Blog Approval Process

Workflow 

  1. Content Creator drafts blog in a Word document. 
  2. Content Creator highlights the keyword, headings, LSIs, and other strategy practices to indicate that those elements can’t be changed. 
  3. Content Creator shares the blog with the CSM. 
  4. CSM sends the blog to the client within 1 day of receiving it. 
  5. CSM adds this copy (outlined below) to the email to communicate which elements of the blog they can change without impacting strategy:  

“Hi [CLIENT NAME],  

[Personalized greeting] I wanted to share the next blog with the keyword, “KEYWORD” for your approval. If there are any minor changes to the blog, please let us know by [DATE] (3 business days). 

Additional Note: Please keep in mind that any major changes made to the blog may impact SEO value. The highlighted keywords, headings, and buttons reflect the SEO focuses for this content piece. We recommend maintaining these elements as a best practice for SEO.  

Thanks!” 

  1. If the customer does return the blog to the CSM within three business days: 
  2. CSM alerts Content Creator (within one business day) that the blog has been approved or what edits to implement. 
  3. Upon receipt, the Content Creator has two business days to implement edits and publish the blog. 
Timeline broken down: CC writes blog & sends to CSM → CSM sends to customer within 24 hours → customer returns blog within 3 business days → CC publishes blog on day 5  
  1. If the customer does not return the blog within three business days: 
  2. CSM alerts the Content Creator that the blog hasn’t been returned and sends this follow-up email (outlined below) to the customer:  

“Hi [CLIENT NAME], 

I wanted to reach out and follow up on the next blog post with the keyword, [KEYWORD]. Edits haven’t been received yet for the blog, so the Content Creator saved it as a “Draft” on the backend of the website. Please feel free to make any changes in the backend within the next two business days following these steps:  

  1. Login to your website 
  2. Click “Posts” 
  3. Select the most recent entry 
  4. Complete any edits  
  5. Hit ‘Save Draft’ or ‘Update’  

The blog is scheduled to publish in two days. If you have any questions while logging into the website, feel free to reach out and I’d be happy to walk you through it. Thanks!” 

  1. Content Creator schedules the blog to publish at the end of the two business days. 
Timeline broken down: CC writes blog & sends to CSM → CSM sends to customer within 24 hours → customer does not return blog within 3 days → CSM sends follow-up email → CC saves blog as draft in WP and schedules it to post 48 hours later → Customer makes any additional changes 

Importance  

  • Blogs are designed to increase SEO value and organic search traffic to the website. We need timely blog approvals to ensure that we’re fulfilling the terms of our contracts. Without approval, the clients are missing potential SEO opportunities included in their package.  
  • Delayed approvals also disrupt Content Creators’ workflow, and future Marketing Strategy development. 

Exceptions 

  • This process should be implemented for all new and existing blog approval clients. However, instances in which we would not implement this process for existing customers include: 
  • Customers who already have a blog approval system in place wherein the blog approval already occurs on the backend of the client’s website. 
  • Customers who this would damage their relationship with us: This exception should be made for special cases only. 

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