Publishing your first (or 10th) blog post on your nonprofit website is daunting, I know.
It’s a nerve-wrecking roller-coaster ride of (what feels like) a million edits and then a very scary moment in your life when you hit the publish button. To help ease your nerves, here are a few of my what-to-do’s before and after you hit publish.
BEFORE YOU PUBLISH YOUR BLOG POST
1. Ensure that you have registered to submit your Blog/Articles on Blogger Communities like:
2. Make sure that you have a killer headline – need help? Check out: https://blog.kissmetrics.com/hate-this-headline/
3. Use a program like Canva to create an eye-catching and correctly sized blog title graphic.
4. Use Canva again to create a Pinterest sized image to include in your blog post.
5. Use the “alt text” section of your post images wisely – think keywords!
6. Triple check your spelling and get someone else to proofread your content.
7. Check your spelling again.
8. Have you included links in your post to past articles? Are the articles still relevant?
9. Have you included a CTA (Call To Action) in your post?
10. Have you asked a question to encourage comments on your Blog?
11. Have you checked your spelling?
12. Publish and calm your nerves.
AFTER YOU PUBLISH YOUR BLOG
1. Use a link shortener like goo.gl or bit.ly to shorten your blog post URL
2. Pin the image you created to Pinterest pronto (make sure you have signed out of your website first)
3. Tweet your post with a unique description
4. Share your post on Google+
5. Share it on Google + again, but this time to a relevant community
6. Share your post on Facebook (if you have not yet automated that process).
7. Open Canva. Create the following (use Buffer to schedule the posting with respective images):
6 x Tweet Images – each with a different excerpt from your post and a different image (schedule these tweets over the next few days linking back to your post) | *2 x Instagram Images – each with a different excerpt from your post and a different image (one gets posted immediately, the other a week later linking back to your post) | *2 x Facebook Images – each with a different excerpt from your post and a different image (one gets posted in three to four days’ time, the other in a month’s time) | *1 x Pinterest Image – with a different excerpt from your post and a different image. NB – Make a note in your planner, diary or Evernote to post this image exactly 30 days from publish date or use Buffer to schedule accordingly
8. Stop looking at your stats.
9. Breathe.
10. Submit your post to the directories listed above.
11. Stumble out a few other Blog Articles that relate to the topic you have just Blogged about. Share these on any of your Social Platforms – this step is very, very important.
12. Prepare your newsletter to share your published post.
13. Get active in two to three Facebook and LinkedIn Groups and share your link in a not-so-over-powering-way.
14. Find some Twitter Chats relating to your post topic and engage, engage, engage! Share your latest post link in the form of expertise and NOT as spammy spam.
15. Stop checking your stats, wait at least 3 days for that 🙂
Happy blogging!