6 Action Steps To Take After You Publish A Blog Post

What do you do after you have published a blog post?

Do you simply move onto your next blog?

Here are 6 steps you need to take after publishing your blog posts to really give the post the impact that it needs.

I bet you have worked hard on your blog posts, so why would you leave them to sit and do nothing but wait for people to find them.

This is all very sad and lonely so it is time you start taking action and take certain steps to make sure all that hard work you put into your blog posts is being rewarded.

Content marketing isn’t just about writing blog posts and publishing them, it is so much more.

Yes, the bulk of it is to write content however you must also do other things that I have listed in this guide to create a true content marketing strategy.

If you want your blog to really grow and gain readers then you’re going to need to do more than just hit the “publish” button. Don’t worry though; I will help you transform your blog into a hub of activity.

Here are 6 action steps you must take after you publish a blog post:

1. Follow Up Answering all Comments

Image Source: Heide Cohen

First things first is to follow up on all comments your readers are leaving on your blog posts.

It is surprising to me when I come across a blog where the author does not engage in the conversation in the comments area.

This is a great place for you to really connect with your audience, answer their questions and interact with them.

Comments on blog posts however can be extremely hard to get and can even take years for a blog to start seeing good activity in the comments section.

In order to help the process along, make sure to respond to those who do leave a comment.

Replying to comments can help to increase the amount of comments on that blog post and others as your audience will be more likely to engage if they see there is someone to engage with.

If your audience have questions and ask them in the comments but don’t get a response, they won’t be likely to leave a comment again and may even leave your blog to find their answers elsewhere.

[bctt tweet=”Encourage those who have questions to ask them by responding to all comments.”]

2. Create A Content Upgrade

Image Source: Backlinko

I believe it is absolutely important to explain everything about the topic that you’re blogging about.

There is no point in half answering things as they might go and find the rest of the information at a competitor’s blog.

As well as that, you want them to continue to come back to you for information which they will do if they know they can get detailed guides on your blog.

However sometimes you don’t want to overwhelm your audience with lengthy blog posts as a lot of people like to find information that is easily digestible.

[bctt tweet=”If you don’t want to overwhelm your audience then you can offer content upgrades.”]

Content upgrades will give your audience the option to find out more information or whether they’re happy with the information provided in the blog post.

For example, if I was doing a blog post on how to optimize the sidebar of a blog then I might add a content upgrade offering readers a downloadable guide to the top 10 plugins for their blog.

Not only would this help to offer my audience more information on the topic but it will also help to build my contact list as the content upgrade would be gated.

3. Email Your List

One of the most important things you should do after publishing a blog post is to send it to your email list.

The contacts you have in your email list are already interested in what you have to offer as they wouldn’t have signed up to your email list.

This is your most loyal audience so are the perfect audience to get your content in front of.

The design of this email doesn’t have to be anything complex; it can be a very simple text email with a couple of links directing your email list to your latest blog post.

Include the following in the email:

• The first sentence should explain why you’re emailing and contain an anchor text link to your blog post.
• The title of the blog post should be the next sentence and standalone so as to stand out to recipients. If you stay consistent with the structure of your emails then your contacts will begin to learn where to click without thinking.
• You can then include a couple of very short paragraphs to explain what the blog post is about and why it will benefit them if they read it.
• At the end of the second paragraph, you can include another anchor text such as “click to read more”.

4. Outreach to People Who Have Been Mentioned In The Post

Image Source: Neil Patel

You may naturally link to other websites and blogs if you’re talking about their stats or products.

It is all very well and good to assume that they will see that you have linked to them but not everyone monitors who is mentioning them or linking to them.

You’re doing them a favour by helping to build their authority as well as send quality traffic to them.

Since you’re doing them a favour, why not contact them and tell them that you have linked to them.

This doesn’t mean that you should email them and ask that they link to your blog post or share it on their social media just because you have linked to them.

Instead, why not email them and tell them that you loved their product or blog post so much so that you have mentioned it on your own blog.

This type of email will be more likely to get a positive reaction.

5. Discuss In Forums and Facebook Groups

Before you start posting your blog post links in forums, it is important to be naturally active in forums before stating to post links.

If you try and post links and promote your own agenda before being an active member then you could possibly be banned from the forum.

To avoid being banned, find some relevant forums and start joining in on discussing without posting links or promoting yourself.

Once you have established yourself on the forum, then you can start sharing the links to your blog posts when it is relevant.

[bctt tweet=”Another great place to share your blog posts is in Facebook groups.”]

The best groups tend to be private so you will have to ask to join, which you may not be accepted.

There is no quality in sharing your blog post links to spammy Facebook groups though so find some highly relevant Facebook groups and request to join.

As with the forums, it is important not to dive right in and post your links.

It is important to get to know the group and also let the group get to know you before you share any links as you don’t want to get booted out.

6. Monitor Keyword Rankings

Image Source: Rank Tracker

Last but certainly not least, once you have published a blog post you should be monitoring keyword rankings.

While the long-tail keywords you’ve been targeting in your blog posts won’t have an effect on rankings instantly, it is important to track and monitor them.

There are some very good tools online that you can use to monitor keywords such as Pro Rank Tracker.

All you need to do is add the URL of your blog post as well as the long-tail keyword you have used in the blog post.

You can leave this to track and monitor and revisit how it’s performing in a few weeks… not a few days.

If after a month or so, if your blog post isn’t on the third page or higher in the search rankings then it is a sign that you targeted a keyword that is too difficult for you to rank for yet.

If this is the case, you can simply go back to that blog post and edit it to use another less competitive keyword and check back again in a few weeks.

Conclusion

If you follow these 6 steps after a publishing every blog post, you will start to see a lot more traffic heading your way as well as increased engagement.

Here is a quick roundup of the 6 steps:

1. Make sure to respond to all comments made on your blog posts.
2. Offer your audience content upgrades to capture their interest.
3. Share your blog posts with your email list who may share on their social media for greater reach.
4. Contact those who you have mentioned in your blog posts to say that you have mentioned them.
5. Share your blog posts in forums and in Facebook groups when it is relevant and natural.
6. Keep track of the keywords you are targeting in your blog posts.

What do you do after you publish a blog post?

Let me know by leaving your comments below.