9 stages to writing a blog. Tools to use. The beauty of the internet is that companies are lining up to help you, we look at the best
What are tools in blogging
No matter your platform for writing a blog there will be tools to help you. I use WordPress so I have a world of opportunity at my fingers so I shall share the best with you.
It is important that having too many plug-ins or extras will slow your site and harm your SEO performance. Therefore we look for a balance that will work.
I shall talk about these in two areas;
- The must-have list
- Nice to have
If you have read any of this series you will understand that the most important asset in blogging is understanding Keywords. Therefore we will fire off with the ultimate tool
Jaaxy Keyword Tool
Based in Canada and owned by the Wealthy Affiliate group this is a basic tool that will work well with starters. There are many more of these and at various prices however, I am going to stick with just three.
No Keyword tool has all the answers and using Google search to support your opinion is always recommended.
The two most important factors are the amount of traffic for a Keyword and the level of competition that you must compete with.
Keywords are not all they seem
A high level of competition is not always insurmountable. Your top players in any industry will be very hard to unseat however the rest of the players may very well be less than average.
Therefore your Google search will bring out the results and provide information on which to make a decision.
Google has given up on Keywords and now focuses on the intent of your content. Furthermore, you need to think like a Robot as this is all done with Artificial Intelligence. (AI)
However Bing and Yahoo, very active search results, still use exact match Keyword search.
Now we have all the rules in place and more than likely confusion reigns let's look at what we can do to get you into first-page position one -to three
Jaaxy is a must-have and I tell you why
First of all, it comes free with a Wealthy Affiliate subscription, and in fact, you can get the top service included with your WA subscription. I do and I use it every day.
This snapshot lists out a small selection of associated phrases to the Keyword JaaxyKeyword tool.
AVG; is the average traffic generated in a month
Traffic; is what you would expect in an exact match with Google
QSR; an average competition around a first-page position
KQI; in simple terms a ranking indicator
As a rule, we generally consider traffic of 100 and QSR less than fo as reasonable.
You can have a play here for fun.
Next is UberSuggest by Neil Patel
This gives different information however basically the same traffic and competition. One big advantage is that Neil also provides a guide that is chrome-based and tells you exact search traffic.
This is a Google search showing a traffic figure inserted by Ubersuggest
As I do a lot of research this is very useful. In fact, this is an open Keyword.
Here you can see the need for research as there are variations in figures. However, you can see that there is traffic and the competition is medium. In my Google search, the players are pretty average so it would be ok to rank
Having these three, no cost, Keyword tools is all you need.
9 stages to writing a blog. Tools to use to check on your links.
Keeping track of affiliate traffic
This may be affiliate traffic or any other links that you promote. Many companies keep track however things can go astray.
My suggestion is to use Pretty Links a link Cloaker that makes a link look pretty but also keeps a record of every click people make on the page
In a recent interaction with a company, I was able to prove that I had sent traffic by showing my Pretty links figures
To maintain a visual scorecard I keep a monthly spreadsheet and record all figures so I can see what is working and what is not.
This may not be all-inclusive because many times I include Images that have a different address however it is a great indication.
Monster Insights headline analyzer
Monster Insights keep track of traffic by utilizing Google data and bringing it to your front page. This way your traffic stats are always on hand instead of going to Google analytics.
They also have a very handy Headline analyzer that rates your Headline and provides an opportunity to change.
Headlines are a critical factor in being read no matter
what search page you are on.
They look at word choice, length, energy, and several other areas to find a word that will be read.
Monster Insights has a free and paid version
You can't underestimate the importance of headlines
Writing with Robots
This is a relatively new application and one that has shown dramatic improvements in recent times.
Before you look away let me tell you that they assist your work not do it all for you. AI or Artificial Intelligence has become a normal and not a freak show. A good example of this is self-drive cars, it is being done and will be commercial by the start of 2023 as Elon Musk launches a fleet of self-drive taxis.
One condition with any AI is an on/off switch so that you are always in control.
I experimented with Jasper AI to see if it could help me create blogs faster and more accurately than my bad-spelling resume.
To do this I had to find a heading on which to write and then load a bundle of subheads down the page. Then I let Jasper have a go and fill in some words.
The result was pretty good and I have since used it a few times using a similar method.
Yes I had to manage the word flow and chop and change in several places but overall I wrote a good post in 50% less time
One example was my post on Finding a Keyword tool that works written with AI and being rated on Google. I scored highly on perception and concluded with a 1300-word blog.
No site can be without SEO guidance, or can it?
Companies that specialize in SEO compliance must have a good handle on what is required.
With Word Press, both Yoast SEO and AIO SEO offer both writing and SEO guidance.
There are many rules to writing that should be in your blog and having a scorecard helps. Here are some examples.
A small list of items that the SEO guys believe makes the world go around.
9 stages to writing a blog. Tools to use include pictures
Making pictures for your blog
Many of the images appearing on this page were snaps taken from my actual web pages and made into pictures to be posted here.
The product used is called Monosnap and is so simple anyone can use it. No writer should be without it.
Monosnap simply takes pictures of anything you highlight on the screen and saves them as an image to the place where ever you want. In a single-user version, this is a free program.
Image building with Canva
Canva is a site for making pictures, logos, graphs, or whatever you can put into a background image. Again a free service in the basic format.
Conclusion
Here you also have 9 ways to make your life easy, produce great work and see the results roll in.
Tools make life so easy that kids and grandparents alike have the same opportunity to produce acceptable contributions to the internet.
Importantly most are free or very low cost so they are ideal to have in your portfolio.
Thank you for being part of the series. Just one to go.
9 stages to writing a blog. Tools to use by Peter Hanley
9 Stages to writing a blog. Introduction
9 Stages to writing a blog.Hosting
9 Stages to writing a blog. Your page
9 Stages to writing a blog.Linking for money
9 Stages to writing a blog. Description
9 Stages to writing a blog. Word count
9 stages to writing a blog. Boredom
