2024 is here and you’ve told yourself this is the year you *finally* tackle your business blog. 

You’ve got the post lists, decided when you’re writing, and have told everyone in your audience that there’s a “new blog post coming soon”. 

The only thing is, you’re not completely sure how to run an effective business blog. You want to do this correctly. There’s no point writing if you’re not going to reap the benefits [increased readership, higher SEO rankings, more clients, a more engaged community].

You need a step-by-step guide on how to optimise your blog posts and make the most out of your time.

And I’ve got it.

However, a lot goes into crafting impactful blog content. From SEO must-haves to hooking your reader, you need to think about (and check off) a lot.

So, I’ve put together a beginner’s blog checklist below. This is perfect for someone blogging as a hobby or with a low-pressure, have-fun approach.

And I’ve put together a comprehensive, complete blogging checklist for creative brand owners who are serious about blogging for impact. You can access this here.

Beginners blogging checklist: 

Define your audience – maybe you have a very specific ideal client, or you have a few different potential buyer types. If you have a diverse audience, you need to identify which segment you’re writing this blog post for. 

Choose your topic – decide on a captivating topic your audience will be interested in. This might be something you’ve discussed with them before, a question you receive regularly, or something you shared on socials that performed well.

Keyword research – identify relevant keywords for your blog post topic. My favourite keyword resources are Ubersuggest, Keywords Everywhere, and Keyword Surfer. Focus on finding keywords that are searched, but aren’t too difficult to rank for. 

Write your headline – craft a compelling headline including your target keyword.

Write your introduction – create a hook in the first few lines explaining what readers can expect.

Craft your body copy – provide valuable information, tell stories, and implement facts/statistics to increase engagement.

Use imagery – as a creative, you might choose to use photographs and visuals to increase readability and engagement.

Proofread – check for grammatical errors, spelling mistakes, and typos. I use Grammarly and Language Tool for international clients

Search engine optimisation – include your keywords in an organic way in your post, meta titles, and descriptions.

Publish or schedule – decide when you want your post to go live and schedule accordingly 

Tell Google – ask Google to inspect and crawl your new blog post using Google Search Console

Access the complete blogging checklist for free here. Read the Cupid Blog for more brand & marketing education.