Set Up Permalinks

Permalinks are static hyperlinks that lead to a particular blog post or page. By default, WordPress sets
your permalinks to yourdomain.com/postID.

blog permalinks screenshot

In no way is this sexy and it doesn’t help anyone understand what the page is about before viewing it.

The simple fix is to set a permalink structure.

In the left sidebar, mouse-over “Settings” and choose “Permalinks.”

wordpress blog permalink screenshot

There are a few options to choose from. I use the “Post name” structure on my blog which uses
keywords from my title to create a unique permalink.

blog permalink settings in wordpress

Save the settings after you’ve selected it. You’ll see this in action a bit later.

If you’re still with me, you’ve purchased your domain and web hosting, installed a theme, and optimized
your website to be crawled and found by search engines.

Now, we get to the bread and butter of blogging. What are you going to write about in your blog?

Let’s find out.

Step 7. Brainstorm Blog Topics

On the technical side, your blog is all set up and ready to go. When it comes to topic generation, the
world is your oyster.
The majority of your blog posts will come from personal experiences, passions, successes, failures, and
new learnings.

People use questions as search queries, like:

What should I write about?

What to blog about?

Should I start blogging?

So naturally, you should start off with some questions of your own. I use a series of questions and a
systematic process to come up with my blog topic ideas.

No need to worry. It’s not complicated and it won’t take very much time.

By following this process, you should be able to come up with about 50 working topics within a half hour
of distraction-free time.

Pull out a pen and paper or open up your favorite word processing tool.

The goal of this exercise is to get 10 answers for each question. If you can think of more, note them all.

It’s time to look through the lens of your readers with these 5 questions.

1. “What Excites, Intrigues, or Stirs Passion in My Readers?”

Examples:

As a golfer, I get excited by hitting my driver farther. I’m fascinated by mental performance. I’m
passionate about healthy living.

As a new stay-at-home mom, I get excited by budget-friendly ideas for the family. I’m intrigued by sleep-
training. I’m passionate about homeschooling.

As an avid camper, I get excited about finding undervalued camping sites. I’m intrigued by survival
tactics. I’m passionate about minimalist living.