However, as life became busier and the business has become more demanding, I have dropped that aspect from my blog posts. It’s not because they aren’t beneficial, they are! And I should probably start re-implement them!! :) However, as I started thinking about these blogging questions, I realized that maybe I should do a post about the “Top 5 Must-Haves for Every Blog Post”! There is so much that goes into creating great posts and so I’m only hitting on the basics today! I wanted to share some simple blogging 101 tips that some of you may find helpful! A few of these may seem super basic but sometimes the easiest fixes are the ones that make the biggest differences!! So enjoy!! Here are some of the MUST HAVES for every blog post if you’re wanting to increase traffic and engagement!!

5 Simple Ways to Increase Blog Traffic:

1. Custom Permalink : 

This is the EASIEST adjustment to make on your blog! … Especially in WordPress! You can just click on the permalink to edit it! I recommend changing it to something that will help your blog be found in Google Searches! So, if you’re blogging a wedding that was shot at Pippin Hill, you may want to make your permalink : www.katelynjamesblog.com/pippin-hill-farm-wedding-venue-charlottesville

2. Category:

No matter what you’re posting, you can always find or create a “Category” to label and store your post under! When you’re on someone’s blog and you’re searching for a specific post, it can be really frustrating when their categories are not accurate. Having 34 posts under the “Uncategorized” tab probably isn’t the best way to create a site that’s easy to navigate! :) I would recommend putting EVERY post in a “Category”!

3. Renamed images that reflect the topic that you’re blogging about:

When you’re blogging, it’s always a good idea to rename the images that you’re going to use in the post! This will increase your chances of having your images pop up in related google searches!! I do this through BLOGSTOMP! (If you’re not already using Blogstomp, give it a try! It’s a blogging life-saver!!) If I was blogging a summery wedding at a farm in Richmond, I would probably name the images something like ” Classic Richmond Barn Wedding Venue”. If you don’t want to highlight the venue, you could use other descriptive words like “Mint and coral summer outdoor farm wedding”.

4. One image (preferably that relates to the topic or has text about the topic):

This is a MUST HAVE for Pinterest marketing! Think about it, if you want your blog posts to be pinned and shared, we need to give them something to PIN that clearly draws people into the post! If you don’t include a great image that ties into the post, this diminishes your chances of it being pinned!

5. Purpose:

Last but not least, this seems like a no-brainer! However, this is commonly overlooked in blog posts! Sometimes blogging can just become another day-to-day thing that we do and we forget that in order for it to be worth reading, we have to work hard on the content!! Make sure that EVERY single blog post has a purpose! You want to ensure that your posts are life enhancing in some way, shape or form! This is where great content is born!!