How to Ensure Your Post is Ready to Go Live

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Publishing a blog post is exciting, whether it’s your first blog post you’ve ever written, or it’s your hundredth. But let’s be honest—it can also be nerve-wracking. Is it good enough? Did I forget something? Will people actually read it? Believe it to not, there are actually a bunch of different things we can do for our blog posts in order to make them findable, engaging, and ultimately, have people coming back for more. It’s super helpful to have a blog post checklist that we can work through every time we go to publish a new blog post.

8 Blog Post Checklist Items to Think About

1. A captivating headline

Your headline is sort of like the shop window of your blog post. It’s the first thing your readers will see before they even click on your blog post, so we need to make sure it’s a goodie.

A strong headline is intriguing, and specific, and also says what’s on the box. That’s key – you need to deliver what you’re saying you’re going to deliver.

Think about what would make you click on a post. Try to use power words, numbers, or a bit of curiosity to draw readers in. For example, instead of “How to Start a Blog,” consider “7 Simple Steps to Launch a Blog That Stands Out.”

2. An engaging introduction

The introduction is your chance to hook your audience. And honestly, this is something I always need to work on!

One way is to share a personal anecdote, or perhaps ask a thought-provoking question. You might even throw in a stat that might intrigue people enough to keep on reading. Be sure to also tell your readers what to expect from the blog post. In my intro to this one, I’ve thought about the connection between you and I (even if we haven’t met yet – hi! 👋🏻) and what you might be feeling as you publish your blog post – I know because I’ve been there too!

And then I’ve also shared what you can expect: a blog post checklist. And hey look, you’re already on point two!

3. A clear main message

Every blog post should have a main message or takeaway. What do you want your readers to learn, feel, or do after reading?

For this post you’re reading, I want you to take away a handy checklist for your blog posts. You can even nab a PDF download version of it. But I’m not going to go and start talking about how to write with confidence, or why Pinterest might just be your saving grace this coming year.

Keep your main point, your main point.

4. Well structured body of your post

The body of your blog is where your main message is where all your information is. It’s what you’re reading right now. To keep it reader-friendly:

Use subheadings to break up large blocks of text (like I’ve done here!). Google also ‘reads’ the hierarchy
Include bullet points or numbered lists for easy skimming
Add visuals (more on that later!) to illustrate your points
Short paragraphs work best. A wall of text can scare readers away, so aim for content that’s scannable

5. Add in visual things

A picture says 1000 words, after all. Right? Right. And it also helps to have images throughout your blog posts to break up the text.

You can use a bunch of different visuals – stock photos, custom graphics, or infographics … but I like to aim to include at least one visual for every 300 words of content, give or take. Just make sure they’re relevant to your topic.

👉🏻 Bonus point: Be sure to upload your images at a reduced size, and/or use a plugin like Smush which will make your images a lower file size. Too-big files can cause your blog to slow.

6. A conclusion

Remember how I said that people skim-read? Sometimes they jump to the bottom too.

Your conclusion doesn’t have to sum up every little point you’ve made, but it’s good to remind people what they’re reading, and leave your readers with a final thought, tip, or action point (that’s up next!).

7. A Call-to-Action (or CTA)

Every blog post should have a purpose (going back to that main point … point), whether it’s to inform, entertain, or inspire action.

For this post, it’s actually to encourage you to download a free PDF I have for you. But your call-to-action (CTA for short) tells readers what you’d like them to do next. It could be as simple as “Leave a comment below” or “Subscribe to my newsletter for more tips.” Whatever it is, make it clear

💡 Check out: 10 Best Call-to-Action Ideas For Blog Posts

8. Proofread and edit

Something that is a good thing to have on your blog post checklist is proofreading and editing. After you’ve finished writing, take a break, then come back to your post with fresh eyes. Better yet, read it aloud—you’ll be surprised at how many small errors you catch. I’m catching myself all the time!

9. Bonus: Preview it

I love previewing my blog posts when I’ve finished all the others we’ve just talked about. I want to make sure things like image distribution is good, that it looks appealing as well as having the information I want it to have. Just a bonus point for ya. 😊

Running through this checklist for every blog post might feel tedious at first, but it’ll soon become second nature and you’ll probably just do it as you go. There might even be more than these 8 points that you do, but I think these things are a really good start for ensuring your blog post is good to go and is ready for your reader’s eyes.

(Side note: Even though my conclusion is here small, I’ve still rounded up what we’ve just looked at. And I’m going to throw in a CTA, too.)

If you want a printable version of this checklist to keep handy, you can download one here for free!