Everyone starts somewhere!
WordPress is such a powerful platform that it’s attracting people from all walks of life to start a website and share what they have to say with the world.
Everything from tips and tutorials down to how much they love Game of Thrones or what their favorite shoes look like. Either way, creating WordPress blog posts is something that’s going to keep happening.
Have you posted to you blog before?
If so, you may find some of this information handy, but chances are you’re pretty clued on. But if this is the first time you’ve created a blog post, then here’s a little rundown on how you may want to go about it!
Below I’ll cover adding content, formatting, and what to do once the post is finished being written.
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Step 1 – The Content!
If you’re writing a post, you probably know what you’re going to write about. There are some who don’t though! So think about who you are writing for, your audience, and what they want to hear and start typing. You can also try putting things down as simple dot points and then going back and retyping over them with full sentences and paragraphs.
I usually type up a title first (which can be changed later) and then get started on the main content.
I find it best to simply type away at first, and ignore the formatting, stopping only to add any links of images I need along the way but you can also format as you go instead of going back and formatting afterwards. You can highlight any text you want to format and make bold, italics etc or even make it a header.
When using Headers, the lower the number the higher the value. Header 1 being the biggest and header 2 being smaller and so on. I recommend only using Header 1 for your title (which is automatic), so generally use Heading 2 or lower. I recommend using these for sub headers and not just on quotes or text.
If you need to add in a link to highlighted text, it’s as simple clicking the ‘add link’ button and copying the address of the website (from the address bar in your browser) into the URL field, and giving it a title. You can choose to have it open in a new window or/tab by checking the right box also. If you’re linking within your website, you can search your existing content down the bottom and choose from there.
Adding a picture is quite simple also, just click one of the circular ‘plus’ buttons, and you can choose and existing image or upload something new. You then have the option to choose a size and alignment of the image. You can experiment with it and see what results you get!
As you’re typing all of this up, remember to save draft as you go! Just incase your browser shuts down and you lose your work. You can always find it and continue on from the posts page in the dashboard.
Step 2 – Proofread Your Post!
How often have you read something that didn’t make sense, had bad spelling or was just a mess in general. By the way, don’t pick on me and my mistakes, I mean someone else. :P
It’s important that things are correct, easy to understand and most importantly – make sense.
First, step back a bit, ‘Save Draft‘ first!
Once you’re back, proof read what you’ve wrote to check it reads well and uses correct spelling, etc. If possible, try to read it out loud to make sure it all flows properly.
Also preview the post to be certain it all displays how you want it. Once that’s all done, you can start working on a few other areas.
Step 3 – Fill in the Gaps.
Make sure you’ve set your posts up in right category, added appropriates tags and added a featured image. All of this can be done by scrolling down the right hand side and checking the right options and clicking where necessary (it’s pretty obvious).
I recommend adding a featured image that will show as a thumbnail on your main blog page (that lists your posts). It works the same as adding an image, you can upload or choose an existing image.
Don’t forget to fill out SEO fields. They should look similar to this:
They may not look exactly the same depending on what theme or plugin you are using. If there is no meta fields below your content area, install All in One SEO (search for in your Plugins Installer section in the WordPress dashboard) – this will optimize your page a little better for search engines. Then Save your draft and when the page refreshes you’ll see the fields below.
Fill out your Title, Description and Keywords. Then if you’re happy, scroll to the top right of the page – Hit Publish!
You’ll then need to choose whether to Publish instantly or schedule a time and date. Then click Publish again!
Step 4 – Now Published? Get People to read it!
A book could be written about this alone, so we’ll just hit some main points.
Tell your friends or family who may be interested, post to Facebook, Twitter and Google Plus and spread the word in general. If you are a member of any other social networks or groups – let them know.
You can even email specific people and copy the link address into the message for them to click on.
If you really want it to take off, I’d suggest researching a different traffic methods and strategies to grow your blog traffic. But if you keep checking back we’ll be sharing some traffic strategies with you in the future.
Done!
You’ve published your first WordPress blog post! Congratulations. Now rinse and repeat for your next blog post. Keep updating and you’ll build a website rich with information.
As always, any questions or feedback, please leave a comment below!
