How I Prepare Content for Publishing on My Blogger Website

Before I proceed to explain the processes involved in the preparation of content for my blog, I shall digress a bit by sharing with you how I came to have a passion for writing.

How I Discovered My Passion for Writing

Just as I pointed out in one of my recent posts, The Importance of Discovering a Child's Endowment Early in Life, I explained that every child is endowed with talent(s), and it will take attentiveness or observation on the part of either the parents or teachers to discover these talents. It's only on a rare occasion that one will find a precocious child who discovers that he has one or more talents by himself, at a younger age. In my case, I discovered I had a passion for writing when I was in secondary school.

Although my parents never realized this, they, however, created an enabling environment for this talent to develop. I had the privilege of attending one of the best primary schools in Jos, Plateau State, Nigeria, in the 1980s, known as Mafeng Private School. Having access to books from the school library then, created a reading culture in me. This I maintained even throughout my secondary school years and till date.

I've read several books written by both African and Western writers and have always been amazed at how they imagine scenarios and then bring them to life using words. This inspired me then, and I knew it was something I would like to emulate. So I started writing when I was in senior secondary school. I wrote short stories, which, though never published, were found to be interesting by my siblings who read them.

Although I graduated as a science student, my desire to be a professional writer (though still a work in progress) led me to study books on English grammar. At one point during my days at the university, I was employed to teach English to secondary school students residing in a hostel. That motivated me to study advanced books on the subject, though it was not my major discipline as an undergraduate.

I've come to discover that most people are good writers. However, if one’s writing ability has not gotten to a point where whatever one writes inspires awe in the reader, then one is not yet good enough as a writer.

I considered writing as a blogger not too long ago when I discovered the impressions, likes, and comments I get whenever I publish a post on social media platforms like LinkedIn and Facebook. I knew I had a flair for writing and that, apart from the impressions, likes, and comments I get from social media platforms, I could also make money doing what I love. This led me to search for a blog publishing tool I could use to publish my posts in bulk, and I came across Google Blogger. I realized that I had created an account with Blogger far back in 2019 and never created any posts. This confirmed the scriptural saying that, “There is time for everything."

And that's a summary of how I discovered I had a flair for writing.

How I Prepare Content for Publishing on My Blogger Website

Getting back to the purpose of this post, I shall be writing based on the following:

1. Deciding on what content to write about
2. Making research and developing content
3. Proofreading and editing content
4. Sourcing for media resources, e.g., images and videos, for the content
5. Formatting content using HTML and CSC
6. Creating post at the backend of Blogger
7. Previewing content for compatibility and responsiveness on different devices
8. Publishing and viewing of post

Deciding on what content to write about:
This can be challenging for most beginners. The reason is that you're torn between writing content that will provide value to the users and content that will give you a good search engine ranking. The solution is to first decide on a particular niche(s) you'll want to create content for. The more familiar and experienced you're with a particular niche(s), the better. Then, because you may not know the parameters for determining search engine ranking, it will be better if you focus more on creating content that will provide value to the users. Invariably, this will generate more visits to your site and boost your ranking.

Making research and developing content:
The question here is, “Is it better to carry out research on one’s content before developing it or vice versa? I leave you to answer that, but for me, because I'm writing on a familiar topic, I prefer developing my content first before researching. This will ensure that my content is original and unique. Thereafter, I carry out research based on what I've written in order to improve it. I also come up with titles and headings containing search engine optimization (SEO) keywords. Most often, I get insights for my content from ChatGPT, YouTube videos, and the Bible, which you must have noticed if you've been reading my posts.

Proofreading and editing content:
In drafting my content, I use a MS Word Document for typing. Once I'm done typing, I click on the Review Tab and then proceed to the proofing ribbon to check for spelling and grammar errors.

I also check the word count for my content. A word count of not less than 700 words in your content is considered suitable. However, take note that providing valuable content for the users is more important than the length of the content.

Aside from using MS Word Document for proofreading and editing my content, I also use online proofing tools like Word Counter and QuillBot to cross-check my word count, spelling, use of punctuation marks, and grammar.

Sourcing for Media Resources:
To make my content colourful and dynamic, I include images and videos between the paragraphs. It's advisable to always make use of copyright-free images for your content. To get such images for my content, I visit sites like Freepik.com and Pexels.com. (Please ensure that your images are related to the title of your content.) For the videos, YouTube is a good source. You can also use images and videos you create.

Formatting Content Using HTML and CSC:
Although knowledge of web programming languages like Hypertext Markup Language and Cascading Style Sheet is optional when using Blogger, I prefer using them to create unique content for my blog. To do this, I use a text editor known as Visual Studio Code. With the VSC editor, I convert my proofread content into an HTML file and style it using CSC syntax.

One of the advantages of using Visual Studio Code is that you can get a feel for how your content will look in a browser (in fact, several browsers). This is possible by installing a package called Live Server into the VSC editor, enabling you to view your content in the default browser.

Creating post at the backend of Blogger:
Once I'm satisfied with the styling of the content, I then proceed to my Blogger account to create a new post. Just as I said earlier, you don’t need to know HTML or CSC to use Blogger. You have the option of using the HTML view or composer view, which is similar to MS Word Document. At this stage, I paste the HTML file I had created using the VSC editor, into the HTML view. Then, with the formatting tools available, I add my media resources (images and YouTube links) and create links (internal and external) where necessary.

Previewing Content for Compatibility and Responsiveness on Different Devices:
This is a very important aspect of content development. Considering that the content will be served on different devices (desktop, laptop, tablet, smartphone, or iPhone), a preview is necessary. This will enable you to determine if your content reflects the visual design you intended.

Publishing and Viewing of Posts:
Before I publish my content, I select a label or category for it. For this post, I chose education. So it will appear under the Education menu of my website (as you must have observed). Following the selection of the label, I click the publish button and confirm. Voila! The post goes live on the World Wide Web.

If you find this piece of information useful, then feel free to comment. Likewise, if you need clarity on any aspect of my explanations, you can contact me.