The perfect post checklist

Before you hit the post button, you should really think about what you are posting. You need to consider what really makes a successful, viral and valuable post and see if your post lives up to those expectations.

You should always aim to give your audience the best by delivering valuable information in order to receive maximum exposure and engagement.

To achieve this there are a number of requirements that every social media post should meet. So here is a 9 point checklist to ensure you are only posting the best to your audience:

9 steps to the perfect post

1. Is it educational or entertaining?

You should only be posting valuable content on social media. The content that produces the best results will be either educational or entertaining.

2. Is it too long?

The preferred lengths of posts vary between social networks; however there have been a lot of studies regarding this question.  So what is the ideal length of social content?

• Twitter – 71 to 100 characters – tweets shorter than 100 characters received a 17% higher engagement rate.
• Facebook – around 40 characters – posts with 40 characters received 86% more engagement than posts with more characters.
• Google Plus – around 60 characters

3. Is the URL correct?

It is important to include links within all your posts; however you must ensure that the link goes to the intended location and that it is suitable for the message you are sending.

4. Did you use the right keywords/hashtags?

You want to maximise the exposure of your posts and ensure your audience will be able to understand it.

Don’t be too vague and make sure you are clear. Adding hashtags will help exposure if done correctly, as users can search for hashtags and click on hashtags to see other posts related to it.

5. How many times have you posted?

Finding the right frequency for how many posts you should be doing can be difficult. Too many and you will annoy your audience, too few and you will lose them.

The accepted amount of posts a day varies between the social networks. Here are some guidelines you should follow:

• Twitter – 3-5 tweets a day
• Facebook – 2 posts a day
• LinkedIn – 1 post a day
• Google Plus – 3 posts a day

6. Did you check it?

Check the spelling and grammar of every post. Little mistakes are easy to make but can reflect badly on your business so ensure you double check all content.

7. Do you want everyone to see this?

Again, you don’t want to annoy or offend any of your followers. Make sure the post is acceptable to share publicly as it could reflect badly on your business.

8. Is it visually appealing?

Images are one of the most important factors for social content. Every post should include an alluring visual aspect, be it image or video.

9. Did you make the most of this post?

Is the title enticing? Is the imagery right? Did I ask the right question? Could I have added anything else to it such as a poll or quiz? Can anything be removed to make the message stronger? These are the types of questions you should be asking yourself. 

These last minute check overs can really make a post.