What are the key things to do after launching a blog? What should your first month blog tasks include? Now that you’ve launched your blog, your priority is to grow it. This advice for new bloggers will help you develop your blog roadmap for the first 30 days and beyond.
As a blogging coach working with many beginner bloggers, I’ve noticed that a common issue is what to focus on first. I’ve created a list of the essential activities in your first month of going “live” with your blog.
If your first blog post has been published, and you’re working on the next few, you’re doing great. However, now your goal is to jumpstart blog growth.
A common new blogger goal is to make everything perfect – but blog growth takes time. What should you focus on first?
I’ve created a step-by-step list of action items to add to your first month of blogging “to-do list”. You’ll get advice for new bloggers that will help you identify priorities to add to your blog roadmap for the next 30 days.
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Your First Month Of Blogging: What To Focus On
You’re wondering what to do after launching a blog. Your first month should be about strengthening your foundation.
This is where you move from “I just launched my blog” to “my blog is ready for readers and growth.”
Your key goals for the first month of blogging are simple:
- Creating new content and a content plan
- Developing a blog promotion plan
- Start building your email list
- Update your first posts for SEO
- Build engagement with your readers
- Begin tracking your blog growth
- Start building good blogging habits for long-term success
- Creating a plan for the next two to three months
It’s time to start laying the foundation for long-term success.
I’ve launched several blogs, and each time I make sure the first month is getting organized with a strategy in place for content and awareness growth.
Blogging is starting to feel exciting now. You’ve created a blog, and now you’re building your brand, organizing your content, and setting yourself up for real momentum.
We’ll walk through the next ten steps in your post-launch blog checklist so you know exactly what to do in your first month.
Top 10 Things To Do After Launching A Blog
Here are the most important things to do after launching a blog if you want to start growing it the right way. In this guide, I’ve organized your first-month tasks into a strategic roadmap.
You’ll have a list of practical steps new bloggers should take after launching a blog. Build momentum, improve your content and start setting up systems that work for your long-term growth.
1. Publish Your First Batch of Posts
During the first month after launching a blog, the key goal should be content generation.
Publishing 3 to 5 blog posts will give readers valuable information and entice them to come back for more. It also gives Google several pages of content to index.
While you may be tempted to include a post on why you started your blog, keep this for your About page. Instead, focus on answering core questions your readers have.
You can transform these blog posts into cornerstone blog posts for each of your categories.
Here’s what I would do:
- Look at the 3 to 4 categories I have on my blog
- Determine the top big question per category (e.g. How to Start A Blog)
- Write a blog post on each of the topics
Now my blog has at least one blog post per category. In Month 2 of blogging, I’d be focusing on topic clusters for each cornerstone post.
Related: How To Create Evergreen Blog Post Topics That Drive Traffic
2. Create A Simple Content Plan For The Next 2 Months
During your first month of blogging, organize your blog post ideas for the next two months into a simple content calendar.
The first 3 to 5 cornerstone blog posts you’ve written should be the basis of the blog post topics you plan for the next two months.
Explore different types of blog post formats: how-to guides and listicles are a good start.
Here’s how to do this:
- Take one of your cornerstone blog posts
- Look at the topics you’ve covered in that post — can they be made into standalone blog posts?
- Determine how you can interlink each post for SEO
Creating a content calendar with topic clusters makes the interlinking part of SEO easy to do. It also keeps you consistent.
3. Promote Your Blog
One of the key things to do after launching a blog is to create a blog promotion strategy. Begin sharing your blog posts on:
- Social media (Facebook page, Facebook groups, Instagram, Threads)
- Flipboard, Mix
One of the best ways to begin getting traffic is to leverage the power of community. Facebook groups for bloggers – like my Blog It Better Society – help you quickly generate traffic.
When you’re a beginner blogger, your blogging-to-promotion split should be about 40% content creation, 60% promotion.
Once you’ve got about 30 to 50 blog posts published, you can slow down content creation to one blog post a week. This gives you more time for promotion.
NOTE: While you’re promoting your blog content, don’t forget to focus on your SEO. Every blog post you publish should be optimized as best as you can with keywords. This reduces the time spent later optimizing it. Do it right, the first time around.
Related: Key Social Media Platforms For Bloggers for Blog Growth
4. Start Building An Email List
Familiarizing yourself with how email marketing works is a fantastic step for bloggers in the first month of blogging. The sooner you get started building an email list for your blog, the better.
Sending a weekly/bi-weekly email newsletter helps you grow your community and blog traffic. Remember to promote your blog via your newsletter!
Here’s how to do it:
- Create one free offer (a mini-guide, workbook, or checklist)
- Develop an opt-in form via your email marketing platform (MailerLite, Kit, etc.)
- Add the opt-in form on relevant blog posts, your home page and your footer
- Create a “landing page” for your opt-in form
- Promote the landing page on your social media
Keep promoting regularly on social media for consistent visibility. Over time, your email list will start growing.
Related: How To Grow Your Email Subscriber List
5. Optimize Your Blog For SEO
One of the first blogging skills to start learning in your first month of blogging is how to optimize blog posts. Search engine optimization goes beyond blog posts and includes blog pages, like your Home page and About page.
But first, if you published blog posts before paying attention to SEO, it’s time to go back and optimize them.
Before you do, make sure you have a free SEO plugin tool for your WordPress blog. The best is RankMath, as it offers a plethora of free features.
To optimize existing blog posts:
- Do keyword research. Choose one main longtail keyword and 3 to 5 secondary keywords. SEO tools like Semrush (limited number of free keyword searches), and the affordable Keysearch.co help you find the best high volume, low keyword difficulty options.
- Check SEO basics. Add your keywords to the SEO title, meta description, headline title, headings and body text. Don’t forget about internal linking.
- Optimize images. Ensure images are smaller files so they can load faster, and have alt text.
Working on this helps you rank in search results faster over time.
PRO TIP: Want to take things one step further? Start adding Pinterest pin images to each blog post. Optimize the description with WP Tasty Pins plugin so that when somebody pins it to their Pinterest board, it’s your keyword-optimized version that’s showing on the site. This boosts visibility on Pinterest.
6. Start Engaging With Your Audience
Successful bloggers work on creating engagement with their readers and social media audiences quickly. So, one of the key activities in the first month of blogging is to spend time engaging.
How do you do this?
- Responding to comments on your blog
- Engaging with comments on your social media and connecting with new potential followers in your niche
- Ask questions on your social media to spark conversations
Include a question at the end of your blog post to prompt comments. Search engines want to see engagement on your blog content.
7. Begin Tracking Your Analytics
Familiarize yourself with Google Analytics in your first month of blogging. Understanding the general dashboard helps you determine how your blog traffic is doing.
Set up your Google Analytics and Google Search Console so you can track your progress.
You will need to ensure your blog is showing up in search engines by submitting your sitemap.
Here’s what to track:
- Which blog posts are getting traffic
- Where the traffic is coming from
- How long readers stay on the site
- What they click
- Where they’re coming from
- Which days and times of day get the most traffic
All of these will help you adjust your focus and help you plan your future posts. Knowing your high traffic days gives you the best days to publish and promote your blog content.
If Google Analytics (GA4) is too confusing, and if you have the budget for it, you can upgrade to the premium option: Fathom Analytics. It’s an easy-to-read dashboard that gives you the essential data without the “reports” and frustrating setup.
Read my full Fathom Analytics review.
| Read More: How To Start A Blog And Make It A Profitable Business
NOTE: Don’t obsess over blog traffic. It’s easy to fall into the trap of checking GA4 every day and worrying about traffic dips. They will happen due to things like Google and Pinterest algorithm changes and seasonal Holidays.
8. Start Making Blogging Friends
Building your blogging network early on can greatly improve your blog growth.
The best place to find blogging friends is Facebook groups and communities. Try to find others at the same level as you, and slightly more advanced. Those who have been blogging longer can be very supportive and share insights.
PRO TIP: Don’t be shy to interact with others in Facebook groups for bloggers. Start building your personal brand right from the start.
9. Start With Pinterest For Your Blog
Creating a Pinterest business account for your blog and setting it up in the first month gives you a platform for blog promotion.
Pinterest is a visual search engine that requires content and optimization. It has its own SEO and keyword system. Familiarizing yourself with it in the first month helps you understand how it works.
In the first month:
- Set up your Profile details
- Research keywords in your niche and create a database for yourself
- Create 5 to 10 boards that relate to your key categories and topic clusters
- Make sure your board names and descriptions are optimized with keywords
- Start adding your and others’ relevant pins in the boards to let Pinterest know your niche
Learn the essential steps to using Pinterest to grow blog traffic.
Make it easier to create Pinterest pin designs with my free pack of Pinterest pin templates.
10. Create A Growth Plan For The Next 2 To 3 Months
After your first month of blogging, when you start to implement blogging best practices, your primary focus should be on growth.
Your growth plan should include:
- Publishing 25 blog posts (publish about 2 blog posts a week)
- Building momentum and traffic with blog promotion
- Test Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook pages/groups and other promotion platforms to see what works and what doesn’t
- Beginning to build your blogging network via blogging communities and groups
- Tweak your blog branding and upgrade your WordPress theme, based on your audience’s reactions
Need Expert Help? Time To Work With A Blog Coach!
Hey – it’s Margaret here. I’m a blog coach, working with new bloggers like you, helping them launch and grow their blogs. Learn more about my blog coaching services.
Key Takeaways: Your First Month Blog Checklist
These few activities for the first month of blogging will get you started on the road to blogging success.
Your first month should be all about:
- Content creation
- Blog promotion
- Audience building
- Tracking results
All of the technical setup was done when you started your blog. Now it’s about building momentum, seeing results, and adjusting your plans.
Keep motivated and start building good blogging habits. Most importantly, adopt a positive growth mindset, understanding that it may be slow to start.
QUESTION: What is, in your opinion, one of the hardest things to do after launching a blog?
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For me designing the website was most overwhelming for me. Now it’s Pinterest😂
The biggest struggle for me after starting a blog was posting consistently and keeping up with Pinterest.
There is so much to do when you first start a blog. I’m currently starting my second blog and I’m reminded of how much work it is, but I actually love that part! sometimes it’s coming up with the content that’s harder.
The hardest thing for me to do is get traffic to my blog. This list is great and hits all the key points!