An In-Depth Look at My Blogging Workflow

Ever wonder what goes into my blog posts? It’s not as simple as writing and publishing a new blog post. I have an entire blogging workflow behind everything I write.

And I want to share that with you today! No gatekeeping here 💁‍♀️

I hope that by seeing an inside look at my blogging workflow, you can better maintain a steady publishing schedule without feeling overwhelmed. It’s a lot of steps, but it hits all the bases of a well-optimized blog post.

Topic Ideation

I know thinking of topics can be one of the hardest parts of blogging! I spend some time during my CEO days thinking of blog topics. I find blog inspiration from keyword research, social media, and common questions I get. 

But honestly, most of what’s in my content calendar as an idea is jotted down whenever I think of something. You know those random thoughts and ideas you get? Write them down to come back to later! Those are some of your best ideas.

Planning in Airtable

I typically have about a quarter of blogs planned in my Airtable content calendar. I publish blogs every Friday, so my calendar is pretty easy! I assign a topic to a date. I always mix up the content pillars I write about. If I write about blogging one week, the next will be something else, like SEO.

Keyword Research

I use Ubersuggest for keyword research. I like the analytics and ideas it gives me for potential keywords. I usually do a few searches before deciding on a focus keyword for my blog. I look for keywords that are high in volume and low in competition.

Outline and Brainstorming

Now it’s time to outline the blog post and brainstorm! This is one of two steps where I use AI. I ask ChatGPT to give me an outline of my blog topic. I use some ideas, not others, but it also sparks new ideas. It gives me a little kickstart instead of starting with a blank page. Even as a blog writer, that can be hard for me! 

Writing

I cannot for the life of me start by writing the introduction. That’s actually usually what I write last! I start with the meat of the content. Then, I write the conclusion and introduction because, by that point, I know what the blog is about. 

Editing

In the editing stage of my blogging workflow, I run the whole blog through Grammarly. I don’t worry too much about grammar when I’m writing, so this tool helps double-check all my work. Again, I take some suggestions and leave others. It edits based on traditional grammar rules, so sometimes, tone of voice and personality choices get flagged as incorrect. 

I also add all my internal links after I’m done writing. I think about opportunities for internal linking as I’m writing, but I haven’t gone through and added links until now.

SEO Metadata

My blog is done! Now, I write the SEO metadata, which includes the SEO title, meta description, and URL slug. In WordPress, I use the plug-in Yoast to input my SEO data. It also gives suggestions on how to improve your SEO based on your chosen keyword! I like to use it to confirm that my blogs are optimized well or make slight changes if needed.

Publishing

At this step in my blogging workflow, I paste my blog and SEO metadata into Yoast. I also add a featured image, assign a blog category, and make sure all my links open in a new tab. I’ll also add call-to-action images in the post, if applicable. I always preview the post to make sure the formatting looks good. Then, I’ll schedule it to post on the date it has in my content calendar or go ahead and post it if it’s that same day!

Promotion

I always let my audience know when I’ve posted new blogs! My email list is the first to know. I publish new blogs on Fridays, and my subscribers get the link on Wednesdays. I also post new blogs on Instagram every week (I’m a few weeks behind, though, so they don’t get the most up-to-date content!)

Indexing

Every month, I manually request indexing for my new blogs in Google Search Console. This means I tell Google that I have a new blog and want it to rank it in search results. Requesting indexing is an extra step, but I think it’s necessary. Google will eventually get to it, but who knows how long that could take. By manually requesting indexing, you basically get bumped to the front of the line.

Updates

I refresh blogs every once in a while to ensure they are up-to-date. I don’t have a set schedule for this (I probably should), but when I do updates, I look for opportunities to add new content and links.

Blogging Workflow Steps

And that’s my blogging workflow! You don’t have to copy it, but I hope it showed you and explained that more goes into blogging than just writing and publishing. It’s an entire process to make sure your posts appeal to both search engines and your audience.
And if this is just TOO much work for you, I’m here for you! I follow this process in my client work, too. Take a look at my blog writing packages and find one that works for you!