Sufi Stories

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Bloggers & Vloggers: Complete Checklist for an Amazing Blog or Video

Customer Focus

  • Which niche you are writing for: e.g. work from home, sewing, parenting, health, spirituality, technology
  • Audience persona: What are the attributes of the typical visitor to your blog or vlog (YouTube channel)
    – e.g. age, sex, education, interests

Competitor Awareness

  • Who are your top competitors
  • Find your competitors’ keywords by running their post through a blog audit tool like Keyword analysis tool: Ninja Keyword Density Analysis Tool
  • Find your competitors’ external link by posting his or her URL here: Moz Explorer

Keywords

  • Search related words (SEO): which words would your readers use to search on topics related to your blog on Google, YouTube and Amazon
  • Words which trigger emotions: e.g. Frustration, Love, Excitement, Admiration, Jealousy, Uncertainty, Stress, Desire
  • Adjectives

Blog Plan

  • Your goal in writing this blog: What would you like this blog post to accomplish for you?
  • Benefits: How will your blog post benefit the reader or video subscriber e.g. Answer the question your audience is thinking of – “what’s in it for me”
  • Format: What will be your post style- e.g. How to, List, Story, Resources, Review.
  • What’s New: How is your blog post or video different from other posts on the same topic – e.g. what new and additional information are you providing?
  • CTA (Call to Action): What will be your call to action – e.g. invite readers to read another post, ask them to subscribe or comment, request them to share your post or video

    • Blog URL

    • optimized for search – include keywords
    • make the url readable by humans
    • not too long
    • all lowercase – be wary of case sensitivity
    • relevant to title
    • avoid redirection
    • fewer folders is better

    Blog Headline – captivating and optimized

    • Create a magnetic headline which is both attention grabbing and optimized for search engines

    Blog Content

    Blog Content = = Introduction + Body + Conclusion

    Blog Introduction

    Blog Introduction = Hook + Transition + Thesis

    • Hook: How will you make it attention grabbing – e.g. cliffhangers which spark curiosity, anecdote, question, gentle confrontation, acknowledgment & thanks to the viewer
    • Transition: The transition sentence clarifies the title and segways into the body
    • Thesis: Highlights why the reader should read the post, e.g. “As a self-published author, knowing how to sell is even more important than having writing skills”

    Blog Body

    • Will your target audience find this insightful and useful?
    • Is it fun and engaging?
    • Would your audience relate to your blog post or video at an emotional level – e.g. fear, happiness, success, self-doubt?
    • Duplicate check
    • Grammar & spelling check
    • Short paragraphs, ideally less than 5 sentences
    • Easy to read: headlines, bullets and highlighted text
    • Keywords for search engines, emotional triggers, adjectives
    • Images with alt tags, embedded vidoe
    • Outgoing links to authority sources – (but avoid having too many links)
    • Minimize bounce rate and spread link juice: Link to other posts on your own website
    • Number of words greater than 300, ideally close to 2000 words

    Blog Conclusion

    Blog Conclusion = Summary + CTA (call to action)

    • Highlight the key points of your blog – e.g. benefits for your audience
    • Call to action – What do you want your audience to do after reading your blog or viewing your video – e.g. link to a landing page of your product (e.g. your amazon book page), share on social media, read another post, subscribe or comment
    • Use verbs in the beginning of the CTA sentence – e.g. “Download now”, “Sign up Today”
    • Instill urgency in the call to action – “Sign up today and save 30%”
    • Make the call to action sentence or button stand out

    Blog Post Promotion

    • Ask a friend to review your blog post – use the above checklist as a guide
    • Ask for audience feedback – comments and email
    • Find a paid reviewer
    • Promote your post – external links, submit to niche directories, share on social media
    • paid ads – Facebook, YouTube
    • Monitor traffic after one week of posting
    • Is the post bringing in desired result – e.g. traffic to your landing page, comments, shares
    • Make a note of lessons learned from this post
    • Plan another blog post referencing your current post