How To Perfect and Maintain Your Blog Content Calendar

I’m coming at you with another blogging-related post this week because it’s on my mind! Whether you’re a full-time blogger or balancing an outside career alongside blogging, it’s important to get ahead on content to stay on trend and churn out posts that are relevant and attention-grabbing in present day. Keep reading for my most helpful tips on how to perfect and maintain your blog content calendar to stay organized and on top of your game!

BRAINSTORM

For me, this is always done best with a blank piece of paper and a pen. Without overthinking it, I jot down every single content idea that comes to mind, even if they’re only partial ideas that need more development. I then categorize some of my favorite ideas on a rough timeline that demonstrates when these ideas are most relevant, as well as intermixing them so I can avoid doing too many posts of one category consecutively. I like to break up my fashion, beauty, lifestyle, blogging, etc. posts to keep my content different, so I keep that in mind during this mapping-out process.

DO YOUR RESEARCH

What’s popular right now? What are a lot of people struggling with currently that you could help with? What insight can you offer? Is there a gap you can fill? Can you implement current trends (seasonal and non) in your own unique way? I consider all of these things when coming up with content ideas that are different than what I’ve previously done. I’ve found that it also helps to scroll through Pinterest and build ideas off of things that draw you in and inspire you.

FIND A SYSTEM THAT WORKS FOR YOU

Are you a planner person? Do you prefer to keep your schedule on your phone? Are you a Google Calendar lover? Analyze what system keeps you organized best and implement that into your content maintenance process. I personally like to write my posts down in my planner, as well as utilize WordPress to label and schedule upcoming content. For instance, when I draft a new post, I’ll temporarily name the file “[FRIDAY, OCT. 17: *Title*].” This lets me map out my content before it’s scheduled to go live to help keep me organized in a way that allows me to see my upcoming posts at a glance.

COVER YOUR BASES

If you’re a blogger, this means having all of your content squared away for both your blog and social media (Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube, etc.). Use an app like HootSuite to schedule your social media posts so you don’t have to be glued to your phone during prime traffic times. I typically like to post about my new blog post at least once per social media platform, and typically twice on Facebook and Twitter. This allows for multiple opportunities to draw people in no matter what platform they come across your posts on.

__________

What system do you use to maintain your content calendar? How far in advance do you plan, draft and schedule your posts? I’d love to know! If you enjoyed this post, check out my other blogging-related posts here. Have a fun weekend & let me know of any topics you’d like to see future posts on!