Establish a smoke signal code with the party you intend to communicate with (i.e. one puff for hello, two puffs for help, etc). There's no point in communicating through smoke signals if neither party knows what the signals mean.
Select a high vantage point that is easy to see as the site to build your fire. High visibility is key when communicating through smoke signals.
Pile up the firewood.
Place the kindling and clumped up newspaper underneath the firewood and light it with your matches. Utilizing a fire starter can help speed up this process and create more smoke.
Throw in patches of grass and stray branches to help build the fire and create smoke.
Throw a blanket over the fire (be careful not to smother it) and lift quickly to send out smoke signals.