Things to do before clicking “Publish”
You’ve finished writing another great post for your blog. You want to get it published as fast as possible, but don’t go rushing to the “Publish” button. Instead, click “Save and Continue Editing” or a similar button if you don’t use Wordpress. In another tab or window open “Preview”.
You’ll be examining the post in the preview tab/window and you’ll be editing it in the first one. Here’s a list of things you should do now:
- See if the post looks the way you want it to (formatting, images).
- Read very attentively what you have written.
- Search for unclear phrases.
- Pay attention to the meaning of the words, especially if you don’t write in your native language. Use an online dictionary. You don’t want people understanding something different from what you are trying to tell.
- Search for typos.
- See if you can link some words to other blogs or websites.
- Check if all the links work by opening them.
- If you use some kind of special formatting or HTML tags, try viewing the post in different browsers. Internet Explorer may display your post in a different way than other browsers.
- Check if you use the best category for your post.
- Choose your tags wisely.
- See if you find a suggestive image to include in the post. Your camera, screenshots, this site and Google image search should do. This is not necessary, but it is usually a good idea.
Tags: posting tips, writing a blog post
February 6th, 2008 at 2:35 pm
Linking to other websites is something I always forget while it’s really important.
Not because I think anyone is gonna click them, but because they make the post look professional.
Same with the images.
BTW, how “evil” is it to not check in IE and Opera and just put a “get firefox” link on the blog?
February 6th, 2008 at 2:46 pm
Also, if you link blog posts, you may get some visitors really interested about what are you writing, via trackbacks.
Images indeed make posts look more appealing and more professional. I’m one of the lazy guys who don’t always include them, but I can see the difference in the way readers perceive posts with visual elements.
Now, about browsers: Firefox rules
, but it depends which kind of visitors you target. There are lots of non tech people using IE.
February 6th, 2008 at 2:49 pm
Thanks for the tips.
Now where’s that iexplore.exe…
February 6th, 2008 at 2:52 pm
For already published posts/pages, you can use Browsershots.