Writing out a detailed content calendar will help you develop a timely posting schedule and decide what type of content you plan to create. Content calendars can help you create, plan, and strategize content across any of your platforms. Most importantly, it keeps your readers & audience engaged by preventing your content from getting stagnant, repetitive or overly random.
Getting Started
When you develop a content calendar you can start by using a planner, Google document, or excel sheet. You want to use a resource that is readily accessible and editable for any updates or changes you may need. A content calendar should be strategic and align with your brand/company, target audience, and website goals.
This is an example of a calendar that can help organize your content before publishing. You can keep a color-coded system (located at the right) that designates not only who is writing the content, but what type of content it is.
This calendar is organized by the content, title, and includes holidays relevant to the month for publishing. You can also incorporate social media holidays that will help keep your audience engaged on your social platforms. There are online resources that can track the performance of your content and maintain organization for multiple contributors on your site. Online or project management tools are resources that can help with collaboration, tasks, and communication to a team or group of writers.
Creating a Calendar
Brainstorm content ideas that reflect your brand
Schedule content to be posted between 1-6 months in advance
Color code your content to reflect the various types of information you post: blogs, videos, infographics, how-tos, webinars
Plan content around holidays, special events, or trending topics
Online Management Tools
Online management tools are an excellent way to stay on track with your goals. Investing in an online management platform provides you 24/7 accessibility, the ability to collaborate, and the flexibility to pick a plan that will benefit the content goals for your site. Whether you just need help reorganizing your ideas or deciding which social platform to publish to, online management tools are great resources.
Schedule your post across multiple platforms
Discover new content to repost from hashtags, locations, and keywords
Shared content library for teams
Integrates with WordPress
Publish and push content to Social Media
Build Team Schedules
Link related content
Evaluates how posts will be promoted
Organize content from mobile or desktop
Project Management Tools
Project management tools help organize project, tasks, and create organized communication between team members. If you have a large team or manage multiple contributors on your website, having a project management tool can help map out the important steps. This is a great asset to developing efficient task management and structured team workflow.
Make sure you check the pricing and plans for any online tools.
Manages projects and personal tasks
Create boards, lists, and cards to organize
Add comments, attachments, and due dates
Increases accountability
Create to-do lists for all your work
Keep conversations organized in message boards
Monitor the status of projects in real-time
Manage your team’s workload
Integrates with hundreds of third-party sources like Outlook, Adobe, Slack
Content calendars are a fantastic way to get creative when planning content for your site. The key to success is being flexible and aligning any content you create with your brand goals. Whether you plan your content one or six months ahead, having a content calendar by your side will help set your blog up for success.
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