Recently, I wrote about WHY it’s important to blog. But, how do you create a stellar blog?
When you’re about to write a blog, be sure it contains the following:
- A topic people will want to read about
- Engaging and clickable headlines
- Readable and relevant content
- Visual and intriguing images
- Full SEO optimization
- No errors
- Becomes visible to your audience
This simple formula is essential to writing a stellar blog. How do you know you’re on the right path to fulfilling these steps? There are hundreds of tools out there in the World Wide Web designed to help you become a blogging extraordinaire. I’ve narrowed down my eight favorite tools I believe you’ll find beneficial.
1) BLOG TOPIC GENERATOR
Do you have a topic to write about, but you’re not sure what angle you should approach the subject? Hubspot’s Blog Topic Generator can help get those creative juices flowing. All you need to do is type in three keywords or nouns, and it’ll provide five possible topics.
HubSpot does an excellent job creating suggestions your audience will want to read. Give Blog Topic Generator a shot.
2) HEADLINE ANALYZER
Let me share this scary fact:
It’s safe to say your headline is pretty important and needs to be amazing if you want your audience to read it.
But how do you know if your headline is up to par? That’s where the Headline Analyzer comes in! Paste your headline into this simple (and free!) tool. From there, it will grade your headline (a score above 70 is good!) and provide tips how to improve it. Bonus: It even offers suggestions how to master the headline formula.
Make those headlines count! Try the Headline Analyzer.
In my checklist above, it’s mentioned you must create relevant and readable content that’s beneficial to your audience. Write your content with your customers in mind – what are their barriers, needs, desires?
AtomicWriter helps you write content your audience wants to read – audience-centric content. With real-time updates, AtomicWriter gives tips on how to improve the content and how it can resonate with your audience.
All you need to do is import your Google Analytics and social media accounts into the app. AtomicWriter will take that data and provide insight into your audience – amazing!
There are different price levels with this app, including a free version.
Check out AtomicWriter.
If you prefer another method than AtomicWriter to discover your content’s readability, try the Hemingway app. Copy and paste your content in the canvas, and it will grade your content’s readability and how to simplify it.
Check out the Hemingway App.
We’ve been talking about content, but what about the visual side of content? With Canva, you can look like a design expert. You can create photo collages, fun infographics, make stats look riveting, and do all of this for free!
Check out Canva
Even if you wrote the greatest blog in the world, it doesn’t do much good if it’s not visible online. That’s why it’s important to optimize your blog for search engines – otherwise known as SEO. We recommend downloading the Yoast plugin on your WordPress blog. It’s user-friendly and easy to understand.
To maximize Yoast to its full capability, read our blog to learn:
- How to download the plugin
- How to pick keywords to optimize your blog
- How to use the plugin
Learn how to use Yoast HERE
We all understand the importance of editing to catch those dreaded grammar errors and typos. Using Grammarly is an excellent option to double and triple check your work before publishing.
Grammarly can even help you become a better writer by providing suggestions to enhance your writing and vocabulary.
Check out Grammarly.
Your blog is live. It’s optimized and ready for everyone to see. Now, you have to promote it on your social media accounts. Hootsuite can manage all your social media accounts into one dashboard.
Post a link to your blog in Hootsuite and it’ll distribute it to all social media accounts, making your life so much easier.
There you have it! Now, take your handy-dandy list, use these tools, and start blogging like a madman.
Are there any content tools you like to use while blogging? Share them in the comment section below!