Preparation is essential to get a blog off to a good start

The right workflow for consistent good work

Before setting up your blog it is wise to think about the different tasks and tools needed to make your blog a success. This way you can estimate what you can do yourself, what you want to outsource and how much time it will cost you.

It is useful to think about who you are working with before you make a choice which content management system (CMS) you want to use. Depending on the system, people with varying (technical) knowledge can work in it.

Think about this work:

• Writing the blog articles;
• Editing and optimizing these articles;
• Publishing all blog articles;
• the promotion on the different channels;
• analyzing the data;
• the technical optimization and maintenance of the whole.

It may sound a bit more complicated than simply writing an article, but it's all quite easy when you prepare it well and develop a fixed workflow.

Roles and responsibilities of your blog team

Let's take a closer look at the roles needed to successfully set up a blog. It is essential to appoint people in advance and to maintain this way of working, in order to avoid duplication or unnecessary work and to be able to maintain the planning.

Different tasks can also be accomplished by the same person. However, it is useful that a different person than the author checks and improves the articles. A second pair of eyes really doesn't hurt, because after writing you can look over your own mistakes more easily.

Writer

A writer writes the articles and you really don't need to be a professional writer for that. Are you not so good at writing? Then this is your chance to develop one of the most valuable skills you can possess.

With a few basic rules for guidance and some basic rules for the search engines you can just type as you would tell it. This not only makes it more personal, but also a lot more fun to read.

Editor

The editor is therefore the only function of which it is desirable not to have it carried out by the writer him- or herself. The editor adapts content where necessary, removes any errors and optimizes it for the search engines and adds call-to-actions (more on this later).

Publisher

The publisher makes sure the blog articles are published, keeps track of the schedule and maintains the content calendar. Often this person also immediately makes sure that the accompanying social media messages and newsletters go out the door, so that your readers know that there is something new to read.

Analyst

If you really want to get the most out of your efforts it is wise to collect data to see who reads your blog, how long people view your blogs, how many they read, if they come back regularly and much more.

The analyst keeps track of this, analyzes if visitors are taking the right actions and provides regular reports so the team knows how well the blog is performing.

Developer

Ideally, the developer is not only involved in setting up the blog system and CMS, but is also the person who keeps a technical eye on things. Every software needs regular maintenance and updates.

In addition to troubleshooting and making the blog technically go with the times, the developer is also the right person to further optimize and adjust your blog 'at the back end' for an ever better and more appropriate workflow for you and your team.

Choosing a system for your blog

To set up a blog you need a system anyway. We are talking about a Content Management System (CMS).  Maybe you've already worked with one or more systems once and you've experienced how much difference there is.

What should you take into account when choosing a CMS for your blog?

We won't go into all aspects of a CMS here, but only the most important parts to set up a successful blog.

Do you want advice about a CMS when setting up a new website, landing pages or other possibilities, please send your question as extensively as possible to kevin@kendrix.nl.

Ease of use

Content Management Systems come in all shapes and sizes. There is no one-size-fits-all solution for everyone. That's why it's so important to think in advance about what you're planning and who's going to work with it.

For ease of use you prefer to look beyond the writer and we ensure that the features are present that the editor, marketer, designer and developer need to be able to do their work as pleasantly as possible within your wishes.

Possibilities

Depending on the people, the wishes and available knowledge and the user-friendliness of the system, it is also important to check whether the system meets all future requirements.

Think about marketing and sales functionalities, linking social media and newsletters, the functionalities you want to create and publish your own blog articles and much more.

For some systems it is also possible to link third party applications to make missing functions available.

Maintenance, technology and costs

It is also wise to be well informed about the costs of different systems. For example, there are free open source systems, systems that cost thousands of euros per month and everything in between.

The free systems can also be expensive, when you don't have the time or the knowledge to carry out the updates yourself, to keep an eye on security or to program extra things when necessary. Every situation is different and every system has its advantages, disadvantages and application.

Getting Started

It may seem like a lot of information, but by just going through it step by step, you can get started quickly!

First make sure you have answered the questions from the previous article clearly for yourself and then determine the next questions based on this article:

• What can I do myself?
• What do I need help with?
• Who will fulfill these roles?
• What do I find important about the system?
• What should my system comply with?

I hope you can get started with this! If not, or if you have any questions about any of these topics, please let me know at kevin@kendrix.nl and I will try to answer them as soon as possible.

Next Steps

In two weeks we will publish the sequel and discuss the following:

• How to determine the right keywords
• Designing and setting up your blog

Two weeks after that we continue with:

• How to write and format blog posts
• Best practices for search engine optimization

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