This post was last updated on January 9th, 2021 at 11:38 am
Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links to some of the products I use and love. When you click these links and make a purchase, I may get a small commission. It won’t cost you anything, but it helps me to run this site. Find out disclaimer here.

What I always do before and after publishing my blog post is to check my checklist. In the beginning, I used to think that I’ll just decide what I will write and publish my post.
TOTALLY WRONG.
There’s a bunch of behind the scenes that go into growing your blog traffic and ensure that my post has the quality content that I want – not just a ‘post.’
When creating a blog post that people want to read and Google want to index, unfortunately, it’s not just about writing with passion and wait for the best. There are several things you must take care of before you hit the publish button!
SO, here are my checklist before and after publishing my blog post. You will be on the right path to creating a well-structured and engaging article that gets ranked on Google.
And if you haven’t read my post about 14 Essential Settings After Installing WordPress, I recommend to check it as it will give you a picture before you begin.
Before Publishing A Blog Post
Keyword Research
Keyword research is a must! Before starting to write your blog post, you should always have some keywords in mind and make sure that your content is based on those keywords.
- Use Google Trends, Ubersuggest, or KWFinder to find your keywords. Search for a phrase that you think people might use for your content and refine it into a few words. Here the 12 Best SEO Tools To Use (2020 Edition).
- Once you have your keywords, find some long-tail keywords which you can use within your content. For example, ‘before publishing post’ is a long-tail of the post. It’s going to be much easier for Google to rank ‘before publishing post’ rather than on ‘blog post’ alone. To plan your blog content, read these 7 Fantastic Ways To Planning Blog Content Ideas.
- As I use Rank Math SEO plugin, the focus keyword evaluates my post’s content and provides feedback on how to improve the content to rank higher for those keywords.

Create An Outline
Once you have your keywords, use those words to create your content. Are you going to write list posts, how-to guides post, products, or services? This kind of information will help you to decide on a structure for your blog post.
Just like this post, I make a list post and write down all of my points for each heading. Then add a short explanation, notes, and related links. This will help me to know what to write when I’m going to improve my post later.
Catchy Title + Permalink
Pinterest is a place to give an idea for catchy title.
- Create your title that hooks your audience’s attention and makes them want to click on your blog post.
- Always include your focus keywords, power word, and number on your title.
- Edit your permalink so it contains your keywords.
Write Your Post + Optimize Your On-Page SEO
- Introduction – 2 or 3 short paragraphs which draws your audience to read the rest of the content, makes sure to include your keywords.
- Make it interesting and address the need of your intended audience
- Don’t make it too short or even too long
- Always include the conclusion/wrapping up section at the end (I always put it after my line break)
- Use your keywords multiple times within your content – spread them out throughout your post. As shown below, Rank Math help me to analyze my content. The analysis section will tell me to include more keywords if needed for better SEO.

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Meta Tile + Description
Add post’s Meta title and description is really important for SEO because this is what will be displayed in search results.
- As shown below, with Rank Math SEO, I just need to click on Edit Snippet and enter a Meta description.
- Include your keywords in the description. Don’t worry, Rank Math will prompt it if your text gets too long.

Add Alt Text To Images
Always remember to add alt text on your image. The alt text describes what the image is about, help with accessibility, and help Google to understand what the purpose of the image.
Before uploading images, edit your image from 6897493294.jpg to before-publish-post.jpg. You can add ALT text by editing the image in the library or as shown in the image below.

Check Your Post Structure
- Use short paragraphs – it helps out all types of readers if you break up your content into paragraphs.
- Use headings – it helps people to find specific information
- Don’t forget to add your new post into one of your categories – each topic area that your blog post about
Check this my guest post on how I structured my blog post!
Add Internal Link
Add links to the related posts within your content is helpful for your reader. It keeps them engaged for longer, leads them to other posts on your site, and helps to reduce your bounce rate (rate in which reader navigate away from your site after arriving). If your bounce rate is low means that people stay longer on your site and show greater engagement. Check your bounce rate on your Google Analytics.
When writing a new blog post and I know that I have another blog post that related to my new post then I will add a link to that blog post. Sometimes I also repeat this a bit in case people don’t want to click yet.
With linking to internal post also helps your SEO – as Google understand your site structure. You can add links within your text, at the end of the post, or related posts section.
Add Outbound Links + ‘Nofollow’
An outbound link is a link to another site other than your blog. It adds richness to your content and shows that you respect the opinions of other content creators. For example, outbound link:
You can check this out how to set up Rank Math SEO.
See what I did above? I referenced Rank Math SEO and added a link to them.
But remember to give the link a no-follow attribute. For a small blog, like mine, every time you add a link to an external site, it gives your link juice to another site, which means that a higher ranked site will give harm for your own ranking.
So, with the no-follow attribute, it tells Google not to follow the link when it indexes your site! You can add no follow to links manually or better to use a plugin so you won’t forget. By using Rank Math SEO, you can automatically add a no-follow attribute to all of your externals links.
Check Affiliate Links
If you are trying to make your blog career, it’s time to get into monetizing. Even you just started your blog and not ‘big’ yet, you can still apply to the affiliate program. Bluehost, Convertkit, CreativeMarket are programs that can get you approved for the affiliate.
If you have linked to your affiliate products, make sure you have added your affiliate links. To make it pretty, I use Pretty Links to make my own links and manage all my affiliate links.
Check Grammar
As an English translator, I always use Grammarly for my writing tool. Even though English Literature was my B.A degree, I’m so bad with Grammar. My spelling is good and I do understand English but when it comes to writing something, I definitely need help!
If you’re not native in English (like me), I recommend using Grammarly now. I learned better English by using Grammar. You can run it as your browser extension and it will automatically check everything that you write on the internet, such as your blog posts, email, social posts, note, etc.
Insert Featured Image
If you like taking photos and have a good image to share, you can post it on your post. An eye-catching image helps to engage with your reader.
You can also find free images on sites like Pexels, Unsplash, and Pixabay and there are many more. If you have the budget to purchase stock images, then you are much less likely to find the same image used elsewhere.
Remember to always make sure you have permission to use any images wherever you get it. As for me, I download it free from Unsplash and give credit below the photo on my blog post.
Related: Blog Legally – 3 Easy Ways To Protect Your Blog
Create Pinterest Pin
To run a successful blog, you have to promote your content. One of the best and free ways to promote your blog post is to have a pinnable image on your post. What is a ‘pinnable’ image?
It’s an image you create and insert on your post – when people read your post, they have an image they can share on Pinterest that will (hopefully) bring traffic to your blog. You also need to use a featured image for your post. Adding these images makes you look much better. I create my pins by using Canva and it is the same size as Pinterest size.
Click here to find out how to make pinterest pin go viral!
Add Social Sharing Buttons
Always make sure that your post is shareable on all major social platforms. There are so many social plugins you can choose, such as Easy Social Share Buttons. You only need to set it up and it will add sharing buttons at the top or bottom of your posts.
Insert A CTA
Growing and building a connection between you and your audience is always important. A call to action is an action that you want your audience to do, such as join a mailing list, purchase a product, or simply leave a comment on your post.
Every post you write should have a call to action at the end of the post or in the body of the post. More examples of CTA include social sharing buttons, follow on social media or affiliate link.
Create A Content Upgrade
An effective way to growing your e-mail list is to provide a freebie or useful checklist relevant to the post they are reading. You also offer your freebie when they sign up for your mailing list.
After Publishing A Blog Post
Promote Your Post
- Subscribers: You want to let your subscribers know about your new blog post and mention any exciting news (offer, freebie, deals) you might have to share. If you publish a new blog post frequently, refrain from e-mailing them every time you post. The best way, you could create a weekly newsletter that informs of all the new blog posts you published. Emailing too often can get annoying (which I hate the most) and may lead some to hit the ‘unsubscribe’ button.
- Twitter: I love this the most! I find that Twitter is surprisingly really great for the blogging community when I started my blog last week. After publishing my new blog post, I will tweet and promote it on my Twitter. I use hashtags and tag feature accounts who will retweet my tweet. I also love sharing my own daily threads where I can engage more with other bloggers. These threads allow me to exchange comments to help each other grow!
- Facebook: There are so many FB groups out there who have daily threads, such as blog post share, blog post comment, etc. Participate in these groups twice a day – set up about 25-30 minutes (at the end and beginning of each day) and use the groups to increase your blog traffic. They are so nice and I love being part of the blogger community!
- Instagram: I have a love-hate relationship with Instagram as I don’t have much activity there. But if you love and use it every day, you can create an Instagram post when you publish a new blog post. Insert ‘link in my bio’ on your post so people can check out your new post.
Add To Pinterest
Meet with Pinterest again! Once you publish your new blog post, you should share it with your Pinterest by using your Pinnable image. You need to share it with multiple boards and group boards. For starting, you can create a 3-5 pinnable image for each post and share it with your Pinterest.
Related: 10 Easy Pinterest Strategy To Grow Your Blog

Wrapping Up
Well, those lists above cover all before and after publishing your post. These are exactly what I do whenever I publish a new blog post.

Photo credit: Ellieelien
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Not only me, but most bloggers also spend a lot of time running their blog, researching, creating, and writing valuable content, and not to mention shooting and editing the photos you see. So, I want to say thanks to the support of people like you who help me keep running this blog and I appreciate it from the bottom of my heart.
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This is a fantastic and thorough post! I’ve been blogging for a while, and I learned a lot from reading it (especially about the “no-follow,” links, which I will be spending the weekend updating on my posts). I still have a lot to learn, especially about keywords. Thanks for breaking it all down in this helpful post!
Me too! I just want to write this as complete as I can. I learned a lot from blogging, many things to be considered when I want to publish my post!
I don’t understand every single thing especially English is not my native xD
It’s fun but sometimes just make me wonder what other new things will I learned tomorrow!
Thank you for reading 🙂
Really informative post, I’ll be pinning it so I can use for reference whenever!
Thank you, dear!
Hi Merry! Thanks for sharing your wisdom on this post! While I knew about putting “nofollow” on my affiliate links, I had no idea this is also the case for other external links. Thanks for this valuable tip.
Here’s a tip from me 🙂 – since you use Pinterest (that’s how I found you), you should try Social Warfare plugin – it’s a must for bloggers that use Pinterest. Check it out. Or, you can check out my some of my posts 🙂
You’re very welcome! Thank you for your tip. I’ve seen many bloggers use Social Walfare plugin but I just use my Jetpack plugin as my social share buttons.
Thank you! I just installed it 🙂 I’ll visit your blog!
Great and thorough information to guide making a post. Thanks for sharing
You’re very welcome! Thank you for reading! xxx
Very well thought out! I found out about no-follow links earlier in the year and that was a bear going back and changing all the follow links! The keywords part still mystifies me a bit – picking just the right one to get a post to rank is so tricky for me!
Thank you! If you use Rank Math, I think you can set up your external links as no-follow links automatically. It goes for the old posts too.
Yeah, I still working hard on keywords. I just go with the flow and follow my intuition xD! xxx
So much wisdom in one post, I love it! I definitely need to spruce up my ‘blog to do” list, thank you so much for allll the wonderful ideas. “Consistency is key” – every blogger ever! hahaha, Great post girl, thanks for helping me grow as a blogger!
xo Bri
Thank you! I hope this post helps many bloggers out there, especially new bloggers 🙂
This is so helpful! there’s so many things to remember with each blog post and it’s nice to have it all in one place!
Glad you like it! Thank you 🙂
Great post! Thank you for the tips! They are very useful!
Thank you! xxx
Love this handy list! It always surprises fellow friends who do not blog or write how much work actually goes into writing something worthy and sharing it with the right eyes. 🙂
Great tips and advice. Thanks for sharing!
I was actually looking for guides to help me improve my SEO game. This helps a lot. I’ll keep these points in mind for my future posts and edit the older ones. Thank you! 🙂
No problem dear! I’ll post something about SEO this month so I hope it can help you 🙂
Thank you for reading! 🙂
This is a great post! Some of these I already do like adding alt text, links, featured & Pinterest images, but I do need to start doing keyword research!
Thank you for reading, Karalee xxx
I have been using the Yoast plugin but recently I’ve noticed that a lot of bloggers have been using Rank Math instead. Have you tried Yoast before? If so, what are your thoughts on the differences and why did you choose Rank Math? Thanks!
Yeah, I’ve noticed that too! I’ve tried Yoast in the 1st week after launching my blog then I found Rank Math and I love it more than Yoast! How should I put it? Rank Math is faster, easier, and it has more modern-day SEO features plus it’s not slowing down your site. Another amazing one with Rank Math is Google Keyword Suggestion, when you start typing the focus keyword, it starts suggesting the keyword (long-tail keyword) and that comes directly from Google. You can target up to 5 keywords with Rank Math vs. the free edition of Yoast, just 1. Most of the functionality you’ll use regularly, like adding meta tags to a post, works very similarly to Yoast. But, instead of Yoast’s SEO ratings of ‘bad,’or ‘good,’ Rank Math scores your content out of 100. I prefer this as it provides much more granular feedback about my content and what certain changes will do. For me, there are so many great things you can have from the free ver. of rank math while I know that you need to have premium ver. of yoast to get these 🙂 You can try rank math first then if you prefer yoast more, you can always switch back xxx
I adored this blog post. Super helpful!
Miki x
https://www.littletasteofbeauty.com/
Thank you 😀