7 Blogging Hacks (2023) That Will Make You Productive Quickly

The 7 blogging hacks I describe below were life-changing!

For me, blogging was never easy. I was constantly struggling with writer’s block, laboring to even get started with a title. When I did write, I was horrified at the output. How can I get better at blogging?

The 7 blogging hacks formed the core of a blogging process: a blogging system that I designed, and have consistently executed, to rapidly produce blogs.

I am a firm believer of systems thinking: building systems that provide structure, stability, predictability and results. How To Succeed In Life? By Building Systems For Success! is a good starting point to understand and leverage this philosophy.

5 Step Blog Post Workflow

Let’s assume you have blog topics you wish to share with an audience. The goal of the 5-step blog post workflow is to start top-down and gradually build up the post on a strong foundation of SEO concepts.

Once I select a topic, I always start with keyword research: identifying the search phrase(s) readers will use to find the blog post. The output of this research (focus key phrase and alternate key phrases) stays as a focal point for the rest of the blog post.

Next, I work on the title and meta descriptions (what are shown on the search result), trying to make sure the focus key phrase is a part.

Next, I outline the headings, which determines the structure of the post.

After that, I fill in the content. I use images and videos to make the post visually appealing, and to break the monotony of the text. Next, I check and add links (both internal and external).

Finally, I review and edit.

One of the biggest struggles I had to overcome: my perfectionist leanings. What I have realized is that I am never going to to be 100% satisfied, it is better to get it out there and come back a week or two later and revise.

Now, if I am 80% satisfied with the post, I hit the publish button!

I have optimized my blog post creation system so that it usually takes me anywhere from a few hours to a couple of days to get a post out (as a side note, this blog post, from start to publish, took 5 hours).

Blogging made easy with a successful blog post formula!

I will describe the 7 blogging hacks, within the 5-step blogging process, as we proceed: these are tips, tricks, tools or shortcuts that save me time and money!

Step 1: Keyword research

Obviously you write to educate or entertain your readers. Usually a reader will come to your blog through a search engine like Google. What keywords or phrases are people searching with, to find blogs related to your content? These are the focus key phrases or alternate key phrases.

If your blog becomes the authoritative source for these key phrases, your blog will rank high in the search results, which in turn will drive traffic to your blog. Understanding Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is very critical to boosting traffic to your blog post.

Think about what you want your reader to get out of your blog post. Next, you can try multiple tools for keyword research like Semrush or Ubersuggest or Ahrefs. Most of these sites require an account and a paid subscription.

Blogging Hack #1: Use ChatGPT to find keywords & key phrases

Artificial Intelligence, when properly used, has immensely simplified my life. ChatGPT interacts with us in a conversational way to answer questions. I usually start a new chat session for a blog.

For bloggers starting out, the best option, in my opinion, is ChatGPT (currently free). Here are the prompts I use:

Prompt: Give me 10 key phrases (3 words or 4 words) that appear more than 5000 times in google search queries (along with how often they appear) for a blog post on a system for creating blog posts.

Some sample results (from multiple similar prompts):

• Blogging success tips (6,400 monthly searches)
• Blogging secrets revealed (5,500 monthly searches)
• Blogging productivity tips (5,200 monthly searches)
• Blogging hacks 2022 (5,000 monthly searches)
• Productive blog post process (2,400)

Blogging Hack #2: Use RankMath Pro for advanced keyword research

While I start with ChatGPT, I usually turn to RankMath Pro for advanced keyword research. There are three main SEOs: Yoast SEO, All in one SEO (AIOSEO), and RankMath SEO.

I have used all three, and this is how I compare them (at similar price points): Yoast SEO is like the rotary telephone, AIOSEO is like the flip phone, RankMath is like the iPhone 14.

RankMath Pro at $59/year has strong in-built keywords and key phrases capabilities, along with AI-based suggestions.

I use RankMath Pro to find and add upto 4 additional alternate key phrases that are relevant for my post. For the most part, I am looking for long-tail keywords (see Long-tail Keywords: What They Are and How to Get Search Traffic From Them).

Step 2a: Write an attention grabbing headline

The second most important step in the blogging process (after keyword research) is to find a title that will draw your viewers in! You may have the best content, but if your title is not clickworthy, you won’t get readers.

Crafting a title in partly art, partly science. I follow a simple 2-step process:

Blogging Hack #3: Use ChatGPT to identify title words.

With ChatGPT, my first prompt is usually exploratory (I am looking for key words to use in the title):

Prompt: Provide 10 alternate titles for a blog post on a workflow for blogging

Sample Output:

• “7-Step Workflow for Effortless Blogging Success”
• “The Ultimate 7-Step Blogging Workflow: A Beginner’s Guide”
• “From Zero to Published: A 7-Step Workflow for Successful Blogging”
• “Master Your Blogging Routine: A 7-Step Workflow for Productivity”

While I use ChatGPT primarily for ideas, you can use it as a blog post title generator. To do this effectively, you should have a good sense of the content you plan to write. The more details you provide in your prompt, the better the generated titles.

Blogging Hack #4: Refine the title using a headline analyzer

Once I have enough key words from the ChatGPT responses, I use a headline analyzer to play with different titles until I find one I like.

I use MonsterInsights’s headline analyzer available within WordPress, it provides detailed feedback about the title. AIOSEO has a similar headline analyzer.

I usually aim for a title that scores 85+ on this analyzer.

For example, the title “7 Quick Steps That Will Make You A Prolific Blogger” scores 93/100.

For tips on crafting such titles, skim through How To Write Better Blog Headlines (Even If You’re A Complete Beginner). Use numbers (“7”), emotion (“will make you”), power words (“quick”, “now”), positive sentiment (“best”, “success”), and balance (word count and length).

Step 2b. Identify your focus key phrase(s)

You want to drive home the focus key phrase and alternate keywords and key phrases repeatedly in your blog post.

For example, once you have identified your focus key phrase, you will want to tailor your title to reflect the focus key phrase (Note: You can refine the ChatGPT prompt above to ask the AI program to include the focus key phrase in the titles it generates).

With the focus key phrase in mind, I modified the title from 7 Quick Steps That Will Make You A Prolific Blogger to 7 Blogging Hacks (2023) That Will Make You Productive Quickly (still 93/100 on the headline analyzer score, but includes the focus key phrase blogging hacks and a keyword productive).

Step 2c: Form your meta description

The meta description is the short description shown in the search results: one of the first things people see about your blog post when searching. Again, to make the result clickworthy, keep it short (< 160 characters) and impactful (active voice, call to action, uses your focus key phrase). Refer to Yoast’s How to create the right meta description for a quick summary.

Blogging Hack #5: Ask ChatGPT for examples of the meta description

Here too, you can use ChatGPT to give you samples that you can play with, to craft your own. I almost never directly use the AI output (the language often tends to be what you might use in a college essay).

I use a prompt like this:

Prompt: Give me 10 SEO-optimized meta descriptions for a blog post on blogging hacks to improve productivity in creating blog posts.

Some sample results:

• “Discover top blogging hacks to boost productivity and streamline your content creation process. Read on to learn more!”
• “Get ready to supercharge your blogging game with these productivity-boosting hacks. Learn how to create amazing content in less time.”
• “Maximize your blogging efforts with these expert tips and tricks. From content planning to execution, we’ve got you covered.”
• “Unlock the secrets to effortless and productive blogging with these simple hacks. Learn how to create quality content in record time.”
• “Step up your blogging game with these powerful productivity hacks. Say goodbye to writer’s block and hello to inspired content creation.”

Usually, I will read all of the results, and then mix and match to engineer the meta description that I believe best reflects my content.

Step 3: Heading outline

The next step is to structure the blog content. If you are writing a list blog like this, the structure basically walks down the list. For other types of posts, you can be more creative. Emphasize the key phrase(s) and key words in the headings to drive home the message!

While ChatGPT can provide guidance and sample headings, I find them not very useful, primarily because I usually have a structure in mind, tailored for the content I wish to convey.

44 Copywriting Formulas To Level Up Your Content Marketing presents many ideas to engage readers with catchy headlines.

Step 4a: Write the content

With the above framework at hand, now comes the part where you let your creative writing skills flow, and produce the content. I usually weave in the images, videos and links while I write, and will refine them in the following steps.

The goal here is to stay true to what you promised through the title, focus key phrases and meta description. Remember, if the reader does not engage, s/he will move on, and the Google algorithms are smart enough to track this disengagement, and reflect that on your search rankings.

Reader engagement is delivered through a variety of means: content, simplicity (conversation-like style of writing), humor, self-deprecation, empathy (similar plight), emotion (surprise, shock, awe) and many other tools.

If you struggle with this area, I strongly recommend this short 15-minute Youtube video (the subject is copywriting, but I believe the principles apply to blog posts as well)

Step 4b: Add multimedia: images & videos

Using multimedia effectively to break up the monotony of text and intersperse visual aesthetics is an art!

Not having a design or art background, obviously this was not an area for me to dream of tackling. I have no illusions about my ability to take artistic photos or create visual art in any format.

However, I can appreciate art created by others and can usually find something relevant and appealing if given ample choice.

Most artwork is copyrighted, but some sites offer licenses and plans to purchase and download artwork / images, and use in a commercial setting: Shutterstock, Unsplash and Pixabay, to mention a few.

My preferred site for free images for blogging websites (offered by photographers, donations accepted) is Pexels.

Blogging Hack #6: Use AI to generate / edit images

I also use two sites that generate AI-images: Playground AI and Midjourney. Both operate in a similar fashion; you provide prompts, similar to ChatGPT, and the AI programs create pictures/images that can be downloaded and used.

Both offer the ability to upload an image or drawing, and let you modify or create variants with prompts.

Like ChatGPT, there is a learning curve to craft the prompts, especially with Playground AI. Midjourney is a lot friendlier to use, but involves a payment plan. Here are some AI images that I created and used in my blogs:

Blogging Hack #7: Use ShortPixels to shrink image size

Large image sizes is one of the main reasons pages load slowly, and if your site has many large images, the Google search engine will penalize you for the slow pages.

ShortPixels website offers a free online image compressor and converter. I use the default settings to compress my pictures and reduce their size before I upload them to WordPress.

Unless you are an expert visual designer or artist, you will not be able to tell the difference!

You can also use the ShortPixels plugin.

Step 7: Add internal & external links

The final step is to add / validate internal and external links. After all, we live in a world wide web, and navigate content through links. Make sure you build links to all your pages so that readers can navigate your content easily, especially if it is relevant.

Linking to external sites / sources is also very important, both to build confidence in your site and the material you publish, and to encourage others to backlink and reference your posts. I usually create the hyperlink to open in a new tab, so that my reader still has access to my post.

Hit the “Publish” button!

If you are using an SEO like RankMath SEO as recommended earlier, with the post, you will also see two scores for the blog post: a headline analyzer score and an SEO score. I aim for 90+ / 100 for the title and 85+/100 for the SEO.

For this post, I currently see 93/100 for the title and 90/100 for the SEO score!

As I mentioned in the introduction, my goal is to be 80% satisfied with my blog post content. After I have reviewed and edited the content, and I have reached this threshold, I will hit the Publish button.

But usually, after a week or so, when I have had time to digest the material, and have had a chance to reflect on the post, I will undertake a thorough edit. I find this works best for me, otherwise my perfectionist alter ego will never let me publish anything.

Converting the 7 Blogging Hacks to a Streamlined Blogging System

As you get proficient with the 7 blogging hacks outlined above, your productivity and quality will rapidly improve – these hacks have saved me considerable time, money and effort!

To produce blog posts, consistently and prolifically, you need a system that works. What we have outlined above is a part of the system (the 5-step workflow for creating a blog post).

To ensure you consistently execute this system, day after day, you need a lot more: you need to understand human psychology and neuroscience, and how to leverage them to engineer your success. You need a blueprint for success.