Blog content calendars are Important in the process of content creation for many activities. For analyzing the performance of blog content, suggest new blog topics, publishing frequency tracking, for publishing new articles, and also for future blogs optimization for customers. A blog content calendar can also be mentioned as a calendar to plan the complete content for a predefined time period.
Need for Blog Content Calendar:
A blog content calendar is effective and beneficial as it saves energy as well as time. You’re always on track even on a hectic day and organized. Your audience and readers are tied up and they also avoid the content from stagnating or recurrence.
Benefits of a Content Calendar:
An editorial calendar can also be mentioned as a blogging strategy that is used for drafting actionable plans. The plans are mainly for the content required in a blog. When an editorial calendar is developed for a blog there are a number of benefits that can be reaped.
Blog organization:
Many blogs are usually avoided due to last minute decision making for a specific scenario. The content calendar is the right choice that helps you to plan the appropriate blog to be written at the right time. The calendar is beneficial as it helps to plan in advance about what is to be written.
Helps to be consistent:
Penning down a blogging plan in a calendar is useful when you follow it. When plans are followed, you are able to estimate progress, take action as blogging activities are in progress. A perfect calendar can be the right guide as it assists you with the appropriate content to be written at the right time.
Assist you to plan to post:
There are many bloggers who have been familiar over a long period of time. The main success amongst these blogs is that they would have epic and beneficial content that grabs the attention of the readers. Moreover, successful bloggers usually plan their content.
Many usually think that planning for a blog post is simple and easy but following the plan is a tough chore. With the help of an editorial calendar, you gain ample time to think about the content of your interest and if it would be appropriate for the audience.
Helps develop blog marketing plan:
Being a blogger, the first and foremost tool to be possessed is a marketing plan. The efficiency of the marketing plan is well established with the help of an editorial calendar. When you monitor and find out that your blog grabs in more traffic every day, then it is mandatory to post every day.
Tips to Build a Content Calendar:
1. Blogging schedule to be planned:
You must decide the frequency of posting blogs. It would be suggested to post twice a month rather than every day or not posting anything at all. There are ample blogs which are successful just by posting once a month. This is because they accomplish in a successful manner and consistency is their success.
2. Know your target audience:
The best idea would be to write blogs for your customers. Keep in mind to also write for new customers apart from customers you already have. Remember to blog for the target audience, niche, customer, etc. Customers are the first priority and you should be blogging for them.
3. Get to know the blog classes:
You may have blog classes already and they may be written in a random manner at that moment. It’s always good to plan the blog classes to be written. Research about 10 or 15 classes in which your customers would be delighted to read.
For example for one who makes jewelry, your blogs should be about wedding planning, cakes, jewelry, dress, hair, etc. These are the categories that your customers would be interested in.
4. Plan for blog post ideas:
For every blog category, it is good to pen down 10 or 15 ideas. It is advised to pen down all ideas that come to mind. When the wedding blog is considered and wedding hair types are concentrated.
There are few blog ideas such as pictures of various blog hairstyles, hints about choosing the best hair designer, wedding hairstyle tips for short hair, etc. Remember that your blog post should possess beneficial and informative information. Such posts attract new readers too. These topics are mainly browsed by brides-to-be and they visit often to gain more information.
There are no specific rules for a blog post to be lengthy, a video or an image can make it highlighted. Instead of preparing the blog content, you can also list resources along with videos and photos and post it. As writers keep brainstorming, there are ample ideas that pop up in mind and can be utilized.
5. Special events and holidays are to be noted:
There should be proper planning about where and what must be posted. There are periods of upcoming business such as special sales from your side, product launches, and other particular events that happen in business. These should be noted down as these periods can be used to influence the audience as well as your blog topics.
Seasonal considerations should be counted, for example, if Christmas is your customer’s favorite, then make sure to publish blog posts related to Christmas. These blogs should be posted during the month of December.
6. Make your blog content calendar:
Initially, a blog content calendar is to be developed. A spreadsheet, wall calendar, online calendar, yearly calendar, etc. can be used. The business events and other appropriate blog posts can be filled in the calendar. The holidays can be filled and associated blog posts must also be filled. With your ample blog ideas, start adding blog posts.
Posts must be scheduled for about 2 or 3 months earlier. This is beneficial as ample time is available so that the blog runs smoothly.
7. Blog posts writing:
Writing blog posts is the crucial step and writing at least two is mandatory. Many blogging platforms such as WordPress and blogger permits you to plan in advance. These blog posts can be planned and posted at best time intervals.
8. Monitoring and updating the blog content calendar:
It is important to keep up with the blog content calendar. Your blog content calendar must be updated and checked on a regular basis. When new events approach, they must be updated. The blog post ideas must be brainstormed and also posts needs to be scheduled in a proper way. Time should be dedicated to writing blogs and when you’re in good feel to write blogs, you can write many in advance.
Tools for Developing a Blog Content Calendar:
The advancement of technology is yet another benefit, for developing a blog content calendar. There are many tools that can be used in order to develop a content calendar.
Google Sheets:
This is a famed free editorial calendar tool and is represented as spreadsheets. This tool requires more time to set up. The main benefit is that it is a free resource. With the assistance of cloud storage, it is easy to access this tool in any device. Based on the schedules and plans, any aspects can be customized.
CoSchedule:
This is one of the best tools that possess drag and drop features. Your contents can be planned as well as published in an easy manner with the help of this tool. For ones who face difficulties clicking the screens and tab can make use of CoSchedule. In an easy and quick manner, planning and publishing can be accomplished. The best part is that time is saved by using this tool.
Trello:
This tool is mainly used for calendars that hold simple boards. By this way, good blogging schedules can be drafted. Blog contents can be organized in a perfect way with varied lists with the help of drag and drop features.
Individuals, as well as teams, can make use of this tool. It is simple and user-friendly and no separate training sessions are required. Plan can be accessed as you go, as the tool is compatible with all devices.
Users can evaluate all the tools and select the tool that falls under budget, and convenience. It is always advised to research and run through the tools before getting committed.
Aspects that make an Effective Blog Content Calendar:
You and your colleagues can maintain organized work with the help of an effective blog content calendar. While discussing an effective calendar, plan things properly. In order to make a steady stream of relevant content, the complete process must be streamlined so writers continue their chore. The main parameters that are to be used in a blog content calendar are as follows.
Publish dates:
These are the actual dates where your blog posts must be posted online. The link associated with the post can be pasted in the cell so that it can be easily accessed when required.
Target keywords:
It is beneficial for any organization if the target keywords for every post are available. When similar keywords are used in almost all posts, the readers become bored and tired. None are ready to read the same category of a topic often for weeks. Planning for a bunch of variation in keywords is necessary.
Topics/ titles:
It is important to have the titles and topics listed so that content can be planned and constructed. Readers do not prefer to read the same content often, content variation is necessary to grab the attention of new customers and also holding back old audience.
Word count:
It is mandatory to decide the length of the content. Few organizations post 1500 or 2000 words per week. In order to gain proper SEO, long posts are suggested.
Assets link:
If your blog holds any links for downloading, then making a note of such links in the cell would be beneficial. In spite of searching for the links in the site, users can use the calendar and find out.
Post status:
Every post needs to have a status noted down. For this, a five-marker system can be used. In progress, can be used as a heading which denotes the assigned writer writing about the post. The written tab can denote the completed work and next handling it to the editor. Then edited tab denotes the edited work and is then handed over to the writer for revisions.
After this approval is done where images are placed and planned for posting. Finally, publishing is done. All these aspects are to be planned and noted in the calendar for successful publishing.
Every writer can make use of a particular cell and post moves accordingly. This helps all members of the team get to know the status. This will also get to know how far the content is on. Entrepreneurs can make use of this system to monitor the progress in their content.
Developing Blog Content Calendar
There are many blog content calendars that can be downloaded. The next step is to move on with keyword research. The blog content calendar needs to be researched with a few ideas. The topics for the month should be scheduled in the blog content calendar. It is important to maintain your plans and schedules without delay. The most important is to keep writing contents as it pops up in your mind.
Conclusion:
A blog content calendar is considered as a sharable resource for the whole team. With this calendar, all the activities can be planned and implemented. The above-mentioned tips and tricks can be beneficial to all writers while they create and publish their content.
The calendar makes their work an organized one. There is ample free content calendar that can be downloaded online and utilized. Moreover, you need to research and get to know the various calendars, their features and uses before adopting them.