Last Updated on March 13, 2018 by Chef Mireille
Blogging Tips – SEO Friendly Blog Post Checklist – Downloadable Checklist for making every new blog post SEO friendly, especially for food bloggers.
I am not an SEO expert and I don’t claim to be, but there’s a few basic things that I’ve learned and make sure I do for every blog post. Sometimes with all the stuff we need to check, I’ll forget to do something, so I have created a handy downloadable checklist for you. Print this up and for every new post, make sure you have completed every task. In fact, the idea for this post came up because I had forgotten to fill out a section of my post and in trying to figure out why it wasn’t showing up in the post, it took me a while to figure out I had just forgotten.
As with much of the content I provide, this was written with food bloggers in mind, however most of the tips will apply to almost any other niche. Additionally, there is mention of plug ins that are on WordPress platforms only.
Here are the detailed descriptions so you know why I have everything on the checklist.
What’s in the Checklist?
1 – YOAST – There is no way around this. If you are on WordPress this is a MUST HAVE plug in for SEO. It makes SEO easy for you. You just fill out the fields for keyword and snippet, write your post, check if Yoast has detected any problems. It identifies the problems that you want to fix before you publish. Are they problems that are fixable with your content?
Finally, make sure you have a SEO grade of at least Good.
2 -NAMING YOUR POST – There are a lot of programs where you can really do detailed keyword research in naming your post. I am here just giving you a quick and easy way that isn’t too time consuming and it involves using Pinterest. Pinterest, unlike other Social Media isn’t actually a social media platform, but more of a search engine, so use it as a search engine. Start typing your post title and it will give you suggestions based on searches. If nothing comes up, then you know you have to change the name because no one is searching for it and keep on coming up with different names until you find something that comes up. As you type more words, it will filter down more for you. The higher up on the drop down, the more people are searching for it.
Additionally, you can do the same search on Google.
3 – TEXT TAGS – Break up your text by using heading tags. Google likes this, especially if you have a lot of text. Yes but where to use them? For example, if you are a food blogger and publish step by step photos, you can use a heading tag for STEP BY STEP. I recently did a Restaurant Review and I broke up the text by adding heading tags for Food, Ambience, Customer Service, etc. At the beginning of each post, write a brief sentence on what the post is about. This can also be a heading tag. Google also likes this.
4 – PHOTOS – Each post should have at least one feature image that follows this criteria. The file name should be relative to the post. Dont keep it what your camera names it like IMG 23789. Name the photo just as you named the post title. Additionally the Title and Alt Title should be the same as your Keyword Title. Fill out the description. Previously, hashtags weren’t important in Pinterest. Now they are, so write a brief description of the post and add a few relative hashtags.
Make sure your feature image is pinnable and is a vertical image, according to Pinterest preferred sizes. Although Pinterest is now saying, horizontal images are also good. This is new and I am still sticking to the vertical format.
5 – BASICS – There are basics we all know about, but with everything going on in a post, we sometimes forget so I have also included this in the checklist – things like tags, categories, etc.
6 – GRAMMAR AND SPELLING – Proofread! Proofread! Proofread! – especially if English is not your first language, use spellcheck and make sure the sentences flow and are easy to understand. It is better to use short sentences than long run on sentences.
With this easy checklist, just keep a copy next to your computer and you can make sure you never forget a thing for each and every post!
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