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How to Keep Track of Your Blog Posts
*This post may contain affiliate links. You can read my affiliate disclosure here.
Blog organization is something I really care about.
I've been a disorganized blogger before and it is so hard!
You can never remember what you've already written, how your content fits together, and where there are gaps in your blog reel.
About a year ago I got really dedicated to creating some organization within my business, and I'm so glad I did.
It is really, really hard to thrive as a business owner without the right organization. I remember one time finding myself scrambling around the house looking for a particular sticky note that I really needed. I had papers everywhere; in my backpack, on my desk, a few on the kitchen counter, and the one I needed was nowhere to be found.
At that time I lived and died by my notebook and sticky notes, and that came back to bite me big time! One day after getting home from a trip, I was horrified to find out that I had left my main notebook in one of the airports somewhere along my journey.
I'd been traveling internationally, and had gone through four or five airports, and I had no idea where it had been left.
After calling all of the airports and airlines I'd used to no avail, I made the decision that getting organized and using an online system was the best way to keep all of my business paperwork safe.
I'm a paper lover. I love writing, I love notebooks, and office supplies are my favorite thing to shop for.
But that being said, I've moved to an online system because I really think it's the best way to organize your business. It syncs across all of your devices, and your content is saved automatically.
Not to mention, even if you lost your phone or laptop, you could still access this information from a new device. There's just no better way to get organized in my opinion!
Today I want to share with you my super simple, no-frills method for organizing and tracking my blog content no matter where I am.
1. I Keep A List of Blog Post Ideas
First off, I always keep a list of blog post ideas for both of my blogs. I have found it nearly impossible to create content off the top of my head without a list of ideas in front of me. Maybe it's writer's block, or maybe it's just my mommy brain. Either way, having a list of really good ideas that people want to hear about helps me create really good content really fast.
So where do I get my blog post ideas?
There are a lot of ways, but let me share my best ones with you now.
First, I love to check BuzzSumo for the most popular posts out there on topics that I write about. With Buzz Sumo you can enter any topic into the search bar and it will come back with the blog posts related to that topic that got the most shares on various social media platforms.
While I don't copy these titles word for word, it's a great way for me to see what kind of posts and titles people are really looking for.
How to Drive Traffic to a Brand New Blog
Another way I get really good blog post ideas that are super SEO friendly is by using the KGR method.
The KGR method is a method of finding keywords that are actually winnable in Google today.
If you know much about Google SEO, you probably know that it is very hard to get ranked anymore, for most keywords.
On the plus side, there are still keywords out there that are not too competitive and are still winnable. This is a really important piece of getting long-term traffic to your blog, so I highly recommend checking out the method.
I will say, though, finding keywords using this method is not fast. At this point I typically spend around 15 minutes searching and come up with between one and three good keywords.
That being said, if the keywords you find are viable options for garnering good SEO traffic, they are certainly worth the time!
Another really good way I find things to add to my blog post list is to simply record what kinds of questions my readers are asking me.
Chances are, if you send me an email with your biggest blogging question, I'm probably going to write a blog post about it if I haven't already. Where there's one, there's many.
If you are getting a particular question through email or some sort of comment box on your blog, it is very likely that that person is not the only person with that question. Create a blog post about it! And then let your readers know it is there for them to learn from.
2. I Follow A Pre-Publishing Blog Checklist
I should mention that I use Evernote to store my blog post ideas list and my pre-publishing blog checklist. I love Evernote because it's free and it syncs across all my devices so I always have access to it.
The next checklist I keep in Evernote is my pre-publishing blog checklist. When you're putting out lots of content each week, it's easy to miss a few key things when publishing your posts.
This is where a publishing checklist comes in handy! A good publishing checklist will help you make sure that your post has good SEO, has a pin, the right opt-in, and more.
Want to grab my exact publishing checklist for you to use on your blog? Grab it here.
How to Keep Track of Your Blog Posts with a Master List
Another important way I keep track of my blog posts is by keeping a running master list of everything I've written.
I don't know about you, but it's easy for me to forget about what I wrote 3 months ago and come close to writing the same post over again.
A master list that is categorized properly will show you exactly what you have written on each of your topics. This is important because you can look at it at a glance and know what gaps you have in your content, as well as which posts should be interlinked.
Interlinking your posts is so important for good Google SEO, which is why I think every post should have a related content section where you promote your other posts that are on the same topic.
Not only does this give link juice to your other posts, helping readers keep clicking on to new posts signals to Google that your blog is valuable and liked.
Another reason having a master list is so important is for when you create your own products or become an affiliate for someone else's. You want to be able to talk about the things you have for sale on the right posts, and knowing which ones are on that same topic at a glance will really help you out.
Once you've created a product or have an affiliate relationship, your master list will allow you to quickly look at all the content you have and decide which ones would be perfect for promoting what you have for sale.
Here's a peek at what my master list looks like and how I manage it.
Conclusion
Staying organized in your blog is so, so important to getting as much done in as little time as possible, and to running a successful business. Here are three of the best ways I keep track of my blog posts
- I keep a running list of blog post ideas
- I follow a publishing checklist every time I go to publish a post
- I keep a master list of my blog content separated by category
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