How to drastically improve your blog in 24 hours may be easier than you think. There’s so much to consider when creating a blog, layout, typography, topics, platforms, plugins, photos, promotion, and content. All are essential. The adage, “content is king,” is more important than ever, as search engine algorithms separate “human” content from bots, black-hat SEO, and keyword farm material. SEO is no longer achievable by keywords alone but by well-written and informative content.

I’m a fair writer, but my posts are good. A few are better than good. I’m creative and have a middling grasp of word usage. I construct questionable sentences, and what I don’t know about grammar could fill a book. So, how can my posts be good? Three words — edit, edit, edit.

How to Drastically Improve Your Blog in 24 Hours

A 24-Hour Blog Improvement Plan

  1. Turn off spell check —Hemingway purportedly said, “Write drunk; edit sober” Writing and editing use different parts of the brain. Turn spell check off as you write, and let the creativity flow. Turn it ON to edit. When you leave it on as you write, it distracts you and hinders your creative process.
  2. Read it out loud —Let it roll off your tongue. See how it feels and sounds. You’ll find revisions you didn’t see that you had to hear, which will improve the readability. I used to read my posts out loud to a colleague. Thank you, Nancy!
  3. Think small —Given a choice, choose the simplest words; the meaning is almost always more clear. Usually, people quickly scan posts, and long words break up the flow. If you want high readability, then use shorter sentences and paragraphs.

“It’s essential to take readability into account when writing web copy. Why? Because if your text is too complicated, your audience might have trouble understanding it. Consequently, they may decide to leave your website and look for information elsewhere. As a result, you might get a high bounce rate that can lead to lower rankings in the long run. That’s why you should aim to write as clearly as possible.” — Yoast SEO 

  1. Review it backward —Begin at the end and review each sentence as a stand-alone structure.
  2. Wait 24 hours —Let it sit. Set the post aside, and forget about it. You’ll come back with a new perspective.
  3. Use an editor —It doesn’t have to be a professional paid editor (although if it’s in the budget, go for it). Earlier, I mentioned a few of my writing challenges. Find someone whose strengths compliment your weaknesses.

At one time, I was part of a 3-step editing process. After writing a post I’d follow the first five points listed above. Then the post would go to my co-worker Nancy, who edited it and sent it to another who formatted the post. Today, I no longer have co-workers at my side, so I use Grammarly for nearly everything I write.

My friend, Allison Carter, added more than 250 thoughts and suggestions to The New Manager’s Workbook, a crash course in effective management before it was published. Andy Hollandbeck has edited four of my books and improved them all. Many friends have read my work and offered suggestions.

The quality of your content shapes the success or failure of your post more than ever, and this is not going away. Using an editorial process may be the easiest and quickest way to improve your blog. If you don’t currently use a routine editing process, adopting these six suggestions will immediately improve your content — well, maybe not immediately, but it will in 24 hours.

How Can I Help You? 

If this post struck a nerve, check out, How to Stay Ahead of Your Business Blog Forever. The book is full of action plans to create a blogging/writing system that works for you.

And please don’t hesitate to contact me if you’d like to discuss this post.

If you enjoyed this post, you might also like, How to Create Content When You Don’t Have Time.

Image by Werner Moser from Pixabay