Planning makes successful bloggers different from those who aren’t as successful. We all know that content planning is king if you want to succeed as a blogger and to achieve this, you will need a solid strategy to help you create a content calendar for your blog in 2023. Don’t let the word strategy frighten you. You don’t have to become a master of the mind to develop a plan for your blog. I will share how you can create a content calendar in just a few easy steps.
The Importance of a Content Calendar
Your blog will not write content for itself; you will need a calendar to help guide you and keep you on track. Having a content calendar for your blog shows that you are treating it as a business and are willing to put in the work as a blogger.
Most bloggers post to their blogs without a strategy, so most will quit altogether. Their blog has no real purpose, and they tend to write blog posts that won’t help their audience. If you’re using your blog as a journal to document special moments of your life or if your blog is just a hobby, then there isn’t a need for a strategy. But if you want to grow and monetize your blog, you must treat it as a business. And what do most businesses need? A plan! Here is why you should create a content calendar for your blog in 2023:
- You will become more motivated
- You have goals for your blog
- Your target audience is being served
- You’re maximizing your time
The Purpose of a Blog Content Calendar
A content calendar for your blog is to help you stay organized and map out your ideas, and your content calendar should help you write content your audience enjoys and gain new readers. Another purpose of a content calendar for your blog is to help you write blog posts for your categories.
When you create a content calendar, you won’t miss any opportunities to write seasonal content. For instance, if you’re a fashion blogger, keeping track of outfit ideas you can share with your audience for each season would be great. With your content calendar in place, you’ll be able to map out when to create your content sooner whether than later. Think about it this way; you don’t want to discuss a blog topic during the current season; you want your blog post to be written and published before the season begins to ensure it’s in time for your readers.
Things to Consider When Creating Your Content Calendar
When creating your content calendar for your blog, consider these four things:
- Your audience-you should know who your audience is and the type of content they want from you. What are their pain points? What are their problems? How can you help solve them?
- Your analytics– numbers don’t lie. Keeping track of your analytics will help you determine which blog posts are doing well and which aren’t. Of course, you can write about whatever you want, but you must always keep your audience in mind. Your blog posts are not about what you want but what your audience needs.
- Your goals- what goals do you have for your blog? Setting goals and creating a content calendar will help you stay on track.
- A keyword search tool- I’ve been blogging for four years now, and it wasn’t until a few years ago that I started digging into using a keyword search tool for my blog. There’s no point in writing a great blog post if no one reads it.
5 Steps to Create a Content Calendar for Your Blog
Take a full year at a glance and decide how many blog posts you would like to publish in 12 months. For example, My goal for 2023 is to write ninety-six blog posts by the end of the year. This means I would need to have eight blog posts per month, two blog posts a week. Yikes! It sounds scary, but it’s not. Knowing when you will publish your blog is a good idea. Don’t forget to remember any holidays or time off you will take throughout the year.
Grab Your Planner
Once you’ve decided on how many blog posts you would like to have published for your blog, it’s time to grab your planner; if you don’t have a planner and are searching for one to house your content ideas, I recommend this planner from Erin Condren. It’s customizable and easy to carry around.
Mark Any Holidays and Special Events in your Blog Content Planner
Next, mark your content calendar with any special events or holidays. If you know, you will write seasonal content or special dates like anniversaries, birthdays, etc., including those on your content calendar. Once you’ve determined how many blog posts you will have and any special holidays, it’s time to fill in the dates of when you would like to publish your blog posts. For example, if I want to publish a blog post every Wednesday and Sunday, I must mark those days as blog post days in my content calendar.
Brainstorm Blog Posts Content Topics
Now it’s time to determine your blog posts’ content topics. This is when you brainstorm relative topics for your blog and keep your special holidays and blog category dates in mind. This step is critical because you want to write content that people will read, so you must use a keyword search tool. I’ve been using KeySearch, which has helped me properly create blog post topics based on what my audience cares about. I would avoid searching topics too far in advance since information can change.
Determining how many blog posts you will write under each category is a good idea. You’ve already decided how many blog posts you will write in one year; you must include how many content categories you will cover. Be sure that your blog posts are even across each category.
Fill In Your Blog Content Calendar
You are now ready to fill in your blog content calendar! I usually fill in my calendar monthly, but you can develop a system that works for you. Leave room for any required sponsored content, and ensure your content calendar is easy. It might take a couple of months to nail down the order you will write, but that is very simple.
Use Your Blog Content Calendar
Now that your blog content calendar is completed, it’s time to use it! What good would you or your blog do if you don’t stick to the plan you’ve created? You have saved yourself time and stress; you no longer have to worry about what you will post next! Having a few blog post topics for just one month will make you more productive and focused. Use your blog content calendar to help guide you, not restrict you, and change things if they no longer serve or help your audience.
Well, that’s all my friends. How to Create a Content Calendar For Your Blog in 2023.
Check out this recent blog post: How to Write Your First Blog Post.
19
