Over the years we’ve learned quite a bit about what works with post formatting both for the readers as well as some key elements that Google Search prefers. Following the list below will help you to create and market posts like a pro.
The first few items are mandatory for all THW posts. Please abide.
- Add Tags to your post. A maximum of 4 are allowed. Most Tags are Auto-linked in all of our Posts. If you Tag a player name your post will appear on a Tag page (which is then accessible via the auto-created links in other posts).
- Add a Category. 2 are allowed but 1 is preferred.
- Insert Images, typically 1 for every 250 words, at least 1 should be Large sized (575px). Smaller images should be right or left justified. Please use our Media Library.
- The Snippet Editor should be used (located just below your editor.) Consider it an Ad for your work. It gets featured as a snippet in Social Media and in Google Search results.
- Associate a Featured Image with each post. These are used by various social outlets such as Apple News and Facebook. We also require that you copy the photographer’s credit and insert it in the Featured Caption field just above the Featured Image.
Other formatting suggestions that will give your posts added curb appeal.
- Spend time crafting a Powerful Headline (this is critical for success). You can read this section on Titles and brainstorming in our Slack group is often helpful.
- Use H2 and H3 headings to Chunkify your text. Smaller section of text is preferred. More on using Paragraph Headings.
- Include 2 or 3 outbound links. Google search seems to appreciate this.
- Link to another THW post. The preferred way to link internally is to use a longish phrase (6 or 7 words) and bold the linked section.
- Use embedded Videos and Tweets. Info on doing that is in our Publishing Manual.
- Is your post centred around a strong keyword, like a player name. If so, be sure the keyword is placed in the Alt field on an Image.
- If using a Keyword be sure it appears in the opening paragraph.
Tips on Marketing
- Reference another website and link to them. This should help them to notice the post.
- Craft a secondary SEO Title for the SEO section below your editor. Make the Keyword prominent in the Title. This section is used in Google Search Results.
- Craft an enticing Snippet (also in the SEO Section). This is seen in Google Search Results and if done well can lead to more clicks.
- Be sure to let you Facebook friends know about your post.
- Tweet a new post at least once every few hours. You can use Buffer (bufferapp.com) to help automate this.
