If you are going to take the time to create a piece of content for the world you might as well do it right.  I have never been great at writing well as far as human/editorial guidelines, but I do understand what search engines want and how they engage with online content.  Below is a checklist for you to use before you write your next blog post.

• To Do List:
  • Before You Write
    • Keyword Research.
      • Before you publish your post, do a little keyword research
        • Visit https://adwords.google.com and find out what phrases people are typing into search engines the most in the topic area you are covering.
        • Go to your favorite forum and sort the threads by views and date so you can see the most popular topics of the day, week and month.  This will give you some real insight into what your audience is interested in.

• While You Write:
  • Make Sure
    • You have 250-300 words, 400-600 is even better if you have talented writers.
    • You have at least one image, with ALT tag and file name using proper labeling.
    • You bold your keywords once in content body text if that is natural.
    • You have at least 1-2 hyperlinks to other content on your site and relevant authority sites in your niche.  (Use proper anchor text.)
    • Top Keyword Phrases Appear in the following locations:
      • Headline & Subheadlines
      • 1st & last Paragraphs
      • Image
        • File Name
        • Alt Tag

• After You Write
  • Create unique
    • Title tag
    • Meta description tag
    • Keyword tag 
  • Optimize Your Post Slug / URL String.
    • Try and use a few of your keywords in your URL string. Learn more here.
  • Publish

• After You Publish:
  • Post link to content on
    • Social profile pages
      • Company (Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn)
      • Personal (If willing)
    • Start A Thread:  Go to a forum and start a post about your article.  Click Here & Here to learn more.
      • Industry Forum: Start A Thread
        • (Provide examples for your staff)
      • Company Forum: Start A Thread
    • Social Bookmarking Site
  • Ask another
    • Blogger for a text link to your post.  (use relevant anchor text)
      • Try and get a link on outside domain.
    • Staff member or friend to leave a comment
    • Staff member or friend to Facebook Like, Tweet, Retweet, or +1 your post.
    • Maximize your Press Coverage:

Remember if you don’t promote yourself no one else will.  The only way to get people to read your content is to make it as easy as possible for them find and see it.  Good luck.

• Resources:
  • How Do I Build the Perfectly Optimized Page?
  • The Blogger’s Guide to SEO – by Aaron & Giovanna Wall
  • Beginner’s Guide to SEO