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How to design a Stunning Blog

Updated: Jul 4

Last Edited: 7.06.24

Created for CheadleCOG by Findbliss.com



Cheadle COG Blog has everything you need to create beautiful posts that will grab your reader's attention. Check out our essential design features, tips and tools and how to connect to the world outside, powered by and partnered with Wix.




Every post needs a great heading

Avoid a long title, you can add a sub heading in the post, the SEO, and in the What's New. Try to get one of your business keywords in your title. The shorter your title the better generally speaking. Be sure to make it topical to avoid disappointing readers, your post should do what it says on the tin, the tin being the title.


Have a Tight Thesis Statement

This is the question you are going to answer or the problem you are looking to address. The tighter your statement the easier it is for you to write. It's important to tell the story of your thesis statement with a beginning, middle and end. It's OK not to state you statement directly if that's appropriate.


Choose a strong image

You need at least one strong image near the top of the post (above the fold). You can add one of your own or you can choose from the brilliant ever changing Wix stock image, which includes illustrations. You must not use an image from our library or we will take your post down. You must not add paid images on our account or download images from the site - these actions are outside the terms of our license. Your image should be landscape and can be abstract or narrow. Get this in early this is the image Google will use to spread the word about your post so it's important.



Be personal but succinct

Your post should show your personality and share sufficient information about you for your reader to connect and accept you as knowledgeable on your subject. Don't be tempted to add long tales which aren't relevant to your subject it upsets people, and reduces your credibility because you are not in touch with your readers.



How to use the dashboard

The Add button (top left) is where everything you will want to add lives. There are media options: Images, Image Gallery, Video, (don't add gifs they are not cool), or a file you might want to share which supports your post. Elements: Dividers - help split up your sections, Buttons - to link to other posts etc, Tables - for displaying complex information, Collapsible lists - use this when the information isn't key but is useful for expanding a topic, Polls - to gain interest and involve your audience. From the web: Don't add HTML code without our written consent, or Adsense, but you are welcome to link to your Soundcloud file if it's relevant to the post.


The headers across the top are easy to use. Paragraph is always the default style, Use Heading 2 for your sub headers, as we have here. You can change the text size, add bold, italics, change the colour, numbered or bulleted list, change your line spacing and add links. Please don't indent it's not our style, or add a code snippet. You can change alignment but use sparingly - our style is left or justified. Hover over the i icon and you'll discover your character count and reading time. We won't publish longer than 3 minute read for a single post. We recommend using headings - just ask for help if you're not sure of anything.


One really cool feature is notes, this is a private space for you to write all the things you want to do to the post before it goes live, or your plans for future updates. It's great if like us you do a bit, stop and come back or wondering what you were trying to say! You can leave notes for us too. just start them Editor: then message us the post title from our contact us page.


Styling your post


If you are creating a post for the Cheadle Cog Audience you'll need to use our colours. Don't worry it's build in. If you are creating for your own audience and feel strongly about using your brand colours you can. A good compromise is use the grey and highlight your post with your branded graphics, especially if you are writing one post for both audiences.


Add media to your posts

When creating your posts you can:

  • Upload images

  • Embed videos and music

  • Create galleries to showcase a media collection

Customise the look of your media by making it widescreen or small and easily align media inside your posts.


Sharing on Social & beyond


The Bliss Blog comes with the latest social features built in. Readers can easily share posts on social networks like Facebook and Twitter and view how many people have liked a post, made comments and more. Check out any of our posts and it's as easy for them to share as it is for you.


We don't let posts go live on the site without checking them out first so don't worry we've got your back. We're not perfect and are not experts on your topic so you will need to make sure that all instructions are honest, accurate and safe. We will make sure your post is spell checked and that we understand it, we'll also check it's blissful.


We'll message you the link to your post as soon as it goes live, if you ask us not to share in print or on social or the topic isn't for our general audience then we won't share it to our social or include it in what's new. You are then free to share the link wherever you like. Your post will not be set to private but if you want to tell us your keywords we can add them to the SEO for the post.


We will also add categories and tags so that your post can be found on the site if you wish.


If your post is designed for a selected audience they you can share the link in the group and they will find it in the same way as an external viewer will. This can be done via forums, groups.


Hashtag your posts

Love to #hashtag? Good news!

You can add tags (#vacation #dream #summer etc) throughout your posts to reach more people. Why hashtag? People can use your hashtags to search through content on your blog and find the content that matters to them. So go ahead and #hashtag away! For those who don't hashtag there is always the search bar on the top of every page. If you've used searchers keywords they will find your post. If we paper print your blog these will be removed. Your post will most likely be cut down too, we might ask you for a shorter version too.



Your time is valuable - make the most of your post


Your COGBlog post is modular, like Lego: You can start basic and build, you can use and reuse bits in lots of creative ways. You can go back to a post and change it, you get the picture. You'll often see our posts have last edited dates at the top. If you plan to come back to your post or update information or seasonally adjust, adding the date at the top informs your audience of the timelines of your post. Your blog can become evergreen content which is the gift that keeps giving to you, your business and your audience. More about this in the future. A blog can be so many things: The words to a YouTube video, The narration for a SoundCloud file, the basis for a pod cast. Quotations and snippets can be used in your social, you can link a post to a sister post, collaborate with other content makers and creators, use it for a workshop or even the basis for a short course. The possibilities vast and you'll never know what bliss this can create for you and others along the way unless you do it!


Bonus

Your COG post will automatically configure for mobile and tablet viewers, it will also be available on the Wix spaces app.


If you want to go big we can help you create a blogspace of your very own, often for little or no money, requiring just your time. Look out for workshops about this topic or ask for more details via our contact page

Summary

We hope you enjoyed this post and would love for you to join us in finding your bliss. You can subscribe for free forever, or you can be come a benefactor or business member and support us on a small but regular basis. You can also support us by sharing this post with people you think might benefit from it or purchasing something lovely from the Bliss Boutique or by purchasing from one of our affiliate links. Thank you for your time and we hope this post helps you in some way to find your bliss.




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