offer something very clear your reader can put into action straight away. (You will see below I offer a suggestion for you to print off this blog and use it as a checklist next time you are writing)
  • Re-emphasize the power of your ‘Ace’. The key point the content of your blog has been anchored to.
  • Create a call-to-action. (Get your reader to give something back to you. This may be in the form of a share, a comment, a lead magnet offer or a combination of things)
  • Include social media sharing buttons to nudge them in the right direction.(This article from SmallBizTrends.com may be helpful if you are using WordPress: ‘Top 10 Social Media Plugins for WordPress.’)
  • Link to other useful blog posts. (Use this opportunity to recommend other blogs to your reader) Note: This may be inappropriate if you are guest blogging

Next time you are writing a blog, print this post off and use it as a checklist. Even if you tick 80% of what I have mentioned you will be on your way to writing some great, extremely shareable content.

Of course this is not an exact science. I find I write my best blogs from scratch without the guidance of this structure. Once I have something written, a starting point, I will use this checklist to take me to the next level and remind me of what is important. You will find your own groove for writing and optimising your posts but this is a great guide to help even a seasoned blogger create content that is optimised for readers, search engines and share-ability.

Let me know in the comments below if there is anything else you would add to the list. If you found this post helpful, share it with your network!

Thanks to Jeff Bullas Blog and all the inspirational bloggers out there that guided my thinking for this checklist.

Bonus: Blog Post Planning Template – A simple, easy-to-use structure for writing a killer blog post.

Blog Post Planning Template from Bluewire Media


Image Source:
Shutterstock

Connect with Will Blunt

Will BluntCheck out Will’s blog or follow him on Twitter as @WillBluntAU.

Please leave a comment and let Will know what you think of his Ultimate Blog Checklist.

 

BLUEWIRE MARKETING METHODOLOGY

Genius Model - Bluewire Media v2

PS. When you're ready, here are 5 ways help consultants & advisors grow:

1. Web Strategy Planning Template (PDF). Our flagship 1-page tool we co-created with David Meerman Scott. It’s been downloaded over 1 million times and featured on Forbes.

2. Read a free chapter from our book: Web Marketing That Works --- an Amazon #1 best seller.

3. Join my private invitation-only group on Facebook. Get to know us better and hang out with 1700+ peers.

4. Watch my pitch-free 17 min ‘LinkedIn Crash Course for Consultants’ and get 10 PDF Guides when you register.

5. Work with us direct  DM the word "INTERESTED" to us via  Messenger and we'll suggest how I can help.

  • About the Author
  • Latest Posts

About Will Blunt

Will Blunt is the founder of Blogger Sidekick, a company that helps digital marketers build authority with one-of-a-kind content. He is the creator of the SEO Spider's Web, a unique interpretation of the content strategy used by some of the world's savviest online marketers, and is privileged to be the content editor for several leading digital marketing publications, including Bluewire Media and JeffBullas.com.
  • An Easy-To-Use Graphic Design Project Checklist for Websites - Oct 13, 2016
  • Twitter 101 – A Cheat Sheet for Terminology, Hashtags, Lists and More - Oct 6, 2016

Share780
Share454
Pin38
Tweet3K
4K Shares
32 Comments
Blogging, Guest Post
Will Blunt
 0 Shares
Tweet

Posted on Jul 16, 2014

Content Marketing Sales Funnel 3D Icon

Content Marketing Sales Funnel

Your content marketing sales funnel is all about getting people to know, like and trust you by nurturing them with the right information at the right time.

Download it now

← WMTW 038: Listbuilding at 9 per cent conversion rate [9 Tips] How To Achieve 4x Your Kickstarter Goal →
  • Latest
  • Popular
  • Comments
  • Tags
  • Link Building: How to Get Your First 50 Backlinks and Grow Your Traffic Apr 12, 2021
  • The Common Path to Uncommon Success.The Common Path to Uncommon Success Mar 28, 2021
  • How to Plan the Content Creation Process for 2021 Mar 23, 2021
  • 8 Easy Ways to Increase Your Click-to-Open Rate Mar 22, 2021
  • How to Create Compelling Content that Drives Sales Feb 7, 2021
  • Marketing experimentsMarketing Experiments: Email Content That Gets Clicked Apr 23, 2013
  • LinkedIn Marketing Strategy Infographic Nov 13, 2013
  • seo-secretsFishing for backlinks – Tips from SEO Secrets Oct 27, 2009
  • Your Ultimate Blog Checklist Jul 16, 2014
  • DanNorrisThe 5 Best Google Analytics Reports for Content Marketers Jan 8, 2014
  • Excel Salon Products […] Download Image More @ www.bluewiremedia
  • How To Get More Backlinks: Ultimate Guide - 100% Australian Digital Marketing Services […] is actually something we ourselves do as
  • What I shipped in 2019 | Adam Franklin […] I originally published this on the Bluew
  • What I shipped in 2019 | Adam Franklin […] Each year I post a year in review highl
  • How to write an email that people will read – MCNM Marketing Magazine […] a freebie, giving your contacts somethin
adam franklin Adtech apple iphone balance barry feldman bg patterns blackberry calls to action color scheme designer Copywriting copy writing for web digital marketing Digital strategy dot tk email Email Marketing Facebook flash GIMP google HTML-ipsum internet marketing matthew michalewicz myspace online advertising Pat Flynn pic markr Rand Fishkin search engine SEO shrink o'matic smush.it! social marketing social media Social Networking Twitter VA viral marketing virtual assistants visual Web Design web design brisbane web design SEO Will Blunt YouTube

Archives

  • 2021 (9)
  • 2020 (93)
  • 2019 (132)
  • 2018 (31)
  • 2017 (60)
  • 2016 (131)
  • 2015 (176)
  • 2014 (122)
  • 2013 (99)
  • 2012 (73)
  • 2011 (93)
  • 2010 (152)
  • 2009 (135)
  • 2008 (1)
  • Back to Top
    • Home
    • Free Marketing Templates
    • Products
    • Social Media Speaker
    • News
    • Blog
    • Podcast
    • Webinar
      • Navigate Next 90 Days
      • Digital Marketing for Consultants
      • Linkedin Crash Course
    • Events
    • Contact
    • Search
    • Bluewire Community
      • Free Marketing Templates
      • Amazon – Web Marketing That Works
      • Join our Faceook group
      • iTunes – Web Marketing That Works
      • Spotify – Web Marketing That Works
      • Bluewire Podcast
      • Recommended Reading
      • Online Tools
      • Student Centre Login
      • Subscribe to Bluewire News
      • Sitemap
    • Hire Adam Franklin to Speak
      • Social Media Speaker
      • Digital Marketing Speaker
      • Keynote Speaker
      • Marketing Speaker
      • LinkedIn Keynote Speaker
      • Harbour Space Uni Lecturer
      • Toby Jenkins
    • Adam Franklin – Awards Judge
      • Optus MyBusiness Awards
      • Real Estate Business (REB) Awards
      • Australian Broking Awards
      • Australian Accounting Awards
      • Women in Real Estate Awards
      • Better Business Summit Awards
      • Young Leaders In Finance Awards
    • Contributors To
      • The Australian
      • Sydney Morning Herald
      • Smart Company
      • Huffington Post
      • Convince & Convert
      • Hubspot
      • Problogger
      • Kochie’s Business Builders
      • Entrepreneur HQ
      • Dent /Key Person of Influence
      • Life Hacker
      • Quora
      • Medium
      • Elite Agent
    • Working with Bluewire
      • As a Client
      • As an Affiliate
      • As an Event Attendee
      • As a Guest Blogger
      • As a Partner
      • Testimonials
    • Connect on Social Media
      • Adam Franklin on LinkedIn
      • Twitter
      • LinkedIn
      • Facebook
      • YouTube
      • Instagram
      • Pinterest
      • Slideshare
    • Disclosure
      • Disclosure & Terms and Conditions
      • GDPR Compliance & Privacy Policy
    Australia

    28 Kinkade Avenue
    Ashgrove
    QLD, 4060

    Copyright © 2021 All contents Creative Commons Licensed Bluewire Media Pty Ltd.