A lot of people that don’t read blogs are under the false impression that blogging is just a hobby. Over 10 years ago blogging was somewhat just considered an online diary, but it’s now transitioned into a form of content marketing for large businesses to personal brands to position themselves as leaders in their industry.

There’s so many different types of industries covered in the blogosphere. Photography blogs. Finance blogs. Food blogs. Style blogs. Fashion blogs. Fitness blogs. Finance blogs. And on and on and on. There’s way more that goes into running a blog than actually writing 500-3,000+ words in a post. I talk about how much content should go into a blog post here.

As I started building my team, I realized that delegating work forces you to clearly articulate how you run things. As I was writing down all the steps it takes for me to product ONE quality blog post, I realized all of the work that goes into fulfilling the overall goals and strategy of my content. Just a heads up, writing the blog is the easiest part.

Here’s my 10-step process to quality blogging to grow my business:

1. Curate a valuable post.

The first thing you have to do is come up with a post topic that is actually going to serve your readers. The most important part of  your blog is your audience. If your audience isn’t engaged to what you’re writing then you’re on the wrong track. Without a loyal audience, your blog is nothing. Keep in mind that a quality blog post is always answering a question. This can be a “how-to” post or a “reasons why” post or even a “lists” post. If you’re not into doing written posts, consider recording podcast or YouTube video. Choose a valuable topic and a platform that resonates with your audience.

2. Proofread and perfect.

I’m really bad proofreading so I delegate this part out to an editor because it’s so important. A big part about making your content valuable is to make sure it’s of quality. If you want to stand out, it’s not enough to settle for good. Polish your blog post, podcast, or video by making sure it’s “blemish” free. While my editor primarily checks for spelling and grammar, I also have her check for broken links and any good “quotables” I can use on social media.

3. Design Post graphics.

I’ve always liked using imagery to create a first impression. With my posts being text heavy, I feel like my graphics can make my blog more aesthetically pleasing. I either photograph myself, have an image photographed of myself, or find images online that won’t result in any copyright infringement. Here are three awesome stock photo websites to download and use images for free.

 http://picjumbo.com/

http://getrefe.tumblr.com/

http://stokpic.com/

Then you make the image look pretty with a website like Canva, Snappa, or an app or Photoshop. The primarily graphics I create the featured image graphics, the Pinterest promo graphic, and the content upgrade promo graphic.

4. Decide if you’ll include a “content upgrade”.

I wrote about content upgrades here, but it’s basically and upgraded piece of content for your audience in exchange for your email. It’s meant to continue serving your audience in a “premium” way while you build your email list. A content upgrade can be a template, checklist, PDF, workbook, worksheet, or anything that you believe will be of additional value to your audience that’s complimentary to the original post. There’s a couple more steps that go into including a content upgrade. Grab the full checklist here:

5. Create multiple headlines.

The point of coming up with multiple headlines is because in step 7 we’re going to share the post more than once. And when you share your post more than once, you don’t want to seem robotic and repetitive. Also – your first headline probably sucks. So finding 5-7 different creative ways to say “5 reasons you should eat peanut butter” will increase your chances of readers actually clicking on the post. For example, another headline option could be “5 benefits to incorporating peanut butter in your diet”.

6. Format post.

Formatting your blog post with large headlines, images, and bullet points makes it easy for your readers to digest heavy content.

7. Get to sharing.

The point of coming up with multiple headlines is because in step 5 we’re going to share the post more than once. And when you share your post more than once, you don’t want to seem robotic and repetitive. Also – your first headline probably sucks. So finding 5-7 different creative ways to say “5 reasons you should eat peanut butter” will increase your chances of readers actually clicking on the post. For example, another headline option could be “5 benefits to incorporating peanut butter in your diet”.

8. Schedule promo.

Schedule out how many times it will be shared on all of your social media platforms. You don’t want to share your blog post JUST once. You took the time to create valuable content. Now you need to make sure people are aware of it. Since you’re sharing it more than once it’s a good thing you made multiple headlines in step 5, huh? I generally have my social media manager post on my Facebook fan page twice, my Facebook group 1x/day (M-F), and on Twitter 8/day with 80% free posts and 20% products. Here’s what my Coschedule calendar looks like. People are always visiting my content because I’m always promoting my content. That’s how it works. Share it on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and whatever other social media platform that is most beneficial to your and your audience.

9. Track your analytics.

After all this, it’s a good idea to keep track of your analytics. Find out how many people actually read the post, shared the post, liked the post, etc. I schedule my posts and track analytics with CoSchedule. I also use Google Analytics to track other pages that are not on my blog. The purpose of tracking your analytics is to have an overall idea of what your readers like and don’t like.

10. Do it all over again.

Finally, done! You put out an extremely valuable blog post into the world. Are we finally done yet? No. Your blog post was so awesome because you took the time to make it valuable with quality delivery that the people want more! Do it again. With a different topic. Each time you post something of quality, you build your brand and authority in your industry.

Want your very own checklist? Grab the step-by-step checklist and blog post template from my Smart Content Toolbox that my team and I use to create high quality blog posts.