A treasure trove of blog content for the ENTIRE YEAR – is that even possible?, I hear you ask. Yes indeedy. When I was newly pregnant, I had no clue what kind of havoc my hormones would wreak (spoiler: there were many times that, looking back, I don’t even recognise myself). I knew I needed to create a plan to protect my blog so that I could feel less stressed about content and do more things like resting (also eating chips, let’s be real). Today I wanted to let you in on what was a game-changer for my content creation process. So let me share some strategies on how you can plan your blog’s content calendar for the year and finally get ahead in your blog and business.
How to plan your blog’s content calendar for the year
1. Set your blogging goals
What you need to do before anything else is to think carefully about your blogging goals. What do you really want to achieve this year? Do you want to improve the SEO of your posts? Be seen as an expert in your niche? Grow your community by starting an email list? Setting clear and specific goals helps you stay focused on what really matters to you. And, if you refer back to these goals regularly, you can ensure that all of the content you create relates to them and, therefore, is working to help you achieve them.
2. Decide on a publishing frequency
The next thing you need to do is to commit to a publishing schedule by deciding how frequently you will post new blog content. Can I give you a word of advice here? Be realistic and conservative. Life is busy and although you might dream of posting say on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, the reality of creating three new pieces of content each week might be hard to stick to. It can be very disheartening and overwhelming if you feel like you can’t meet your own high expectations. It’s better to commit to a less frequent publishing schedule to reduce the pressure on yourself. That way, any additional content you publish is a bonus!
3. Take advantage of seasonal context
One of the big advantages of mapping out your content calendar far in advance is that you can take advantage of seasonal context. Look at your yearly calendar and have a think about what kind of content you could possibly create around key seasons or holidays. There is so much scope for this! Fashion bloggers might plan content around the times of various fashion weeks, while travel bloggers could create posts relating to seasonal packing tips or destinations. These kinds of posts tend to get a lot of traction because they’re timely and the subject matter is trending.
4. Repurpose old content
I hate to break it to you but your readers can’t remember what you wrote a few months ago, let alone last year. People lead busy lives and consume a huge amount of information every single day so don’t take it personally. There’s a common misconception that for content to be valuable, it should be new. This isn’t true! Chances are, you’ve got a tonne of amazing content in your archives that readers have long forgotten about. With a bit of a spruce up, bingo, you’ve got something fresh to share and it’s only taken a fraction of the time than if you were to create something from scratch.
5. Plan your monthly calendar
You’ve set your blogging goals, decided on a publishing schedule, jotted down some ideas for seasonal posts and trawled your archives for potential posts to repurpose. Now it’s time to get planning! Use any tool you like – maybe a physical planner or perhaps an online tool or plugin. It doesn’t really matter what you use, what matters is that you do a huge brainstorm and begin to map out a plan, month by month. Scheduling these blog posts into your workload in advance means that you’re no longer creating content on the fly and you’ll no longer feel stressed or pressured. Then, once everything is laid out in front of you, the fun part begins – writing!
To help you put all of this into action, I’ve created a FREE 18-page blog content planner and workbook for you. Download t it instantly here:
Looking for more posts like this? Keep reading:
- How to Write Clickable Blog Post Titles (+FREE TEMPLATE)
- The Best Facebook Groups for Bloggers This Year
- Bloggers Share: My Biggest Lesson Learnt Since Launching My Blog
Have any content creation tips you’d like to share? Let’s chat in the comments below!
