How to Create a Content Calendar for Your Blog
This post is based on Episode 76 of the ProBlogger podcast.
Can you believe that we’re already mid-January? Maybe it’s because we wanted so badly to see the end of 2020. But whatever the reason, you need to get organized quickly for the year ahead.
And that means creating a content calendar for your blog.
Now I am not suggesting that you have to set every detail for each post. You should revisit your content calendar several times a year to make sure that your blogging is still on the right track. But this is a great time of year to get started.
Plan for success
Have you ever struggled to find a topic to write about? As the minutes tick through the pressure, and when you finally do to do Think of one that you need to speed up to meet your deadline.
A content calendar takes the pressure off you because you always know what to write about. Planning your posts in advance gives you an opportunity to take your readers on a journey.
It also helps you become a more consistent blogger. If you can’t think of anything to write about, you might be tempted to just give up and say to yourself, “I’ll try again next time.” However, if you’re working on a plan, you’re more likely to stick to it – especially if you’re working on a series of posts that build on each other.
Look back
The first step is to review the content that you created over the past year. Were there any posts that did particularly well? You can use Google Analytics to find out which posts got the most views and tools like BuzzSumo to see which posts got the most shares. Also, you might want to go a little deeper and find the content that has received the most comments.
Did any of the topics you wrote about get you a lot of traffic, approvals, and comments? On the other hand, were there issues that weren’t much at all? This can help you plan what (and what) to write about Not about) to write in the next 12 months or so.
Were there any topics that became more popular over the course of the year? If so, this could be a growing trend to focus on.
Did your shorter posts do better than your longer ones, or vice versa? Were there certain headlines that performed better than others? What about your pictures?
Can you remember how you felt when you wrote these posts? Were they relatively easy to write or did you struggle to finish? Were there specific times or days when writing posts seemed easier or more difficult? Was there anything else you struggled with like finding the time to write?
Don’t spend all day doing it. Take about a minute to answer one question and then move on to the next. But hopefully you will see some trends that can help you create new opportunities with your blog, or at least make better use of your time.
I’m looking forward to
After you’ve done your review, it’s time to start planning.
There is no right or wrong way to do this. It really is a case of what works best for you. But here are some questions you might want to answer along the way.
Is there an emerging trend that you want to focus on?
While reviewing last year’s content, did you notice any emerging trends in your niche? When you’ve done this, it’s time to examine them further and let your readers know what you’ve learned.
This doesn’t mean you have to talk about it in every post you write. But you may want to come back to this regularly. You might even want to create a series where your posts build on each other and take your reader on a journey.
You may even be able to create a product based on the information in your posts that you can sell on your blog.
Is there one type of post that you would like to write regularly?
Whether they did well last year or you just enjoyed writing them, you may want to publish a certain type of post on a regular basis.
It can be a list post, an editorial post, a roundup post, or something else. You can even give it a name like Story Sunday or Tutorial Tuesday to tie it to a specific day of the week.
How often do you want to post?
How many times did you post last year? Was it once a month, once a week, a couple of times a week, or every day? And how are you keeping up with that schedule? Was it a fight or did you take it all on yourself?
Now is the time to decide how often you feel comfortable posting. There’s no point in adding three posts a week to your content calendar if you’re struggling to keep up. You are much better off creating a schedule that you are comfortable with.
Is there any media you would like to use?
If you’ve thought about trying another medium – podcasting, Facebook Live, YouTube – make time for it on your calendar.
This can include learning the medium, researching the equipment needed, learning the tools, and of course creating the content.
You won’t just be prepared when the time for production comes. Having it on your calendar makes the more likely you will take the plunge and actually do it.
Is it time to mess things up a bit?
If you’ve blogged for a while, you may have reached the point where it gets a little monotonous. It feels like you’re doing the same thing day in and day out, and you’re wondering if your readers are as bored with your blog as you are.
If this sounds like you, then it’s time to mess things up.
Many bloggers do this by developing certain topics or certain types of posts for certain types of days. Monday could be for list posts. On Tuesdays, you can ask your community a question. You may write a review on Wednesdays. You could share your thoughts on something on Thursday. And on Friday, you can write a guide to add something to your readers over the weekend.
And depending on your blog, you may also be able to switch topics from time to time to really mess things up. Just be careful as things that are too confusing can be confusing to your readers.
When do you take a break
If the past year has taught us anything, it’s important to take care of our health – physically, mentally, and emotionally. That said, you should build time into your calendar for a well-deserved break.
That, of course, leads to an obvious question: what is happening to your blog while you are taking this break?
You may want to:
- Create additional content beforehand and plan to publish it while you are away
- Ask people to guest posts instead of having to create the additional content yourself
- Create some “best of” posts listing some of the content that has already been published.
Or you just have a gap in your content calendar that doesn’t post anything new.
Time to get more visual?
This is also a great time to reflect on your approach to visual content. It’s time to change the look of your blog – a new header, new avatars for your social media channels, or maybe a new font to display all of your content.
Fortunately, we now have tools like Canva that make updating your visual content a breeze. Even if you do something as simple as changing the background color of your pictures and icons, your blog can get a whole new look.
Can you reuse any of your current content?
Just because you’ve covered a topic on a blog doesn’t mean that it’s the end.
If you have given a lot of data in one of your blog posts, you can run that information again by turning it into an infographic. If you’ve written an editorial piece that received a lot of comments when it was first published, you can use it as the basis for a Facebook Live. And if you have a podcast, why not turn that content into a blog post?
Do you need a new tool to create your content calendar?
What did you use to create your content calendar? A calendar app? A spreadsheet? Pen and paper? Switching to a new tool could not only make the task easier, but it could also give you a new sense of energy.
When we switched to CoSchedule, our entire team was supplied with energy again. And we use it to plan our content, collect all ideas and even share our content on social media.
Time to brainstorm
Now that you’ve answered all of these questions, now is the time to fill your content calendar. How many topics for posts can you create?
We look forward to finding out.
Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash