Understanding Guided Blogging

Introduction to Blog Posts, Blocks, and a Few Best Practices

Custom Posts provide you with the greatest amount of flexibility in how you present your content while Guided Blogging simplifies the process to save you time. There is also added flexibility and configuration options to get the desired outcome.

Be sure to explore all of the supported post types, where to find drafts and published posts, and the role of Marketing Messages.

Creating a Blog Post

To create a blog post, go to Business Blogging > New Blog and then select the type of Blog Post you want to create. In this example, we will create a Custom Post.

Now, add the details

A Custom Post is composed of a series of sections. The default is one section, but you can add additional sections to your post.

1. Title - This is critical for readership, social media engagement, and even SEO. Keep it clear and simple but include enough that people know what it's about and it includes keywords or phrases that will resonate with your audience.
2. Add a Descriptive Section Label. This will appear in the post as a header and will provide a quick link in the post to allow readers to jump to sections of interest if they like. 
3. Section Content - Each section can be composed of 2 parts - text and imagery. Add your text Content for the section. It doesn't have to be long, it can be formatted using our text editor to include lists, bullet points, or other details.  Then add your Image or Media for the section.
4. Each section has 4 Layout Options: Image Right, Image Left, Full-Width Text, or Full-Width Image. You can choose which layout you want for each section by clicking one of the arrows.
5. Advanced Settings - every post type enables you to customize certain 'behind-the-scenes' aspects of your posts.
   
   You have the option to choose when to publish your post, and you can add a Meta description and Share Image (used when sharing the blog post link to social media). You can also categorize your blog post! Learn more about the use of categories and tags here.
   
   If you choose a publish date in the future, and then click to 'Publish' your post, it won't be published/posted to your website until the indicated date/time.
6. Add a Gallery - You can include a published Gallery of images with your post. The Gallery would need to be created first, then could be linked here to the blog post. Learn more at Understanding Photo Galleries.
7. Add a Form - You can also add a created Form to your post. The Form would need to be created first and then could be linked here to display in the blog post. Learn more about creating forms here. 
8. Add a CTA - You can also add a created CTA to your post. The CTA would need to be created first and then could be linked here to display in the blog post. Learn more about creating CTAs here. 
9. Publish Post or Save Draft - You can either click to publish your post (immediately if you haven't selected a 'Published On' date) OR you can click to save the draft and return later to finish and publish the post.

Suggested approach for quickly creating a great Custom Post

There are many ways to use Custom Posts however we see a common need to include 2-5ish images and here is our suggested approach.

1. Make the default Content Block a full-width image

2. Add a block with full-width text

3. Add another block with the image right then another with the image left - repeat as necessary based on how many images you have and be sure to add text... you may need to cut and paste text to move it around so there is an appropriate amount of text in each box

4. Add a final block with full text to conclude your post and include your call-to-action(s)