Communications Planning & Advertising

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Hi! I'm Shweta. I know how difficult it is to write an article. You need to scratch your head hard and type till your fingers bleed. What if you miss one small step and the final piece just don't work for you? You don't want it to happen to you right? Therefore, I've created this checklist against which you can match your article. If you want to read more about this topic, please visit my blog www.upthereach.com/blog

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H E L L O & W E L C O M E !

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Does it clearly state the value it provides? 

It should talk about ONE main idea 

No jargons in the headline

1 I s i t c l e a r ?

HEADLINE

3 Does it have a unique angle?

Adding a number to the headline denotes a tangible

takeaway from the post.

add a number eg., 7 strategies to produce consistent

content on your blog

add a percentage, e.g., how to grow your traffic by 300%

add term e.g., How I got 5000 subscribers in  30day

2 Is it specific?

Criticising an established practice

Offering some template or downloadable material

Simplify complex information (Infographic)

Don't criticise for the sake of it! However, don't keep mum if you are against a general practice or belief followed in your industry. Raising your voice will not only get you

noticed but also build authority.

www.upthereach.com

4 Did you check the length of the title?

Twitter: 71-100 characters

Facebook: 40 characters

Google+: 60 characters

LinkedIn: 80-120 characters

Google/ Search Engine--- you can write 70 characters

before Google truncates the matter with ellipses (...)

Emails: 50 character

Grab this nugget of free advice from Copyblogger- How to write magnetic headlines https://www.copyblogger.com/magnetic-headlines/

Fear - beware, blunder, collapse, dumb, fail

Shocking stats or fact: surprising, awe-inspiring, jaw-

dropping, unspeakable

Evoking curiosity: know, how, what made it, 

Encouragement- awe-inspiring, defeat, delight, epic,

guts

Evoking Anger: annoying, bullshit, dirty, evil, dishonest

5 Did you use power words?

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Here is a list of 500 words you can use in your headline that can trigger emotions. https://coschedule.com/headline-power-words

Does your headline evoke any of these emotions?

6 The 50/50 rule

7 Is there any adjective in the headline?

Did you spend enough time framing your headline?

Create 10/12 versions 

Think about what your audience would type to find that

information

8 Did you give them the reason to click?

We add adjectives to the headlines and sentences to amplify the

impact of the following word.

Best, essential, gorgeous, great, horrific, horrifying, important,

inspire, kickass, killer, lousy, mind-blowing, most, persuasive,

simple, success, ultimate, useful, valuable

Eg., 9 killer ideas for your new startup

Show them the result.

Eg., How to look five years younger

Bonus Tip: Write the headline after writing the complete article.

9 Where have you placed the Keyword?

Run it through Co-Schedule Headline Analyser https://coschedule.com/headline-analyzer

Readers are influenced by the first and last three words of the

headline.

Eg., SEO strategy: the power of three

Lastly, check your headline in the headline analyser tool.

 Coschedule rates your headline on various factors like number

of words power words emotional words etc.

12 Your Introduction can be any of the following:

Try to be succinct in your first line.

Dense content looks scary! Don’t write more than ⅔ lines per

paragraph.

1 1 I s y o u r 1 s t s e n t e n c e c o n c i s e ?

INTRODUCTION

A Hook

personalisation

a fact

a quote

a story 

10 Run it through the headline analyser

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Check my blog post for more details

A sub-head grabs attention with its big and bold size redirects the

reader’s attention to your article.

1 3 H a v e y o u i n c l u d e d s u b h e a d i n g s ?

Body

14 Is your Style of Writing apt for your audience? Who is your audience

What should be your voice (formal or informal)

Determine your tone: choice of words, grammar, sentence

structure etc.

15 Is your article balanced?

16 Did you add Images?

20% Intro

20% Conclusion

60% Main Body (Check for skewness)

Rename the image file before upload

Resize the image so that it does not impact the speed of your

site. 

Always add alt text, it helps search engines to index the image

properly.

17 Did you add bullet points? Acts as a breather, and makes your article scannable and easy

to consume.

www.upthereach.com

18 Did you use 'you'? Talk about “You”, Your Problem”, Your Situation” and “Your

Story”.

Asking questions immediately prompts the brain to take action.

Hence, it becomes more attentive while reading the text.

19 Did you ask questions in the article?

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21 Is your conclusion concise?

Guide them from where they should start

Eliminate their concerns by clarifying doubts - like the time it

may take to implement your advice

show them success examples (who implemented your solution)

that can instil confidence

The conclusion is the best place to ask them to like, comment

below, subscribe, download or whatever action you want them to

take.

2 0 D i d y o u a d d a C a l l t o A c t i o n ?

CONCLUSION

22 Does it help ease their concerns?

Keep it crisp and concise in 150-250 words. The conclusion

should only discuss the summary or the main points you’ve

discussed in the article. Never address new issues in the last.

23 Did you label it?

Put a heading to your conclusion. It can be ‘Conclusion’,

‘Wrapping it up’, ‘Now What’, ‘Summary’ etc.

24 Ask a question Asking a question, in the end, prompts your readers to

comment on your article.

1- What are your views on the post?

2- How did you come over this problem? (Encourage them to

share their part of the story.)

3- What are your favourite tools, strategies that have worked for

you. (If it is a list-article)

Did you add this free plugin to your WordPress site? Allow your

readers to share your thoughts with their Twitter audience in a

single click.

2 6 C l i c k - t o - t w e e t

POST-WRITING

27 Show related reads Add a free plugin, and you’re up to keep your audience sweet.

28 Linking to other posts internally

check at how many places you can include internal links. 

Interlinking reduces the bounce rate and increases engagement

on your site. 

It also helps in Search Engine Optimisation.

check if you have linked to the correct page

29 Check all the linked sources

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Think what sweetener you may give to your readers

Short and inspiring words:

Live life king size

Good, Better, Best!

Let’s do it

25 End with a quote

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check if the source of information is authentic (check the DA of

that site)

don't refer to a study more than three years old

Do you have a pallet of ⅔ chosen colours for your brand?

Choose 2/3 fonts for your blog

And, a consistent writing style

3 2 A r e y o u r v i s u a l s c o n s i s t e n t t h r o u g h o u t t h e b l o g ?

BRAND CONSISTENCY

31 Did you include important data to give credence to your points?

Download this list of 297 flabby words to avoid in your writing. https://smartblogger.com/weak-writing/

Check for the following words in your text and chuck them off.

1-Adverbs

Really, Actually, quickly. Most of the adverbs end in ‘ly’.

2- Vague words:

About, nearly, things.

3- words that make you look unconfident

According to me, I think, maybe.

30 Words to avoid

www.upthereach.com

36 Keyword Density

35 Reading Score Did you run it through the free tool called Hemingway?

Try to aim anything below 6.

Take a note of this link below http://tools.seobook.com/general/keyword-density

Create a free login and paste your article into the tool. It will give you a density report that you can download also.

37 Did you check the size of your images? Did you check the size of your images?

Here are the image dimensions that work for each platform.

Facebook: 940x788 px

Pinterest: 735x1102 px

Instagram: 1080x1080

Twitter: 1024x512 px

Check out this super helpful post on how to use one image for multiple social media sharing.

https://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/optimize-images-across-social- networks/

Editing tools like Grammarly and SEO plugins like Yoast will scan

your article for the passive voice.

34 Actively avoid the passive voice

Don’t aim for a score of 100. When you are writing

conversationally, you will end up breaking many grammar rules.

Just make sure there are no critical errors in the article.

3 3 D i d y o u c h e c k c r i t i c a l G r a m m a r m i s t a k e s ?

EDITING