A Blogger’s Guide: How to create a Blog Post and maximize engagement in WordPress!

Greetings, fellow bloggers!

If you’re reading this post chances are you have a website or are in the process of creating one. Perhaps you’re still on the fence. If so, I hope this tutorial encourages you to make the leap. Welcome aboard the grand adventure! ♥

This is part four of my series ~ Blogging to Success with WordPress!

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Owning a website is a liberating experience. Our thoughts, our work, our designs have a home and we’re eager to share it with the world. Cheers to that! ♥

Realistically speaking, though, it can feel a little intimidating and sometimes daunting trying to figure out the ins and outs of it all. I hear ya. I’ve been there, too.

Fast forward a few years and now I have the absolute pleasure of helping others create and manage their own websites. Creating a website that we’re proud to own is one thing, managing it to maximize reach and outcomes is just as critical, perhaps more so.

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Managing WordPress like the Pros

Before we jump in …

Whether your website is hosted by WordPress.com or you’re using WordPress.org (self-hosted) with (ie. Bluehost), the process of setting up the design and function of your website is much the same. However, there is a difference as to what you have access to. For more detailed information regarding WordPress.com vs WordPress.org, please visit ~ Essential tips, tools, and resources for bloggers and website owners!

This website is hosted by Bluehost. I also use Jetpack for daily backups, managing spam, and seamless access to additional features. You’ll notice this reference throughout this Blogging to Success series.

WordPress.com Users ~ The versatility of Jetpack is included with your hosting.

WordPress.org Users ~ If you’re self-hosted (ie. Bluehost), you can add the Jetpack Plugin for free. Additional features are available via their paid plans.

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If you’re just setting up your website, feel free to view previous posts in this Blogging to Success series:

• Part One ~ A Blogger’s Guide: Blogging to Success with Dashboard Settings in WordPress
• Part Two ~ A Blogger’s Guide: How to create a user profile, manage comments, view stats, and add widgets in WordPress
• Part Three ~ A Blogger’s Guide: How to Customize a WordPress Theme

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*Disclosure: These are resources I personally use and value highly. So much so, I became an Affiliate member. As an Affiliate, I endorse the products and services I use and love. If you see the value in these products and choose to purchase via my referral links, I may receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. ♥

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Publishing a Blog Post in WordPress

In this tutorial, we’ll create a Blog Post and look at the following Document features:

• Status & Visibility
• Permalink
• Categories
• Tags
• Featured Image
• Discussion

We’ll also look at the following Jetpack features:

• Share this post
• Shortlink
• Likes and Sharing

We’ll look at Editing our Post via Dashboard:

• Post > All Posts > Edit Options

We’ll optimize our Blog Post for SEO (Search Engine Optimization)

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We can add a Post from our Dashboard via Posts > Add New. We can view/edit All Posts, Categories, and Tags.

We can also add a Post via the +Write icon located at the top right of the toolbar, as shown in the image below.

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When we Add a New Post, we’ll see a blank template like below. We can begin adding content via Blocks.

If you’re not sure how to add Blocks in Gutenberg, you’re most welcome to pop by my blog post ~ Getting Started with Gutenberg ~ A How-To Guide for Creating Engaging Blog Posts with Gutenberg.

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We can Save Draft, Preview Post, and Publish.

When we’re writing our post we can access the Document Settings on the right, as displayed in the image below. Before we Publish our Post, we’ll optimize these settings to maximize engagement.

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If you don’t see the Document Panel, click on the Settings tab on the right of the Publish tab. Then click on Document.

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Under Status & Visibility, we can set our Post Visibility and Schedule or Immediately Publish our work.

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We can set our Post Visibility to Public, Private, or Password Protected.

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We can choose a date and time and Schedule our post or Publish immediately by clicking on Publish.

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We can edit the URL Slug (last part of the URL) before we Publish the Post. After we Publish, this cannot be changed. This feature is useful to remove unnecessary words from the URL text that is created based on our Post title. I sometimes remove filler words to focus on and maximize keywords and phrases for SEO (Search Engine Optimization).

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We can add Categories or choose from existing Categories. Categories are essential for organizing our website content so readers can easily find what they’re looking for.

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We can add relevant Tags. Tags are fantastic for helping others find our content via the WordPress reader.

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We can add a Featured Image. This is the Image visible when we publish our post and share via social media.

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TIP: To optimize every Featured Image for SEO and accessibility, we can edit the detail included with each image.

When we add an image to our Media Library, we can edit/add Alt Text, Title, Caption, and Description.

Alt text is the description available to visually impaired readers who use tools and devices that dictate web content.

Also, adding a description helps with SEO as Google uses this information. An image uploaded with a file name of picture1234.jpeg, for example, is a missed SEO opportunity.

In the image below, you can see I added relevant, descriptive information. We can easily do this by clicking on the image file via our media library. This will open the side window to edit/add image text.

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We can Allow Comments and Allow Pingbacks & Trackbacks. If these are set via Dashboard Settings > Discussion, we can override those settings here.

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Jetpack Settings

I use Jetpack for seamless access to additional features, as displayed in the images below.

WordPress.com Users ~ The versatility of Jetpack is included with your hosting.

WordPress.org Users ~ If you’re self-hosted (ie. Bluehost), you can add the Jetpack Plugin for free. Additional features are available via their paid plans.

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We have three additional features via Jetpack to optimize reach and engagement. Let’s look at the following features:

• Share this post
• Shortlink
• Likes and Sharing

We can share this post via our social media accounts. I have my Twitter handle connected. We can easily connect other accounts by clicking on Connect an Account. When we publish our blog post, it will automatically be posted to any connected accounts.

We can further customize our title/message, as well. I added two relevant hashtags ~ #BloggingTips and #Bloggers.

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We can copy the Shortlink here.

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We can turn on/off Show Likes and Show Sharing Buttons.

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Editing a Blog Post

We can easily view/edit our Posts via Dashboard Posts > All Posts.

When we hover over a Post title, we’ll see options: Edit, Quick Edit, Copy, Trash, and View. We can also view/edit Categories and Tags.

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Using Quick Edit, we can edit our Title, Categories, Tags, and Allow Comments and Pings.

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Selecting Post Layout

We can select the Post Layout. Depending on website features and access to these options, we can override the Site Layout, as referenced in the previous post ~ Blogging to Success: How to Customize a WordPress Theme.

In the image below, you can see that using the Genisis Framework I can change this layout per Post.

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SEO (Search Engine Optimization)

The final step in creating a blog post is maximizing it for SEO (Search Engine Optimization). There are a number of Addons and Plugins to help with this. Yoast, for example, is a Plugin used for SEO.

I use the Genisis Framework. In the image below, you can see I added keywords and phrasing to maximize this blog post for SEO. The structure and its use will vary depending on the tool/resource we use.

SEO is an important element for successful blogging. Let’s optimize our work for maximum reach!

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We’re almost done!

As part of my pre-publish checklist, I review all the above settings one final time. When finished, I schedule my post.

When you’re ready, click on Publish.

That’s it. High five, my friends. You’re Blogging! ♥

In the next post in the Blogging to Success in WordPress series, we’ll look at adding Pages. In the final post in this series, we’ll create a Blogging Checklist to ensure we’re maximizing our reach and optimizing engagement opportunities. I hope you’ll join me.

Until next time … happy blogging, my friends.

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Blogging to Success with WordPress

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