So, you just researched, wrote, and published a new blog post.
Job well done! Time to sit back and watch the traffic and leads come flowing in, right?
If only it were that simple. Your blog doesn’t start working until you do. Now that you’ve crafted a fabulous piece of content, it’s time to share, share, share! But where? How? And what can you do to make sure your blog post is effective?
Create a process so that you, your writer, and/or your marketing squad knows what to do to get the most out of every new blog post. Read on for 15 things you must do after publishing every single blog post.
Be sure to stick around until the end for a free downloadable checklist!
1. Reread and revise it.
First and foremost, take the time to read through your blog post after publishing it. This includes reading it out loud, which, as I’m sure you know, is one of the most effective ways to edit!
I find that reading the published blog has a different effect and helps me find and fix any errors. It also gives you a chance to identify if anything is missing regarding the content and information.
Check out this post for tips on writing blogs that people will actually read.
2. Update older related articles with links to the new post.
Updating links in your existing articles should be one of the early steps toward driving traffic to your latest blog. Review your most popular posts and find ways to incorporate links to your newest post. Linking from high-performing articles:
Provides even more helpful resources in your previous blog posts.
Builds a good SEO foundation for the new post.
Strengthens the overall SEO value of your site.
Simply search your site by blog category or keyword to find related articles to link to your new post.
3. Share it with your entire team.
Send a company-wide update (or possibly a weekly roundup if you post multiple blogs per week) to spread the word about your most recent content. This can also help other departments, such as sales or customer support, who may find it beneficial to share educational content with their customers.
Plus, you may even get feedback to help strengthen the post. For example, at my last job, I would often ask the tech support team for topic ideas and feedback to provide customers with valuable content that answers their most common questions.
4. Share it on your social media.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it a million times: Blogging is not a set-it-and-forget-it process! You should be spreading the word about your newest content through your other marketing channels (pssst…this also makes it easier to come up with content for those other channels!).
After a new blog post is published, schedule a post about it on all relevant platforms (i.e., Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, etc.). Ease the process by creating a few graphic or image templates and having a process in place for all social media posts related to your new blog posts. Use a tool like Later or Buffer to plan and schedule your posts in advance.
One of the many benefits of blogging is that a single blog can be repurposed and broken up into shorter social media posts down the road—giving even more opportunities to continue driving traffic to the article! Use it for a week’s worth of content after first publishing the blog, then rework and reshare it in the future.
5. Send an update via your email newsletter.
Your email subscribers are already interested in your content and updates, so it’s a given that they’ll want to hear about your new blog posts. Send them weekly updates in your newsletter, which will help drive more direct traffic to your blog.
While you can set automated emails for newly published blog posts, I recommend sending an email with a personalized message. You can even pull from the blog post to tease it and entice them to read more or write a thoughtful note about that blog post’s theme. It doesn’t have to be fancy, but a personal touch goes a long way when bringing people into your community!
6. Share it in relevant groups and communities.
In addition to your company accounts, you can maximize social media by sharing your blog posts in places like Facebook and LinkedIn communities related to your business and industry. These groups provide even more opportunities for networking and creating brand awareness.
As long as you’re sharing helpful, valuable content, you’ll build trust and confidence in your business. Just be sure to check the rules and make sure the community allows members to share educational content and resources.
7. Repurpose for other channels.
In addition to social media and email marketing, blogs can work together with podcasts, videos, ebooks, and more. Whether you plan your content by the week, by the month, by the quarter, or otherwise, you can get more out of every post by planning other content around it.
For example, you might create a brief overview video to include in the blog post and share on social media channels. (Hint: Google likes blog posts that include relevant helpful videos!). Your weekly podcast might also center around the topic of your blog post. Perhaps you’ve written about a topic and feel that you could expand on it and create a helpful tool for audiences, in which case an ebook could be beneficial.
Don’t overcomplicate your content or create a lot of extra work for yourself and your team. Pick a topic or theme each week, then make all of that week’s content around it.
Remember, you have a varied audience on each platform (email subscribers, social media followers, podcast listeners, etc.), so don’t worry about being repetitive.
8. Share on news aggregators.
A news or content aggregator is simply a site that collects articles from all across the internet via keywords and RSS feeds. They pull and organize all kinds of content in one place so visitors can easily search and enjoy content based on their interests. Aggregators typically include a link to the original post to avoid plagiarism issues.
Bottom line: News aggregators are yet another channel to drive traffic to your blog! Check out this list of top aggregator sites to find some related to your industry.
9. Monitor and reply to comments.
You should always reply to comments on your blog posts. After all, your audience is taking the time to engage with you—that’s one of the first signs of a powerful post! Replying to comments shows that you care and listen to your community. It also gives you a chance to connect with them and continue building that crucial trust.
Comments are an excellent opportunity to educate and learn more about your audience. As you answer their questions and concerns, it could give you some stellar fuel for future blog posts, content, and other customer care solutions. Who knows what great ideas those conversations could spark?!
10. Find those backlinks, baby.
Backlinks, or links leading to your site from other reputable sources in your industry, are another key to boosting your blog traffic and its SEO value. When you receive backlinks from high-quality sites, Google will register your site as high-quality, too.
The first step is to Google your topic to find blogs that will want to link to yours. Search for list posts and resource posts that link to a lot of other blogs like yours.
Additionally, you can use tools like Moz, Ahrefs, SEMrush, and Ubersuggest to do backlink research. These will show you articles performing well for the topic as well as critical stats.
Then, make a list of blogs to contact. Find the person who manages the blog and email them explaining that you enjoyed their blog post, and you’ve written one on a related topic that you believe their audience would appreciate. Note that if they do like your article, you would appreciate it if they’d consider adding a link to their post.
Smartblogger advises aiming for a 10% success rate or better. For more tips and tricks on this strategy, check out Neil Patel’s 20-minute method to finding backlinks for your blog.
11. Build and work your relationships with others in your niche.
Regularly engage with others in your field by resharing and commenting on their content. As you build them over time, use those relationships as you build them by asking them to share your content on their social media.
You can also ask these connections about potential guest blogging opportunities, which is typically a trade-off: Free valuable content for them and free exposure and backlink opportunities for you!
12. Comment on other blogs.
Find and visit other blogs in your sphere and comment on them regularly. Commenting on other blogs helps build connections and grow your audience. It may sound a bit time consuming, but you better believe they’ll appreciate it! Schedule some time into your week to do this. Ideally, they’ll follow and comment on your posts, too!
Make sure you leave valuable comments with questions, ideas, or other interesting thoughts on their topics to garner meaningful conversation—and to let them know you actually read the post.
13. Comment on commenters’ blogs.
Once your blog starts getting traction and you see some regular commenters, make it a point to engage with their posts, too.
Search for topics relevant to yours and leave a thoughtful comment. This will help you build a rapport with those people, continue building your network, and get your name in more places.
14. Track the blog post’s performance over time.
You should regularly monitor your blog’s performance to find out what is working and what could use improvement. Use Google Analytics and other metrics tools like those mentioned above to keep up with your new blog post’s stats, including:
Pageviews
Time spent on-page
Traffic sources (i.e., where viewers are coming from)
Then, consider what else you can do to continue driving traffic to that post as well as ideas for future blog post strategies.
15. Update your blogs regularly.
Set annual reminders to check on each new blog post after publishing it. Refreshing your top-performing blog posts is beneficial for their SEO value (Google loves fresh content!) and helpful to your readers.
You may need to:
Update old stats or facts.
Strengthen the post by expanding on/adding new information. (Checking comments is great for this!)
Check all links to make sure they still work.
Add and/or updating images and other visual content.
Focus on new keywords or edit the title if performance is low.
If a blog post is not performing so hot, do some research to ensure it’s worth your time to update. Are people searching for that topic? What could the post be missing? There may be some opportunity to boost its results, but sometimes your time is better spent on the high-performing posts.
Follow Through with Your Blogging Strategy
Back when I played basketball (believe it or not), one of the first things my coach taught me was to follow through with my shot. It’s all about that good form to get it in the hoop!
Follow-through is essential not only in sports but in areas of your marketing, including your blogging strategy. Simply posting your blog won’t get you the results. You need to share that awesome content and track the performance after publishing a blog post to make sure it keeps working for you. Investing this time upfront will pay off in the long run for both current and future blogging efforts.
To make things a little easier, I’ve created a PDF checklist you and your team can use with every new blog post. Pretty soon, you’ll create a rhythm and system and it will be like second nature! Download your free 15-step checklist.
I understand how much work it is to blog regularly AND effectively. If you’re ready to hand off your blog writing to a pro so you can focus on growing your business, book a complimentary consultation today to learn how I can help you!
Which of these steps has been most effective for your blogs? Which do you need to work on?