Blogging for Success:
7 Tips for Generating a Blog Calendar
Having a blog is only part of the battle, as most people find it very difficult to consistently write good content and churn it out on a regular basis. With that in mind, the following 7 tips will help you generate a blog calendar, lay out a logical plan for how you’d like your marketing message to be delivered, and hopefully keep you moving forward in your quest to deliver the best content to your audience.
- Brainstorm: Think about the story you want to tell about your brand and create an outline of all the important topics you want to talk about.
- Review: Look for a common thread (or theme) among your topics and decide if a story can be told over a multi-week period. If your content isn’t conducive to storytelling, separate your topics so they follow a logical sequence for your field (e.g. discussing web hosting tips before web design tips or detailing the first-time home-buying process from credit check to purchase).
- Choose Keywords: Keeping your theme in mind, select 2-3 keywords which should become the terms that the majority of your topics relate to.
- Create a Schedule: Decide how often you want to post content (e.g. Daily, Weekly, Bi-Weekly, Monthly, etc.). The most ambitious bloggers attempt to blog on a daily basis, though it may be best to start on a weekly basis to allow yourself time to get into the habit of publishing regularly.
- Construct a Road Map: Map out your plan for one (1) year of blog posts. Start small and remember a year is 52 weeks, so begin in 4 week increments.
- Note Important Dates: Compare your blog calendar against important dates and times of the year that are relevant to your business, topic, subject matter or special points you’d like to highlight on specific dates (e.g. Valentines, Christmas, Breast Cancer Awareness Month, etc.).
- Start writing: With your outline in hand, start creating 100-400 word posts. Begin by selecting titles that are catchy and intriguing but also plainly spell out what the post is about (this will also help your Search Engine Optimization (SEO) potential, especially if you incorporate your keywords liberally). Stick to one-topic-per-post, and if you find that one of your posts is more than 400, chop it up into a multiple post series.
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