Starting Your Blog
Guest Blog Post by Shauna of Simplified Savvy
A blog is not only a great way to showcase your unique voice and expertise, it also ensures you are consistently adding new content to your site, which is one of the best ways to give your website a regular SEO (Search Engine Optimization) boost.
Fresh content and keywords are Google’s love language ❤
And bonus, blog posts also make great content for social media posts! You can promote the original blog post on your social media accounts and also take the content and break it down to create a number of shorter captions.
But you may have already known this and are just having trouble figuring out how to get started. So let me give you the goods so you can start reaping the benefits of blogging.
PICK A TIMELINE
I know that starting a blog can be intimidating, so to reduce your overwhelm, start by picking a time and day that you can regularly devote to writing blog posts.
As an example, right now I know that I only have time to write and post once a month. That is manageable and doable on a consistent basis for me, so I’ve scheduled it in my calendar to make sure it gets done. If I have time I will batch it and write a few posts at once but at the minimum, I write and post one and then also schedule a social media post to promote the new blog post.
You may hear other experts recommending you post more often, and they’re not wrong, but if you can’t stick to it, there’s no sense in putting up three blog posts one month and then nothing for six months. Consistent, fresh content is the key here so again, choose a timeline that you can consistently commit to, schedule it and stick to it.
KEEP YOUR IDEAS IN ONE PLACE
I highly recommend choosing your topics a few months, or even a year out. While that might seem daunting, I promise it will save you time and energy in the long run!
To reference my process as an example, I create a content calendar for the whole next year at the end of December. I start by choosing a theme for each month to get my creative juices flowing and add ideas to it whenever I think of them. Since I blog once a month, then I know what my topic will be for that month which makes it much easier when I sit down to write.
Bonus Tip: You can also refresh old content! Once you have a number of blog posts on your site, if there is one that’s quite popular but that could use some updating with new or different ideas, feel free to edit it. That still counts towards your fresh content 😊
GET TO IT
Ok, so you ‘ve picked your timeline, scheduled it in your calendar, and have your topics ready. Now it’s time to write!
When you do sit down to do your writing, start by creating a quick bulleted list of the top three to five things you want to cover in your post, then let the words flow.
Just write. Let all your thoughts spill onto the page. Don’t edit, don’t overthink it. Literally, type away everything that comes to your mind. Once that’s done, you can go back and refine it.
When it’s time to edit, that is the time to cut, group and space.
Cut out any superfluous words or ideas.
Group ideas together under subheadings or as bulleted lists.
Space it out. Make sure your paragraphs are no more than three to four sentences. Whitespace makes your post more visually appealing and more likely to have your audience read the whole thing.
And there you have it, your guide to finally getting that blog off your to-do list and onto your website!
Good luck and once you start, please share with me, I would love to read all of your incredible content!
by Shauna Simplified Savvy
