How I Blog
Blogging

How I Blog

Blogging is one of those things that everyone has an opinion on. It’s also one of those things that everyone does in different ways. Some of us blog for a living. Some of us blog for a fun or a hobby. Some of us write every day, whilst some of us write a couple of times of week. Recently I’ve been posting every day, and pretty much have been since I finished work nearly 3 months ago. Posting every day is fun and hard work, you need content, and ideas to write about. I’ve found that I’ve changed how I blog over the past 3 months, and I wanted to share with you some of the things that I’ve been doing to help with my blogging:

  • Plan, Plan, Plan. That goes without saying. If you’re writing and posting every day, you need to know what content is going live when, and when you need to write it. I have a very loose schedule set out for each day of the week, which helps prioritise my writing. It’s important to have flexibility in your schedule, just in case any last minute sponsored posts or reviews come in that you need to make live in a couple of days.
  • Varied content. I try as much as possible to have varied content, this helps to keep the viewer interested, but also appeals to a larger audience. My blogging week roughly looks like this: 2 x parenting posts, 1 x blogging specific post, 2 x product reviews or sponsored posts, and my #fortheloveofBLOG Linky post. As you can see I try to vary it as much as possible, and provide a balanced mix of content, as I wouldn’t want a blog that is full of product reviews.
  • Content ideas. Most of ideas are thought up during my walks with the little one in the buggy, or whilst I’m doing something at home. I try really hard to make my posts as relevant to day-to-day life with the little one, as that’s the main reason why I set up this blog in the first place, so it’s important that I stay true to my blogging roots. Sometimes I think of an idea, and it’s gone the next minute, so where possible I’ll capture it in my phone or in my notebook, whichever one is closest to hand.
  • Trello. I’ve heard mixed reviews of this tool, it’s useful for me, but it’s also just another thing that I need to manage. I basically use it to keep a snapshot of all my ideas and blog posts I have to write. My Trello boards include a Pending column which is used if I have any reviews or sponsored posts in the pipeline. I then have a Blog Posts column which I use to list all the blog posts that I could write. Then I have a To Do column which is full of post ideas that I could write for the week, and any product review and sponsored posts that I have active at the time. My last column is Done, and I will move all complete blog posts from the Pending, Blog Post, or To Do column once they are live. Tick.
  • Scheduling. All my posts are scheduled to go live. There is nothing better than having a bank of posts ready to go. It takes away that feeling of “s**t I’ve got nothing to write about”, or “I’ve got nothing to go live today”. Most of the time I write my posts the previous day and then schedule it to be published at 7am the next. A top tip from me is to set your posts to go live at the same time each day, that way your followers will know when to expect a post from you. I also find putting a post live in the morning is the best time, versus late in the evening, as you then have the whole day to promote it across social media and build traction with your readers, so you should see your stats increasing.

How I Blog

  • Social media scheduling. Just like scheduling blog posts, I use social media scheduling tools for promoting my posts throughout the day. There are so many tools out there, just have a search on the internet, some of the most popular ones are Buffer, Social Oomph, Tweet Deck and Hootsuite. At the moment I’m using Buffer (the free one) to schedule 10 x Tweets a day. Having learned from Digital Mums is 10x Tweets a day is an optimum number for promoting content. The rest should be interacting and engaging with other bloggers or brands. I also use the Revived Old Post Plugin with WordPress, and I find that this brings quite a far bit of traffic, but I realise it may look a bit spammy. As well as this I promote all my posts on my blog Facebook page, and share on my personal page, which depending on the post brings me the most traffic. And, I also put all my posts onto StumbleUpon too!
  • SEO. When I started blogging I had no idea how I could use it. I installed Yoast and I make sure that all the sections are completed at the bottom of the post. The first is starting with your Focus Keyword, this is often what the post is about. Then set your meta keywords which are key pieces of content throughout the blog post and are also searched by Google. Lastly I update the Meta Description making sure that this includes my Focus Keyboard, but also a little bit about the post. This information is important as it is seen in Google beneath the page title, and in Facebook when you share the post. I’m no expert in SEO and there is so much more that I can learn, but I hope for now I’m doing the basics right.

So that’s how I blog. I hope you found this post useful? I would love to hear if you have any top tips for blogging that I can take on board too.

Claire x

The Pramshed

25 Comments

  • Bridiebythesea

    This is so interesting lovely- you’re doing so well posting every day. I’m still at 4 times a week but it’s such a good practice to keep writing. I’m really loving your blog at the moment, keep up the fab work xxx

  • mainy

    Wow you post so much, I’m amazed and it’s also really good content so hats off to you, well done:) All of your tips are good and it pays off.
    Mainy
    #fortheloveofBLOG

  • Bec Webb

    Great post! My blog is only one month old, so I’m still learning these tips and tricks from guys like you! Scheduling and having a bank of posts is def something I want to work on, becuase somedays you just can’t be bothered to write, so having a choice of stuff to just hit the publish button on for those days is a great idea! #FortheloveofBLOG

  • Michael McFarlane

    Again, very helpful. My biggest problem is finding enough content that have the motivation to write about. But life factors are also getting in the way just now so I’m not overly concerned. I will need to get better at SEO and scheduling my posts too. #fortheloveofBlog

  • RACHEL BUSTIN

    Really helpful tips, I try to post 5 out of 7 days but it’s hard to keep up! I have so many ideas and posts to write its just finding the time to do it. I need like 30 hours in the day! I have heard of Trello but not tried it out yet! Thanks for a very helpful post x
    #fortheloveofBLOG

  • Mrs Mummy Harris

    I basically just copied your Trello columns as I’ve been needing an online site to keep track of my reviews.. my email account is so unhelpful to categorise what ive signed up for but awaiting the product and what ive got but reviewing at that current time….
    I also need to sort my scheduling out, i use revive but dont promote my posts other than the first tweet and facebook post when it goes live. I need to up this to up my traffic. makes me wonder how much of a difference it will make… will be interesting to compare the monthly stats of adding 10 tweets and more facebook posts for a month! #fortheloveofBLOG

  • Briony

    I do love a little nose at how other people do things. I’ve been considering Trello but I’m still on the fence. I’ve just got a fab new planner though, old school pen and paper, that works for me and this planner came with stickers. Whoop. #fortheloveofBLOG

  • Eva Katona

    Very useful I will save this. I could do so much more! I don’t use Trello or any social scheduling apart from Facebook. All my posts are going live as soon as they are ready. I have so many ideas but no time to do it! #fortheloveofblog

  • Louise

    These are some great tips, I’m useless at promoting my posts other than the first tweet/post when it goes live. I also need to of more in SEO! #fortheloveofBLOG

  • Susie at This Is Me Now

    This is really interesting , thank you. I noticed a big difference from posting twice a week to 4 times. But that’s all I can manage at the moment and sometimes only 3 times. Interested 10 times on twitter is optimal, I do more and wonder if I shouldn’t! #FortheloveofBLOG

  • Sunita - Lucky Things Blog

    You’re such an amazing blogger Claire! Love your plan plan plan trick. It makes me feel less stressed out about blogging. I also think IT”S MY BLOG SO I”LL WORK TO MY RULES! That way I don’t worry about what other bloggers are doing. Thanks so so much for having me as a guest host for your Linky party this week xx cheers to you and Kelly for doing a fab job with #fortheloveofBLOG

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