Creating quality content does not come naturally for most of us. Most of us have developed our craft and improved our skills over time (across a span of months or even years), and we still have the possibility of more growth.

Since joining the Steem community over two years ago, I have developed a series of steps that I work through as I create a new post. Today, I want to share those steps with you, which I have divided into the categories provided below.

Image Source

Inspiration

Quality and engaging content grows from the soul of an inspired content creator. My best posts focus on the people, experiences, and passions that are most important to me. And that inspiration flows in and through my audience.

• Create content based on your passions.
  Money can motivate a content creator for a short period of time, but passion will drive that same content creator for life.
• Create content based on life experiences.
  Audiences appreciate having insight into the lives of content creators.
• Create content based on knowledge.
  People want to consume content from experts. Many of us struggle with calling ourselves experts, but we all have some specific knowledge that we can share with the world.
• Create content that addresses the questions of your audience.
  The comments section is a great place to find new post ideas. Your audience is a great source of inspiration.

Planning

Once you are inspired, make a plan. Depending on your content, audience, and current life commitments, your planning session can be as short as a few minutes but may stretch out for weeks or even months.

• Perform a blog post audit
  • What is the theme of your blog? What topics do you discuss?
  • Who is your target audience?
  • Do your posts meet the needs of your target audience?
  • Are there topics you need to include in your blog?
  • Are there topics you need to exclude from your blog?
  • Do you regularly request feedback from your audience?
• When to post
  • What time of the day do you post new content?
  • Do you consistently post at the same time each day?
  • Do you post enough content?
  • Are you posting too much content for your audience to consume?
• The future
  • Have you thought out major theme ideas for your blog?
  • Do you have a calendar/schedule for future posts?
  • Do you create content in advance in case you are busy due to illness, vacation, etc.?

Formatting

Having a great idea and a lot of inspiration does not mean that your post will connect with your audience. A content creator must create a storyline that draws the audience to the end of a post, as well as a visual workflow through​ proper formatting.

• Title
  • Does the title of your post grab the attention of your audience?
  • Is the title of your post honest?
  • Is the title of your post spelled correctly?
    You can correct a spelling error on the post title, but you cannot correct a spelling error in a post link, once the post has been published.
• Images
  • Have you picked a quality thumbnail image that represents the idea of your post?
  • Do you need additional images to support your post?
  • Have you properly sourced those images? I always use an image source link to attribute the images I use. Note the following example:
    [Image Source](https://pixabay.com/illustrations/checklist-check-list-marker-2077018/)
• Markdown
  • Have you added appropriated headers?
  • Have you bolded or italicized text appropriately?
  • Have you justified your text appropriately? left, right, center
  • Have you added lines or section dividers to create visual sections within a post?
• Tags
  • Do you tags properly identify the topics of your post?
  • Are you using appropriate front-end interface tags?
    • palnet - general topics
    • steemleo - investment related posts
    • spt - splinterland/steem monster related posts

I highly recommend you check out my FREE Steem Markdown Course. In this course, you learn basic and advanced markdown so that you can turn your great content into an incredible, properly formatted post.

Correction

I have to be honest; I hate this part. In order to be great, we must remove as many grammatical and spelling mistakes as possible. We need to remove barriers that prevent our audience from enjoying our content.

• Reread your post at least 3-5 times.
  And once you are done, then reread it a few more times. Read slowly, so that your brain and eyes process the information at the same time. We are all susceptible to reading what we think we wrote, instead of reading what is actually on the screen.
• Have someone else read your post (if possible).
  This can be a challenge due to time restrictions and stylistic differences. If you are asking for help, be sure to graciously receive that person feedback, but make sure that you maintain your voice in your post.
• Use an online tool like Grammarly
  Grammarly has helped me catch many mistakes that I have overlooked as I am writing a post. I started ​with the FREE version and then decided to upgrade to the paid version. You can try Grammarly for FREE by clicking here. ^{This is an affiliate link}

Engagement

Quality content is great, but quality, engaging content is even better. It is important to find ways to engage your audience as you create a tribe.

Possible ideas include:

• Asking open-ended questions at the end of your post
• Developing strategic call-to-actions
• Sponsoring prizes and giveaways
• Responding to and upvoting quality comments

Showing people that they are valued is important!

I want to hear from you

Let's continue the conversation in the comments section.

1. How do you come up with post ideas?
2. Do you consistently post at the same time each day and the same number of times each week?
3. Have you signed up for my FREE Steem Markdown Course?
4. How do you engage your audience?