Does your funeral home want to start a blog but doesn’t know where to start? To make writing a blog post a little easier, we’ve created this 10-step guide. 

Below is a preview of the 10 steps that we’re going to cover: 

1. Choose Your Topic. 
2. Have a Keyword in Mind.
3. Write Your Title.
4. Do a Rough Outline.
5. Write Your Blog Post. 
6. Choose Your Call-To-Action. 
7. Edit, Edit. Edit.
8. Choose a Photo to Go Along with Your Blog Post. 
9. Publish Your Blog Post on Your Website. 
10. Share Your Blog Post on Your Funeral Home’s Social Media Pages. 

1. Choose Your Topic 

Before you begin writing a blog post, the first step is to choose your topic. For funeral homes, there are many relevant topics for educating and engaging with your client families, such as: 

• Healthy ways to cope with the loss of a loved one 
• How to preplan your funeral arrangements 
• Tips for funeral planning while social distancing 
• DIY memorial craft projects for honoring a loved one
• What to do when your pet passes away

If you need some more blog topic inspiration, these are a few ways to get ideas: 

• Figure out what your most frequently asked questions are. 
• Put yourself in your families’ shoes and ask yourself what you would want to know if you were funeral planning for the first time. 
• Ask your families! Send out a survey to see what topics they’d be interested in learning more about.
• Attend trade shows, conferences, seminars, and webinars to get blog ideas.
• Do some research! See what information is already out there, what your competitors are doing, and what types of content families are interacting with online.

Once you choose a topic, you may want to choose a subtopic if it’s too broad. For example, if you’re writing about grief, you may want to create a blog series to go over different types of grief or different types of losses. You also can tease the upcoming blogs in the series to generate more interest. 

2. Have a Keyword in Mind 

Now that you have a blog post topic, it’s time to choose a keyword! To put it simply, a keyword is what users type into a search engine to find an answer to their question. For instance, if you write a blog post about your funeral home’s natural burial options, your keyword could be “natural burial.” But before settling on a keyword, do some research. There are many free keyword research tools out there, such as Google Trends. 

When adding your keyword to your content, it’s best to include it in your blog post title, at least one section heading, and a few times within your content — but don’t overdo it. There isn’t an exact number of times you need to include your keyword but around five times is a good start. 

However, don’t worry about how many times you’ve used your keyword until after you’ve written a full draft. This way, you use your keyword naturally within the content. If you used it too many or too few times, you can make edits at the end.  

For more information on choosing and using keywords, check out this guide from Yoast. 

3. Write Your Title 

By writing the title before the blog post content itself, it will help you better determine the direction your blog post will go in. Of course, you can always tweak your title later if the direction of your blog post ends up changing, but it helps to have a starting point. 

Like we mentioned above, make sure to include your keyword in your title. It’s best to have it toward the beginning of your title if possible, but don’t force it if it ends up sounding awkward.  

When determining the structure of your title, your blog post’s topic may play a factor in that. For instance, if your blog post will be a numbered list, you may want to include the number of items in the title. Or if your blog post is a how-to guide, you could structure your title as a question. Whatever structure you choose, just make sure that it catches your readers’ attention and accurately shows what the blog post is about. 

Below are a few blog post title examples: 

• 10 DIY Memorial Crafts for Honoring Your Grandparents 
• What Happens When My Pet Passes Away?  
• The Ultimate Guide for Grieving the Loss of a Loved One 

4. Do a Rough Outline 

While some people may prefer to get right into writing and go back and edit later, I prefer to do a rough outline. It lets me get all my thoughts down on the document and explore all the ideas before I actually get into the writing process. 

When creating an outline, there are many ways that you can break it down. For me, I like breaking my outline down by the different sections of my blog post. Then, I jot down all my ideas for each section, knowing that everything might not make the final cut. 

5. Write Your Blog Post 

Now that you have an outline, it’s time to write your blog post! To get the most out of writing a blog post, make sure that your work environment is free of distractions. If you’re writing in a noisy area, listen to some music or wear noise-canceling headphones.  

If you’re feeling uninspired, take a break and come back to it later. Do something else on your to-do list or go for a walk to clear your head. Then, you can come back to your blog post with a fresh mind. 

After you’ve written your blog post, go through your content and add relevant links to your funeral home’s website, your blog posts, and other reputable sources. 

6. Choose Your Call-To-Action 

Don’t forget about one of the most important parts of your blog post, the call-to-action. What action do you want people to complete after reading your blog post? Maybe it’s to download a free guide that goes into more detail on the blog post topic. Or maybe it’s to fill out a form on your funeral home’s website for more information about your products and services.  

Whatever the action is, make sure that it’s clear to your readers. It can be a short and sweet sentence to conclude your blog post, such as: 

• Download our free grief guide to learn more. 
• Complete our preplanning form to start the process. 

For more information on calls-to-action, check out this blog post! 

 7. Edit, Edit, Edit 

When editing your blog post, check your spelling, grammar, facts, and overall blog structure. Have at least one other person on your team edit it, as well. It also may help to not edit your blog post right after writing it. Take a break from it and come back to it later with a fresh set of eyes. 

8. Choose a Photo to Go Along with Your Blog Post 

To make your blog post more visually appealing, choose a feature photo to go at the top. You can use your own photos if you have them, or there are plenty of free stock photo sites out there, like Unsplash.  

For more tips on finding a photo for your blog post, check out this blog post! 

9. Publish Your Blog Post on Your Website 

It’s time to publish your blog post on your website! Before publishing it, add it to any relevant blog categories. For example, you can create categories for Grief, Funeral Planning, Memorialization, and any other relevant topics. 

10. Share Your Blog Post on Your Funeral Home’s Social Media Pages 

Once you publish your blog post, you’re not done yet! To get more views, engagement, and traffic back to your website, share it on your funeral home’s social media pages, in your email newsletter, and any other relevant places. 

Want to learn more about writing a blog post? Download our free blog eBook!