An editorial calendar is a very important tool if you are going to manage a blog. Regardless of the type of blog you have, and what purpose it serves, you should have a calendar. This will ensure your posts are well balanced, that important information is uploaded in a timely fashion, and that you continue posting content at regular intervals. Here are some tips for setting up your editorial calendar.
There are no strict rules about what days you post or how often, but you need to make this decision before starting your calendar. The most important thing with frequency of posting is to be consistent. If you decide to post every other day, you need to post every other day. Your blog is going to get regular visitors who are expecting posts on certain days. If you don’t think you can keep up with daily posts, don’t commit to it. Commit to 2-3 days a week and go from there.
Who are you blogging for? This is an essential element when creating your editorial calendar. As you begin thinking about possible things to write about, it helps to know who you are writing for. If you are a small business owner that runs a business card printing business, writing posts for people who have absolutely no need for business cards isn’t going to be beneficial. Take some time to really hone in on your audience and find out what they are looking for.
If your blog is new, you will also need to decide on categories. These become the main topics you cover on your blog, which can be used on your editorial calendar. It helps to color code the calendar, by assigning one color to every category. That way, when you are looking at the calendar, you can see how often you are posting about one topic. If you have twice as many red labels as blue labels, the category with blue is being left out and needs to be included more in your calendar. This is an incredibly useful tool.
Holidays, seasons, events, and special occasions make for excellent blog posts. Just about every important day or holiday can be turned into a blog post, no matter what your target market is. The fact is, blog posts about the current trends or seasons are always popular. When fall hits, everyone is looking for posts about pumpkin spice lattes, carving pumpkins, the newest clothing and beauty trends, and how to decorate for fall. The same can be said for other seasons.
Your editorial calendar does not just include upcoming blog posts, but all marketing content for your business or brand. This includes blog posts, social media updates, themes or series you want to introduce, video or audio, pictures, and other forms of content you intend to use.
There are many ways to set up the actual editorial calendar, from using a printed calendar to doing it digitally. If your blog is through WordPress, you can schedule future posts and create a handy calendar that way. Even your computer’s calendar program will work.
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