7 Questions to Ask Yourself before Submitting a Blog Post
Written by: Eric Brantner on February 23, 2009 – 7:47 am
There’s no doubt blogging can be a powerful tool for increasing your online visibility and building your authority. However, the Internet is overflowing with blogs, and most of them simply aren’t that great. That’s why you need to make sure your posts are helping you receive the full benefits of blogging.
Here are 7 questions to ask yourself before you set a post live.
- Is this post relevant? In the blogosphere, relevancy is key. If you’re writing about subjects from years past, no one will take the time to read your post. You need to be talking about the latest, most relevant topics. Not only does relevancy help you do well on social media sites (breaking stories tend to go hot), but it also builds your authority by displaying your knowledge of cutting-edge subjects.
- Do I offer a fresh perspective? There are hundreds of millions of blogs cluttering the Internet. Almost every topic imaginable has been discussed time and time again. Make sure you aren’t just another “me too” blogger. Blogging is about connecting with readers on a personal level. That’s why it’s so important to give your unique perspective on whatever topic you’re writing about. Don’t play it safe by mimicking the general consensus. Give your honest insight, and use your brain!
- Is my information correct? Sure, blogging is more informal than traditional news articles. However, that doesn’t mean you can get sloppy with your fact checking. Nothing can damage your credibility faster than giving your readers false information. Online users are all too eager to call you out for being wrong. Take the extra time to ensure you don’t make any silly mistakes. Think of it as reputation management.
- Do my links add value? Many bloggers include both outbound links and links to their other content in their blog posts. If done properly, this is a great practice. However, the problem comes whenever the links are tossed in there just for the sake of generating traffic to other posts. Your links should always add value to the user experience. They should enhance the reader’s knowledge of a particular topic, and they should be related to the post they’re currently reading.
- Can I go deeper? While I’d never recommend writing a long post just for the sake of length, I think it’s important to always ask yourself if you’ve missed anything. Resource posts tend to gain inbound links because they act as a one-stop destination for a particular subject. Make sure you don’t leave any stone unturned. If you can dig deeper and maintain the post’s quality, do it.
- How is the title? No matter how great your post is, no one will ever read it if the title isn’t great. Think about it: do you feel compelled to click on posts with boring, non-descriptive titles? Of course not. That’s why you need to make certain that your title is click worthy. It needs to convey the subject matter of your post without giving too much away. Want a good example of how to write headlines? Just take a look at the magazine covers next time you’re in line at the supermarket.
- Why should someone read this? This is the most important question to ask. If you can’t think of at least one good reason people should read your post, it’s not worth posting. What does your post offer that they can’t find somewhere else? Always focus on adding value.
Would you add any questions to this list? Share them in the replies to help your fellow bloggers create the best posts possible.
March 4th, 2009 at 1:13 pm
[...] 7 Questions to Ask Yourself before Submitting a Blog Post (tags: blogging blogs) [...]
March 15th, 2009 at 7:38 pm
In addition to these questions, blog posts should be written to a “target” person. It keeps the post conversational and allows it to flow. Obviously, you’ve got this down. Your post are great and definitely worth talking about. Thanks. Keep it up!
March 15th, 2009 at 11:35 pm
#7 is really hard. I think that there will always be another place that we can find the information if that is all that we are looking for. However, there are some writers that make a connection with us that makes the journey worthwhile.
That is the kind of writing that I aspire to in my blog and my creative writing. Once you can capture that then the uniqueness of the writing becomes the writer, not the content.
March 23rd, 2009 at 2:11 pm
I love the post! It is hard striking a balance between length and reader-friendly. I look forward to more of your posts.
March 23rd, 2009 at 2:30 pm
Somehow I feel the post topic is irrelevent…
It should be how to write an informative post..
Anyways…..
Nice points here…
From your point two..
I have seen many bloggers when they right about some product lets say Internet tool…
Most of them will never talk about the drawback or bugs about the software…or tools..
which is bad….
As said above… Be honest….with what you write…
Tweeting the post
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