What's up with the new Huffington Post blogger platform Athena? Is it really harder to get people to see your article now? https://www.smartmomblogger.com/new-huffington-post-blogger-platform-athena/Just when you think you’re ready to pitch an article idea after researching how to write for Huffington Post, you keep hearing about this new Huffington Post blogger platform called Athena.

Geez Louise – does the internet EVER stop moving?! Nope. Nope it doesn’t.

But have no fear! Here’s everything you need to know about getting your article published – and seen – on the new Huffington Post blogger platform.

New Huffington Post Blogger Platform – Athena

Thankfully, the process I recommend for pitching your article hasn’t changed: simply email your idea directly to Arianna at arianna@huffingtonpost.com. You should hear back sometime within the next 2 weeks with 3 separate emails:

1) An acceptance email from Arianna

2) A welcome email from Madeline, the blog editor (this might come a few days after email #1)

3) An email giving you access to login and start publishing (this should come the same time as email #2)

Aaand… here’s where everything changes from the way things used to work before the switch to the new “beta” blogger platform.

There are pros and cons to “Athena”, which I’ll outline below. But for now, here’s what you can expect when publishing on the new Huffington Post blogger platform:

Set Up Your Profile

After logging in for the first time, you’ll be taken to a screen where you can fill out your profile.

huffington-post-athena dashboard 1

Here’s the breakdown:

1. Profile Picture – Upload a picture that’s consistent with your brand and matches your other online profiles (Facebook, Twitter, etc.)

2. Name – Self explanatory 😉

3. Title – This will show up next to your name when your article is published. Keep it short and descriptive (takes the place of the “Micro Bio” on the old blogger platform)

4. Social Profiles – If you add your Facebook and Twitter profiles, little social icons will show up next to your name at the top of your article that link to your profiles on those platforms.

5. Full Bio – Here’s where you get a chance to expand about yourself a bit more and include a link to your blog. Currently, this doesn’t show up anywhere when your article goes live, but my guess is that it will. Athena is still in “beta”, only being active for about a week now, so they’re still working out the details. Most likely this Full Bio will show up when someone clicks your name (which is how it worked with the old platform).

Once you have that all dialed in, click the “Save” button at the top and you’ll be able to start writing immediately!

5 Tips For Getting Your HuffPost Article Seen

While the new Huffington Post blogging platform comes with advantages, like making it easier to get published and a more user-friendly interface, it also comes with new challenges.

In the FAQ section of the new Athena blogger dashboard, it says:

“If your post has been promoted it will reach a much wider audience. You may see it on the Contributors page, on relevant section pages (such as Politics, Entertainment, etc.), or on the front page of the site itself. You also may see it shared on HuffPost social media channels.”

This is where you want your post to be.

But it’s now harder to get your articles seen on the site, since they’re not automatically placed in a HuffPost section (eg. HuffPost Parents) like they were before the change.

athena-blog-post-display

Huffington Post isn’t clear on which posts they choose to feature or why, but here are some tips to increase your chances of getting your article seen once it’s published:

1. Be strategic about what you write in the first place: Research which Huffington Post sections you’d like to be featured in and write a post for that audience. Spend some time reading titles and articles of the posts that are featured in that section to get a feel for what the editors like.

2. Back up your stats and opinions: Where appropriate, link to other popular HuffPo articles and authoritative sites to reinforce facts and opinions in your article. This shows the editors you’re serious.

3. Format your post to be easily scanned: People don’t read articles anymore; they scan. Make your article scannable by writing shorter paragraphs, using line breaks, and adding bullet-points and numbered lists. This makes your article more shareable, which in turn makes it more attractive to the HuffPo editors.

4. Include images: This is a continuation from the point above, as it also aids in the scannability of your post. Include at least 2-3 images in your post for best results.

5. Add Tags: I briefly mentioned this point above, but it bears repeating. Use tags strategically to help the editors see your article and place it in a featured section.

Of course, you should also share your article with your own audience via email and social media to get the ball rolling once it’s published.

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Writing Your Huffington Post Article

To start writing, just click on the “New Post” button in the top left corner and start writing.

There are options to add text, images, videos and social media profiles.

huffington post athena blogger dashboard

On the right of the post editor, you’ll notice a box called “Tags”.  Don’t ignore this!

Use several tags (5-7 minimum) to describe the topic of your article as well as your ideal reader/audience. This will help the Huffington Post editors place your article in the right section (if it gets chosen to be featured).

You can preview how your article will look by clicking those little mobile and desktop icons above your post (see image above).

Once you’re happy with the way it all looks and sounds, press “Publish”.

Congratulations – your article is now live on Huffington Post!

What Comes Next

Oh, you thought that was it?

It certainly can be it if you want – after all, just getting on Huffington Post is a great accomplishment for a blogger.

But what if you want people to actually see your article?

And what about getting paid? Is that even possible when writing for HuffPost? Yes, but not in the way you think.

HuffPost doesn’t pay its bloggers, and unless you’re on staff there you won’t get a dime… from them. But you can still get paid, even if you don’t have anything to sell.

But for that, you need to be strategic.

Writing for Huffington Post is a great blogging goal and accomplishment, so just getting there feels awesome.

But if you want to elevate your Huffington Post experience to make money from your articles, then the next step is to create a sales and email funnel (it’s actually a lot easier than you think!) and link to it from your blog and HuffPost article.

>>> Here’s a free online video training about how to set up a funnel and use it to create income (about an hour long).

I hope this article helped prepare you to publish your first article on HuffPost! If it did, I’d be so grateful if you shared it on your favorite social media. ❤️