How to Manage Your Blog Content Calendar

Your content doesn’t write itself. Read on to find out why you need a content calendar, who should manage it, and how to create a blog content calendar.

It’s about that time again…blog time. But, you have no clue what you’re going to write about. You spend what feels like hours reading other blogs, scouring the internet hoping for a lead or just reviewing your blog’s existing content for ideas to expand on – all in an attempt to come up with SOMETHING to write about in enough time.

Let’s face it – this process is exhausting. You have to search for a blog idea every time you write and over time, it becomes a chore, not a passion.

What happened? Blogging used to be fun and you could come up with 15 blog post ideas in minutes. Now, you’re drawing a blank and really need to focus on more important tasks.

Look, you’re not alone. The biggest problem most bloggers, marketers, and small business owners (heck, you might be all three!) face is planning and creating regular content that sells. You’re often on your own trying to plan everything out and are incredibly focused on many facets of the business. Finding blog topics isn’t a high priority. Who cares anyways?

But, there’s a secret why blogs remain a popular option for a strong marketing strategy. They draw incredible attention and give people reason to talk. And that’s where a plan is key. That’s where a content calendar comes into play.

Having a content calendar can turn your blog from being a hobby where you write about whatever into professional status with a system in place. Read on to learn how to manage a content calendar with ease and effectively gain the attention you’ve been wanting.

If you want to increase your standing online, it’s all about content creation. To raise your SEO (search engine optimization) ranking, you can title tag and meta tag your web pages till you’re blue in the face, but unless you’re producing new keyword-rich and relevant content on an ongoing basis, Google’s not crawling your site. You need to feed their spiders.

For most companies, this means writing and posting fresh blog content on a regular basis, as part of their content marketing strategy.

If that’s you and you want to be good at it, you’ll need to set up a blog calendar. But first, remember that a calendar means nothing if no one’s managing it. You’ve got to delegate someone to own the process. You need a Blog Traffic Manager.

In my experience, there’s a certain type of person for this role. Here are some key characteristics to consider when choosing your Blog Traffic Manager:

1. Organized:  This person will be directing cross traffic, making sure things are stopping, turning, and moving forward at the right pace. To run it well, he/she cannot be okay with chaos. They should be detail-oriented and need to be able to keep themselves organized and on target.
2. Tenacious:  He/she must be deadline driven and be able to drive others toward their deadlines. This person cannot be okay with excuses and must find ways to keep people motivated and on schedule. Once you start letting things slide a little bit, it’s so much harder to snap it back into shape.
3. Meticulous:  While it sounds a bit like being organized, this speaks more to his/her ability to review and post the finished copy. This person should be a good content editor—knowing basic grammar and spelling rules—and detail-oriented enough to ensure that the finished copy looks and reads well after being placed on the blog and/or in email templates.
4. Techy:  Your blog traffic manager doesn’t have to be able to build a computer, but he/ she should know the basics of how to post content via your CMS and how to layout an email in your email software. Some basic coding knowledge is preferred.
5. Creative & Analytical:  Yes, this sounds like a rare combination, and it is. But the best person for this position should have a bit of strength on both sides of his/her brain. Your traffic manager should want to find creative ways to communicate as well as be interested in some basic data points that show how and when blogs and emails are performing. This will only lead to better content and engagement in the future.

Having an all-in-one place to chart your content plan (this means ALL your content, not just blogs) is what will help you stay organized, consistent and on track to helping attract your ideal target audience. As you craft your calendar, ask the following questions with your team to form the right layout and consistency.

• How frequently will you publish? Do you have stuff going live every day? Perhaps multiple times a day? Finding out how often you publish can tell you how best to visualize your editorial calendar on a regular basis.
• Do you create more than one type of content? If you upload as many videos as you publish articles to your company blog, your editorial calendar will need to distinguish between the two.
• Who will use this editorial calendar? The best editorial calendars allow multiple people to brainstorm, collaborate, and provide feedback on assignments in real time.
• What are the various stages content goes through before it’s published? How complex is your content pipeline? Is there a substantial review or approval process that each piece of content goes through? Make sure the calendar details this process accurately so you can plan ahead.
• What format will you use to organize this calendar? You’ll want to choose the system that best aligns with your goals and your team’s workflows.

Once you answer the above questions, it’s time to sit down and chart the sections in your blog content calendar for the month/year. The sections of your content calendar can include details like:

• Blog topic idea
• Category
• Theme
• Suggested headline
• Keywords
• Author
• Call to action
• First edit
• Editing tool
• Deadlines
• Published date

You may or may not need all of this information, but it’s handy to have if you want to stay on top of your content schedule. And of course, if you need help, our team has already created a fantastic template to get you started. This will ensure you create the kind of content that your audience wants to see AND deliver it consistently.