How to Start a Blog: The 12-Month Checklist

HOW TO START A BLOG 12-MONTH CHECKLIST TO BLOGGING SUCCESS For even more blogging tips and content marketing fun, check out our blog: Visit the hydrant blogmutt www.blogmutt.com/blog MONTH ΜΟΝΤΗ ο1 START WITHA STRONG FOUNDATION Use Google Analytics to get a snapshot of your current web traffic in the past year. Start with the başics. Login to GA > Audience > Overview. Save the information on this screen. Bookmark free stock photography sites (And no, you can't just use Google). Start here: . 53+ sites for free images • Canva Think of 10 blog topics This action item is important. Make a list of 10 blog topics. Save it somewhere that's easily accessible. Write one blog post Start by writing a blog post about how you're going to follow these 12 months of tips to get your blog started. But just write one post Start small. 02 03 04 05 Write 2 blog posts Write 3 blog posts Make blogging a habit Write 4 blog posts You wrote one blog post last month right? Good! Now write two this month Write four posts this month. You already have a ton of blog ideas to write about. These can also help If you did two last month, what's one more? You're Yes, only four posts. You should've figured out getting in the habit of writing (Need a blog idea? Use that trusty list you re building) what worked and what didn't last month Go back and optimize the three youve written this year for SEO Here are three super helpful resources to keep your Make the necessary adjustments and get those • Wite a blog postin an hour • How to manage your blogging time posts out. momentum going Think of 10 blog topics Think of 10 blog topics Think of 10 blog topics Think of 10 blog topics Add to your list Add to your list Add to your list Add to your list 06 Outsource 4 blog posts; write 4 blog posts (This is the new normal.) The goal here is a total of eight posts for the month. You already know how to write four. Now, consider outsourcing four. Find 4 blog posts you can outsource to a writer on your big list of ideas If you're worried about turnaround time, finding a freelancer, lots of ed iting, billing, yad da yadda yadda, we'd be happy to help you out. Getall four posts in 2-4 days from BlogMutt. Seriously. Start here. 07 Create a calendar through the end of the year with your blog ideas; write 4 blog posts Remember, the new normalis writing four posts and delegating four posts. Download our editorial calendar to help you get organized. Start populating your calendar Use all the blog post ideas you've brainstormed up until this point to do it. Mark the ones that you're going to write and the ones you're going to have your freelancers write. 08 Invest in an SEO/keyword tool; learn it It'll make you a more strategic blogger. Get more blog ideas, AND track your keywords and blogging progress. Start with Moz and SEMrush. For a keyword tool, check outour "15 Best Tools for Starting a Business Blog." Write 4 blog posts and delegate 4 blog posts 09 10 11 Find a guest blogging opportunity Secure another guest blogging opportunity Create calls-to-action Have your readers take action. Guest blogging helps grow your authority, build partnerships with other businesses, capture a wider audience and get an inbound link (great for SEO). If you haven't secured a guest blogging opportunity, we've given you a second month to secure one A CTA can be text-based or an image Either way, take a cue from our blog. Each post has an action for our Don't get lazy on us. You should secure two before the month's over. Here's a handy guide for ge tting started in guest blogging readers Write 4 blog posts and delegate four blog posts Get your 8 posts up this month Get your 8 posts done ΜΟΝΤΗ 2 REVIEW BASELINE MEASUREMENTS, PLAN FOR NEXT YEAR Go back and compare the baseline numbers from the beginning to your current numbers Now's the fun part! Share your results with us ([email protected]) – we'd love to hear about them. What worked? What didn't? Use this knowledge to make a plan that suits your business needs. Write your last 8 posts of the year Claim 20% Off & Get Started with BlogMutt