Just got done filming a FUN podcast & one of the questions was “WHAT REALLY GOES INTO A BLOG POST?!”… & just like that a blog post was born.

People always ask me how much time I spend on the computer- the answer, A LOT of time. The blog post starts with photos, but ends with hours on the computer. YES, HOURS.

Back in the old days, when blogging was less competitive, the posting process was way less in depth. Now, with this saturated (in a good way!!!) blog industry… you really got to up your game & I figured it’d be fun to share with you guys MY BLOG POSTING PROCESS.

What really goes into it, how long it all takes, & all of the steps I think are needed to produce a bomb ass with a whole lot of value. K?

WHAT ACTUALLY GOES INTO A BLOG POST

1. the photos

this, for me, is always the SUPER fun part. The night before I plan to shoot I lay out 3-5 outfits (depending on how long I booked to shoot w/ my photographer!). Typically we get 3 looks done in 3 hours. We could do this quicker if I wasn’t so anal about location.

When it comes to choosing locations- I really keep my brand & feed in mind. I just wrote a post all about scouting locations, so check that out here for more info on HOW I choose where to shoot.

2. the editing:

the next step in my process, after the photos are all on my computer is to weed through & edit. To keep it perspective, we usually have 200 photos per shoot. CRAZY- right? I typically weed it down to 20 photos & then edit them. I won’t use all of the edited ones, but for me, I like to see it edited before I decide if it’s a go or not.

I edit ALL my blog photos using the Fashionlush Presets on Lightroom. The presets are pretty much click & go, which makes it super efficient. If I need to desaturate the backgrounds, I bring the photo into Photoshop to do that. You can view that tutorial here. All of these photos were edited with the Lush Preset.

Once all of the photos are edited, I will graphically arrange them in a FUN way. As seen in this post, I like to combine my photos. I always find it overwhelming when there are tons of photos stacked vertically. This way I can show more of the photos w/o the need to scroll & scroll & scroll to see all my photos!

I’d say the editing process can take anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours- all depends on how many photos, what needs to be edited (if the floor is dirty, it could take me longer cause I edit that out!), & what kind of graphics I choose to create!

3. the content:

for the most part, I take photos & then write content. Some blogger’s know what they’re writing about & then take photos to fit. I prefer to do it the other way. As you can see, the photos are just a fun addition to all this valuable content. They don’t neccesarily “match”… but that’s not my vibe.

My content process involves: racking my brain for something relevant, choosing a rad title that draw attention, laying out my photos, writing the copy, laying it out for max readibility (i.e. using headers & bullets!), adding in relevant links, & creating a widget/adding links to shop my look.

The copy part can take anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour. This post will probably end up at the 45 minute mark.

4. the seo:

SEO BABY. After I get content written/laid out/looking pretty, I get my SEO done! You can read more about my SEO process here– but to sum it up: I add alt tags to all my photos, fill in the SEO fields for the YOAST SEO plugin I use, & make sure my HEADERS (so important for SEO) are all set up for max visibility!!

This takes 15 minutes tops.

5. the promotion:

they say content creation should go by the 80/20 rule- 20% creating/publishing & 80% promoting. Promotion is HUGELY important. For me my promotion involves posting to ALL of my social networks. These networks are: Instagram (stories too!), Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, & WeHeartIt (my most popular network w/ 1.8 million followers!),

Always make sure to tag any brands, use hashtags, & share share share your content! This process, probably 30 minutes for all networks but Instagram. Instagram takes me atleast 30 minutes on it’s own.

TO SUM IT UP- one post takes me, on average, 4 hours. I am so glad I did this post, because I have never done that math before. If you’re a blogger- what’s your process look like? Am I missing anything? How long does it take you to craft up a stellar post? I am super curious where other blogger’s stand on this so LMK.

x, E