Using a Blog SEO Checklist to Streamline Your Blog Post
May 12, 2021 by Denise M. Colby in category The Writing Journey by Denise Colby tagged as Blog SEO Checklist, Denise M. Colby, Marketing for Authors, SEO, SEO MarketingDid you know that using an Blog SEO Checklist can help you streamline the time it takes you to build your blog posts?
We all know it takes time to figure out what we even want to write about, but then we also need to figure out all the SEO parts that support that particular blog post.
If we were to build the SEO as part of the blog post step, we’d save ourselves a lot of time and be more strategic and purposeful with what we are posting.
I don’t know about you, but it seems every month I forget how much time it takes to organize my SEO because I think about it AFTER I write the post. Sometimes it takes longer figuring out the SEO then it does to write the post and pull graphics together. And then because I’m entering it all last minute, I don’t think it through as much as I would like.
I’m working on changing that and thought it would be helpful to pull together a checklist for all of us.
Focus Keyword:
Figuring out this first—even before you start writing the post—will help save you time in the long run. What do you want your focus word to be? Everything else should stem from this.
Category & Tags:
Knowing your categories and tags before you develop your blog posts help you be more strategic and set up an organization within your posts. In my classes I help you brainstorm and build out potential ideas for your blog.
Blog Title:
Make sure to put your focus keyword in your title and the first paragraph of your post.
Slug:
The slug should be condensed version of your title and/or keyword. See my blog post about slugs—URL Slugs: The Right Custom Slug Builds SEO or Custom URL Slug and How To Make One
Meta Description:
This is a summary in a small one-to-two sentence structure. Some use the first paragraph, some change it up. Make sure it includes your focus keyword, and remember this is the summary someone sees if they are searching the topic and your post appears on the search results.
Graphics Alt Text:
The Alt Text should have your keyword in it. If you pick your keyword last and already uploaded your graphics (see my three-part blog post about graphics and SEO) you might miss this opportunity to connect your graphics with stronger SEO.
Outbound Link:
Think of one link that would support your blog post (research, your own website). You can sign up for my Marketing for Authors Newsletter using this link to my website.
Inbound Link:
Think of one link within the blog website that supports your current blog post. Don’t forget to use Anchor Text. I did this in the slug section and the graphics alt text above.
How to Apply Your Blog SEO Checklist
I highly recommend creating a spreadsheet to keep track of what you use for SEO every post. It’s important that you don’t repeat the same words and phrases each time, yet build out synonyms and similar themes with your SEO to help establish your authority on certain topics.
If you have a notebook, you can download this sheet to write in the blanks.
Short on time? Take a screen shot of the data, or write it on a post-it note. Anything to help you keep track of your SEO. It’s all about building your brand, and your SEO strategy is a part of that. And using a blog SEO checklist is one way to help you develop this strategy.
A Frog by any other name… from the Irish Poetess’s Typewriter by Jina Bacarr
May 11, 2021 by Jina Bacarr in category Jina’s Book Chat, Writing tagged as fairy tale, historical, historical fiction, historical romance, poem, prince, World War 2.
I’ve been writing humorous poetry since I was a wee girl at me Irish grandmother’s knee… she’d chuckle and get on with baking her apple sugar pies and then winding her blue rosary around her gnarled fingers, praying, ‘What’s the lass going to come to with these ditties?’
I write.
Novels, mostly historicals these days and I’m finishing up a second Paris WW 2 novel while pulling all-nighters… I needed a break, so here’s a lighthearted poem about everyone’s favorite frog from this Irish Poetess.
Put the kettle on and Enjoy!
Jina
——————–
The art of writing fairy tales
is a joy I claim.
But frog or toad, what’s in a name?
’Tis a prince I seek at the end of my tale
And that happily ever after, but to no avail
Ah, but yes have I the power of the pen
So with my snappy keystrokes Poof! I say.
He’s here. Amen!
————
Here the first in my Occupied Paris series:
The Resistance Girl
Juliana discovers her grandmamma was a famous French film star in Occupied Paris
And the shocking secret her mother never told her…
5* ‘… a beautiful and poignant historic fiction that left me in tears’ Jessica F NetGalley
Be Your Own Hero by Kitty Bucholtz
May 9, 2021 by Kitty Bucholtz in category It's Worth It by Kitty Bucholtz tagged as encouragement, Kitty Bucholtz, writing lifeOne of my favorite things to do is create the monthly Encouraging Words podcasts. My even more favorite thing is when someone tells me they were encouraged after listening to it! If you need a reminder that you are special and what you do matters, take a listen to this month’s episode. You are awesome!
May Featured Author: Neetu Malik
May 7, 2021 by Neetu Malik in category Featured Author of the Month tagged as May Featured Author of the Month, Neetu Malik, Poet's Day, poetry
Neetu Malik’s poetry is an expression of life’s rhythms and the beat of the human spirit. She draws upon diverse multicultural experiences and observations across three continents in which she has lived. She has contributed to The Australia Times Poetry Magazine, October Hill Magazine, Prachya Review, among others. Her poems have appeared in The Poetic Bond Anthology V and VI published by Willowdown Books, UK, NY Literary Magazine’s Tears Anthology and Poetic Imagination Anthology (Canada).
Her poem, “Soaring Flames”, was awarded First-Place by the NY Literary Magazine (2017). She has also been nominated for the Pushcart Prize, 2019 for her poem “Sacred Figs” published by Kallisto Gaia Press in their Ocotillo Review in May, 2018.
Neetu lives in Pennsylvania, USA.
You can find Neetu’s poetry in these volumes.
Hover on the cover for buy links. Click on the cover for more information.
Release Month…What Happened?
May 5, 2021 by Tracy Reed in category Writing
Happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers.
I just finished the first release month for The Good Girl Part Trois. That statement brings to mind a good question…how long is the new release period for a book? I haven’t got a clue. I saw some blogs hinted at one to three months. Here’s the thing, depending on the supplemental formats of your book, your new release period can last a few months.
- Check out this timeline:
- eBook Pre-order: 30+ days
- eBook Release Day: 1 day
- eBook Release Month: 30 days
- Paperback Release Period: 30 days
- Audio Release Period: 30 days
- Hardcover Release Period: 30 days
If you used this proposed plan, your new release would last 5+ months. This seems like a long time and it doesn’t count the amount of time required to write the book.
Here’s what I mean. If I’m focused, I can write a book in a month. Then add in another week for a couple rounds of edits before sending it to my editor. While waiting to get my book back, I deal with the other aspects…cover design, social graphics, ads and setting up a launch strategy. Those things can add another month to the timeline. Don’t forget edit review. When you combine those tasks with the release schedule, you will have been with your book almost a year. In your mind, your book is no longer new, because you’ve moved on to the next book.
How did it go? I had a forty percent increase over the first month. Let me clarify the first month was only a couple of days, thirty day pre-order and a couple of free giveaway events.
What were the results of my efforts?
Ads…
BookBub…not too good. This is unusual for me to admit, I gave up. I tried four different ads and none worked for book three. However, they did well for the other two books in the series, but I attribute that to those books being free.
Facebook…good. I haven’t done a thorough assessment, but it appears the ads are paying for themselves. Again, the ad I’m running (I turned off the ones that weren’t producing) is doing well, but I’m about to tweak the copy to reflect that only one book is free.
AMS…I turned them off the second half of the month. Risky move, but it saved me money. I picked up sales from the Facebook ads.
Newsletter…I really don’t remember how these did.
Promotions…
These did exactly what I wanted. The free giveaways led to pre-orders and sales of book three. Plus I added 1000+ new additions to my mailing list.
Reviews…
This one really pleased me. Reviews help drive sales of a series. I had a few reviews on the first two books in The Good Girl series and was going to book a spot with a review service. However, I waited too late to get reviews before my release. Upside as a result of the free promo I got about the same number of reviews I was going to pay for. Plus I got reviews for my new release. Here are the review numbers for the series as of this post.
- The Good Girl Part One 47
- The Good Girl Part Deux 28
- The Good Girl Part Trois 12
If I’d booked a review service I was going to have to give the first two books away as well. By participating in two free giveaways, I got more than I asked for. I was in the number one spot in a couple of categories on several of the Amazon stores for quite a while.
If I had gone with the service, I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to get eyes on me. Making the books free for a month across all platform, helped me get noticed and sell some backlist books.
So where am I in the release timeline? I’m still pushing the ebook and prepping for the print book release. I just received my print proofs from Ingram Spark. OMG!!! I have found my print book soulmate. I love the way these books turned out. I have a couple of things to fix which were my fault. I’ll talk about my experience with Ingram later. I also used the Vellum print book tool. I really liked the template I was using…thank you Kitty Bucholtz, but I was so overwhelmed with work, I needed a quick fix. I’ll share about my experience with this tool later.
The other thing I’ve decided to do, is make The Good Girl Part One permafree. I want to see how the series does with book one free and pushed with Facebook ads.
Happy May. See you next month.
Featured Books
SEASON’S READINGS: More Sweet, Funny, and Strange Holiday Tales
We hope you enjoy these holiday gifts.
More info →
DARK WINE AT MIDNIGHT
To save humanity, a reluctant spy must convince a handsome vampire to trust her, despite the dark secrets each carries, and the mutual attraction they can’t resist.
More info →
