The Critical Step in DIY Blogging (That’s Often Forgotten)
By: Melanie Blodgett
One time I had a pretty good idea. I executed that idea at a party and then posted it on my blog. But I made a mistake. I didn’t edit it well and had the idea hidden in the post and not the star of the post. It did not make the splash I was hoping it would. Then, about six months later, another blogger executed the same idea but it was edited expertly and the post went viral. In fact, this was three years ago and I’m still seeing it all over the place. It was then that I really realized, the editing is just as important as creating the content.
There are a lot of factors that contribute to a well done DIY post, but one of the most critical steps is editing. Yet, it’s so often overlooked or forgotten. I get it, by the time I’ve come up with the idea, created the object, and photographed the steps, the last thing I want to do is spend several hours editing the photos and the post. But that last step can take the post from simply liked to a huge hit. So my suggestion to you is to create your own editing checklist and then mentally go through it every time you’re about to publish a post. Here are some suggestions for ideas you could ask yourself:
- Does the opening photo let your readers know what the post is about right away? Does it make you want to keep on reading?
- Are the instructions written clearly? Do you have photos showing the more complicated steps?
- Are there any typos or grammar mistakes?
- Did you include detailed photos?
- Is the post consistent with the rest of your content?
- Is there anything you could do to improve the post? Even if it means retaking the photos?
Okay, let’s edit our little hearts out.
Want to know more about DIY blogging? Check out Melanie's class on the Alt Channel!
Jun 20, 2013
Reader Comments (1)
It would be great to see these differences side-by-side of how a same idea goes viral vs just being liked due to editing. I do agree editing is key but it can be hard to pinpoint what went wrong, and the "how you could've done it better" comes around post publishing. Practice makes perfect, I guess :) Thanks for the post!!