Content planning: The complete guide to planning epic content

How are you at content planning? A finely oiled machine or a bit sketchy? There was a time when I would write over 60 posts a month. One month I clocked in at 83 posts! Now, there’s no way you have to post that frequently, nowhere near in fact. The thing you do need to do in order to grow your blog and be consistent is to plan your content. This tells Google that you’re updating your site regularly (which will help in terms of search engine rankings). It also gives your readers a reason to come back to your blog. They will invest more time in you and your content if they know you’re not going anywhere.

 

 

Sharing my content planning process will mean you have a head start and can hit the ground running. Never to be overwhelmed by content planning again. I’m going to walk you through a step my step guide.

 

 

Content Planning: step by step

 

 Content Planning Step 1

 

The first step in the process is idea generation. Sometimes, as bloggers, we have a flood of idea and other times…..tumbleweed. So, you need a system that gives you a constant supply of ideas.

 

Whether you keep your ideas in Google sheets, Numbers, Asana, Trello, Evernote or one of the other electronic systems, or if you prefer good old fashioned pen and pencil – you just need a system that works for you to help you collate all of your ideas. If you use digital systems then make sure they are all synced across your devices. So if inspiration strikes when you’re out and about you can capture it all on your phone. If you’re old school, keep your notepad with you at all times; well you never know when inspiration will strike, do you?!

 

Content planning if you’re struggling for post ideas?..

 

Start basic

 

Who is you ideal reader? What keeps them up at night? What are their biggest struggles? What could you do to help them? You content should be in response to these questions. You know your audience struggles with X or Y. Or that they want to reach a certain destination. So you content has got to solve their problem or move them towards their desired end point.

 

Buckets

 

Now you might have readers at different stages in their journey or with different pain points and so you can create content for each ‘bucket’ of audience members. Rotating round your ‘buckets’ when you create your content.

 

Content ideas from reader questions

 

Your readers will ask you questions on different platforms and so your can write content in response to these, especially the ones that keep cropping up.

 

Content ideas from surveys

 

Surveying your audience can provide you with a plethora of potential blog post topics AND it makes them realise that you’re listening to them and that you’re invested in helping them.

 

Through surveys you can find out what they are struggling with and gain more insight into their goals and objectives.

 

Content ideas from outside your niche

 

Looking to other niches can give you so many ideas of things that could translate to your niche. Could you do a spin on one of these ideas?

 

Theming your content

 

Another idea is to theme your content either by month or by week. I find it most effective to focus on one bucket of ideal readers each month and I rotate round their pain points within that month, before moving onto my next ‘bucket’ of audience for the following month, then the next, before going back to the first bucket and picking different topics.

 

Now you have a notebook bulging with ideas for your content that will be perfect for your ideal reader you are ready to jump into content planning.

 

 

Content Planning Step 2 

 

 

I use an editorial calendar to get a visual representation of my week and month. I prefer the Editorial Calendar WordPress plugin, but even a spreadsheet, paper and pen will do the trick. Choose a method that fits with how you work best. If you like paper planners stick with it, embrace it! This digital methods suits me, as I can see gaps, drag and drop posts and get a really good handle on the upcoming days/weeks. I also use Asana to help me keep track of where I’m up to with with actually writing the posts. In addition, I also keep a running list of the post topics I want to write about in there.

 

 

At this point it is a good idea to think about how many times a week you want to post and bear that in mind when you move onto the following steps. Remember quality ALWAYS beats quantity. Keep your blog all killer no filler.

 

 

Content Planning Step 3 – Start with your regulars

 

 

The first thing I do when faced with a blank calendar is to slot in the regular posts. The posts I write each week;  a linky you run or one you join in with. Perhaps an update you always write at the same point each week or even each month.

 

 

To make this duplication much easier I use the Copy to Draft WordPress plugin. This allows me to set one post up with the information which stays the same each week (maybe the linky badge or the post structure). Then, I just click the Copy to Drafts button a few times and lots of duplicate posts appear in the unscheduled drafts section. I simply drag these to the correct days on the calendar. Then, when it’s time to write the post I can just add that week/months information. This then means I start with a great visual representation of my month and of the gaps I have to fill.

 

Content Planning Step 4 – Add in seasonal posts

 

 

Next up add in any seasonal posts you intent to write. These would be posts such as Christmas posts, New year’s posts, School holiday posts, Halloween, Easter etc. This will obviously depend on your blog, as to whether any of these types of content would be suitable or not.

 

 

Content Planning Step 5 – PR/Brand posts

 

 

Then, I look at emails from PR’s and brands. I check the date they’re due and I pop them onto the calendar a few days before this deadline. That way if I move things around, I know I can pull the post earlier, but I would never push it later. Also it means they’re in the calendar so won’t get forgotten about. The same goes with review posts. If I know we’re going to an event or away on a review break, I will pop a post in the calendar for a few days after the visit, ready for our return.

 

 

Content Planning Step 6 – Personal content

 

 

Next up, I would add in any personal content. Posts which would fall in this realm are, updates about your kids, maybe a birthday, an anniversary or maybe even your blog birthday.

 

 

Content Planning Step 7 – Add in product launch posts

 

Do you plan to create a product or be involved in a promotion for a brand you are an affiliate for? If so, then you need to pop the posts which will support these promotions into the calendar.

 

 

Content Planning Step 8 – Any business/industry events?

 

Are you attending an industry even that you will be talking about on your blog? If so get it in your plan.

 

 

Content Planning Step 9 – Any themed posts?

 

Which posts are you going to write which fit with your theme?

 

 

Content Planning Step 10 – Content in response to your survey.

 

Add in the post ideas that have come from a recent reader survey.

 

 

Content Planning Step 11 – Jiggle

 

 

At this point some of these post aren’t set in stone. You can now jiggle the post around to fill any gaps you may have. It will also give you a consistent posting schedule (which remember Google loves!).

 

 

 

Content Planning Step 12 – Get to work!

 

 

My favourite thing to do when creating content productively is to batch the tasks. So, I might film a load of videos all at the same time. This makes sense as you will be set up to film one, so you might as well keep rolling and do as many as you can. You can then batch edit them too. Batching is super productive as it eliminates the focus loss (and time loss too!) that happens when you switch between tasks.

 

 

Another thing I do is to batch edit pictures in Lightroom. This saves me hours, I can edit one image, then apply those edits to all the other selected pictures. Save them in a folder in Lightroom and export to my Mac into a folder of the same name, so I am all good to go when writing the post.

 

 

I often drop the pictures into a post and then write around them. It helps structure and recollection (especially for a day out/event post).

 

 

Point to note!

 

 

Occasionally, I might work with a brand who want to see a draft by a certain date. If this is the case I pop the draft in on the day before the draft is due, then I can move it into place when I have approval. I might also put a blank (just titled) duplicate place holder post in the calendar on the date they want it to go live. Then, I can drag the actual post over and delete the placeholder.

 

 

Extra posts to add

 

 

I fill out the rest of my calendar using my list of post ideas and I’m good to go and get writing!

 

 

At the end of the content planning process, I usually have at least one post a day scheduled. Add into that sponsored opportunities that come up throughout the month. For me, it used to mean was publishing between 2-4 times a day. However it is a lot less than that now! However often you post, it’s so much easier to plan your content calendar in advance. Then you can hit the ground running, making the most of the time you have to create that great content!

 

 

How do you go about planning blog content? Feel free to let me know your process down in the comments.

 

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