Posting a blog article might be a lot easier than publishing a magazine or newspaper article, but the same care should be taken to ensure that the writing is accurate and of good quality.

Following on my previous article about the publishing processes a professional publication follows, this article focuses specifically on content.

Your blog is the centre point of your content marketing campaign so as much care as possible should be taken to ensure that the content is interesting, relevant and shareable.

The trick is to not think about your blog as an online dumping spot for so-so content, but as a professional publication that will boost traffic to your site and add to your overall credibility.

The Processes

The below list is a guideline to help you ensure that your content is managed as professionally as possible.

After you’ve decided on a topic the actual article needs to be written. Read more on how to choose interesting topics for your blog articles HERE.

Compose article:
As mentioned in the previous article, a professional team should be in place to write your content. Writing well is not easy so it’s important to have a core team with proper training specifically for content creation. Not all your writers have to be in house either. Having a strong network of willing and able writers will add diversity to your blog. Build relationships with experts in the field and ask them to contribute once in a while – even if it’s just a quote. Collaborating with others will add depth to your articles.

Individual roles exist for each part of the content creation process and care should be taken to guarantee that each roll is fulfilled.

Print publications employ professionals to fill the rolls of writers, journalists, editors, designers and so forth. Typical blogs don’t have all of these employees – but this doesn’t mean that the rolls disappear. Even if it’s a one man blog – the work load will be heavier but the rolls still need to be attended to.

Proofread, Editing & Fact Checking:
All articles need to be proofread to ensure that there is consistency throughout the whole blog. Articles need to be written in the same style and tone – even if many different writers contribute.

The editor needs to have a clear grasp of the language in which the articles are written and should make sure that the above point is adhered to.

Fact checking is important because it leads to reliability. You need to ensure that names are spelt correctly, statistics are up to date and that any facts are, in fact, correct.

After the article has made its way from the writer to the fact checker (and back to the writer if anything needs clarification) the editor can finalise all changes.

Choosing a Heading:
The heading is the first thing that readers will see and probably the one thing that will convince them to read your article. If your headings are weak you simply won’t attract many readers. Headings also need to be relevant to the content. Don’t aggravate people by not meeting their expectations.

Imaging:
Imaging is very important – especially on an online platform. Whether it’s photography, video or infographics, make sure that it’s of good quality, and yes, relevant. Boring stock photography doesn’t really add much value to your content – there isn’t much thought put into it and no one really likes looking at it either.

When to Publish:
This cannot be emphasised enough; publish regularly and consistently.

Promote:
Make use of as many social media platforms as possible to effectively promote your content. If you can’t decide where to start, this article might give you a push in the right direction.

Editorial Calendar:
Every print publication makes use of an editorial calendar. Content is planned out well in advance (meaning months) and is scheduled on a calendar for everyone to see. This ensures that content can be created long before publication and that back-ups are in place should something fall through. As with a professional print publication it is a good idea to have an editorial calendar in place for your blog. Articles can be scheduled in such a way that ensures topics are spread out and that there is a wide variety of information being published. It also makes publishing consistently and regularly less of an effort.

A blog needs to be treated as a professional publication – just because it’s online doesn’t make it less professional.

Carina Claassens is a Writer for Sound Idea Digital | carina@soundidea.co.za |@SoundIdea | www.soundidea.co.za

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