A Blogger’s Checklist
Browsing online over the weekend, I came across a checklist designed to gain traction on your blog. Below are three of our favorite tips from the article, with further links to our advice on implementing them on your blog.
1 Use tags for your blog.
Tags are an excellent way to organize your posts. By clicking on one of our tags you will sort to all of our posts that have been tagged with that particular topic. Be sure to keep your tags as relevant to the post as possible.
Check out our Find It Friday advice on tags and categories
2. Have a picture.
A picture that supports your article can add a lot of value. Even if it’s just a stock image, it breaks up monotony of the text.
Read How To Add An Image To Your Blog Post
3. Always have a call-to-action.
A call-to-action is simply a next step. Once a reader is done reading your article, is there something for them to do? At the very least ask them to ‘like’ or ‘tweet’ your article and even comment. In a business blog setting, you should have a next step that can offer more information leading to salable item or service.
See The 7 Best Calls To Action
How many of these items are on your checklist? What else do you think should be added to the list?
5 responses to “A Blogger’s Checklist”
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I’m using tags a lot more lately but I was a bit too liberal. I have nearly every post with the same tags. Only starting to realise that’s not of much use. Tks for all the tips it’ll save me a lot of wasted time learning from experience.
I do a catch up of facebook links on my blog on a Friday and I don’t put a picture up the main reason is I don’t necessarily make the foods in them and to put in one of my own would be misleading. Have you any tips to include a pic as I think it looks a bit drab especially on a food blog without one.
I find it difficult to have a call to action as the business end hasn’t fully been set up yet. Must go back to the tips in one of Write on Track’s earlier posts.
Tks, now to put your tips into action!
If you look at your stats, you’ll see what tags/ keywords are working to bring people to your blog so create a list for those that are working and use the keyword research tool to create some new tags and keywords.
As long as you cite where the image comes from, that is fine. Because your blog is about food, it is best if you can use your own images but I do think it is important to include at least one image. The image doesn’t have to be of the finished product, for example, if you are doing a post on elderflower cordial, you might just include a picture of the elderflower itself rather than the actual cordial or of an apple for apple juice.
Do work on the calls to action – even just asking people for a comment or to like your facebook page can encourage interaction.
Hope that helps :), Lorna
Thanks Lorna will definitely incorporate these more, great tip on the elderflower and apple juice, always thought it had to be the finished product. Marian
Well, it is probably better if it is the finished product but it’s also better to use your own images rather than stock images if possible too so there’s nothing to stop you taking a picture of an apple tree etc 😉
And guess what I have a pic of an apple tree! I’ve come up with a few new call to actions too, after the tips last night so will put them into action and see what happens! Tks 🙂