How I plan my blog content has drastically changed to when I first started blogging and my content is also focused now on other areas. My blog was a hobby as well as my job but now I am planning to take my blog to the next level and develop my business and my brand. Planning blog content is an exciting process to see where you want to take your blog that particular month. I plan my content ahead of time, to ensure I am posting consistently and I do not hit the dreaded burn out of writers block.
Setting yourself a blogging schedule is essential in this process. Planning how many times a month you want to post, down to the day and time helps your audience see consistency that they can follow along as well as building your blog’s credibility as well as improving your site’s DA score. I have had my blogging schedule in place for over a year now and it has allowed me to plan content months in advance. I have found planning content ahead of time is great if you are wanting to pitch to brands, as you have time to negotiate ideas and prices.
National days or holidays
There is the national calendar that allows you to search month by month for awareness weeks, national days and holidays, this is great if you want to plan content that is trending and current for your audience. You can often get involved in activities and online campaigns around those weeks for example stationery week is something I do each year and is extremely popular, this is where I will work with a lot of stationery brands.
Pitching ideas to brands
Once you have a list of blog post ideas you can pitch to brands that would fit into that content well and would be beneficial for the brand to be involved with the content. Pitching to brands is not something everyone is ready to do, but using Kayleigh’s pitching to brands guide shares templates to get you started. It is definitely worth putting yourself and your blog out there to create some insightful content for your audience. I will try to pitch to at least 3 brands a week, there will be times when I do not hear anything back, but I keep trying.
Photo by Hannah Olinger on Unsplash
Pinterest and Twitter
Pinterest and Twitter have a lot of blog post ideas that can help inspire you to create content. If you were to come across an idea but would like to put your own content out there, crediting the original creator allows you to disclose to your audience and will enhance your credibility and your site’s integrity. If you struggle for ideas there are always tags and seasonal posts that you can get involved in and give yourself a chance to share more about yourself to your audience. I find Pinterest is the most helpful in giving me more inspiration.
Update old content or build from old content
I will often work on older blog posts, updating them interlinking content as well as updating them if I have further knowledge on the subject. Doing this process regularly can help boost blog traffic to your older posts and help with your site’s DA score. If you have a blog post or a topic that seems to have done really well on your blog it can be an idea to create another post similar to that content, as it is clearly a topic your audience is interested in.
Once I have created the content
When I have all the content ideas listed, I will write out the dates for each month in my notebook and start placing the ideas on each date. When I have it finalised I will write it into my bullet journal and I will check each element off as it is completed. This allows me to stay organised and motivated with my blog. Planning and creating my content like this allows me to plan ahead sometimes months at a time and it leaves me more time to promote my blog and engage with my audience and read fellow friends’ blogs.
When writing blog posts, I will write a draft for each post in my notebook. I like having a physical copy of all blog posts as it means I have the chance to put pen to paper when a lot of blogging is technology and screen heavy and who doesn’t like going stationery shopping?
If you are a blogger, how do you plan your blog content? I’d love to hear in the comments.
Currently I don’t have a blogging schedule – the only rule I have is that I make sure to post at least once every 6 days. I am usually working on a few posts at any given time, but I just publish them as soon as they are ready. I have been seriously considering creating a blogging schedule though, so that I can get ahead of myself and take the pressure off by having blog posts planned into the future! Thank you for all your advice, it’s really useful and has helped persuade me to have a blogging schedule.
I’m quite good with my blogging schedule, though I have noticed that the results never line up with what I say I’m going to review as things change about so much! I think planning is key with blogging, as otherwise it can get super overwhelming otherwise.
I can definitely see how planning content can be helpful. It gives you more time to write and research when you know what you want you want to write about. I should give this a try.
Reaching out to brands is difficult. I tried reaching out to 2 a few days ago but heard nothing back. I want to add different content using products I love that I can promote
I’d definitely like to learn more about how to reach out to brands and collaborate on blog posts with them. Thanks for the info!
I have a post coming up about how I reach out for brands so look out for that
I usually just let my ideas flow to me in the spur of the moment sometimes I’m writing one thing and end up writing another, just let inspiration guide me
That’s a great way of writing also!
Such a good idea. I’m just getting out of a blogging slump so I think a schedule is something I should certainly create.
It is definitely a game changer, well it has been for me anyway
I think this is such a great post and idea. I am just coming out of a blogging slump, so should probably look at creating schedule, plus a schedule would be better for the work life balance. X
Posts like this make me SO happy because I, as a big planner, love seeing how other people plan. This is so ordered and logical and I like how you do it. I also love that once you’ve planned in advance, you reach out to corresponding brands. Will definitely start doing that!
Jas xx
I have a blog post coming up about how I reach out to brands, so look out for that. But definitely reach out to them xx
Currently I have no blogging schedule. I write blog when I get inspiration. But after reading your post I have decided that I also have to make a schedule. Thank you
Currently I have no blogging schedule. I write and publish my blog when I get inspiration. There is lack of consistency in my writing. But after reading this post I realised that I also have to make a schedule and work acoordingly. Thank you
I hope it helps!
I just recently started planning my blog posts and it definitely makes things way easier!!! I don’t have a schedule, but I do post every week! Sometimes its on Wednesday, sometimes its Friday haha
It’s great to plan a bit ahead as it helps to stay organised!
I love how you plan your content way ahead of time. I need to get on your game because I am here planning my posts a couple of days before. You are the example of keeping things stress-free! I like that you’re super organized as well. Thanks for sharing!
Nancy ♥
I used to be like that but being ahead of the game has changed how I see blogging and I enjoy it so much more. Thank you for reading, commenting and sharing xx
Thank you so much for the tips. At the moment I am just catching up with my travels.
I usually plan my posts a week before the month starts. That way I have time and a plan. If I didn’t have the ground work ahead of time, I would forget to post. 😂 Then I write the posts a week before they are meant to go live.
Thanks for posting about how you plan your content.
Thank you for sharing your strategies – you’ve given me some great ideas!
Thank you, I hope they help. Can you share your blog post link x
Beautifully penned! I never thought of searching for holidays and evens through the online calendar, but I see how much of a help it can be with timing.
Thumbs up! I handwrite everything as well, though my notebooks are vastly different from yours.
Thank you lovely! What are your notebooks like?
Very plain. I try to keep the lines clean but the tops of the pages and often the margins are full of scrolls and scribbles!
These are such great tips! I always try to be at least a week ahead for mine, and I keep a list of ideas. I never considered checking what holidays/national days are coming up though!
Kenna, lifeoflilyblog.com
I hope they help! Thank you for reading and commenting x
This is great! I love the idea of coordinating posts with holidays and other notable days in the month. I’m a new blogger, but my current process is: writing all my ideas in a giant google doc, planning which posts I’m going to do a few months in advance in my google calendar, and then writing the post in a google doc and copy and pasting into WordPress. Probably not the most efficient way to do it, but I’m still learning. Great post 🙂
I’m only several weeks into blogging, and a schedule is something I should definitely be looking into. Right now I’m just posting on my blog whenever I feel like it, or have the time, as I have so many other things on my plate! I’ll probably start thinking about this more seriously in the coming days. I’ve started thinking about the larger story/narrative.
By the way, the national holidays are an absolutely great idea! Just wondering if you have any tips for bloggers like me who are more into evergreen content?
Thanks! xoxo
Lauren love this blog post and even I plan a lot if my Blogging content now, because of full time work commitments. I agree that it helps me stay on top of my blogging.
It really does help doesn’t it? Thank you for reading and commenting x
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I went through the same situation, I think posting on schedule that would be nice to help keep consist. However, I haven’t done a planning content for a month and I will try that, great post.
That’s really useful! I need to get much more organised, but I am trying!
ahhhh this is kinda inspiring me to get my act together with my blog! I do have ideas about what I want to post, but I just lack organisation and motivation. You have some really great tips though that I’ll deffs be implementing going forward with my blog, as I’m just getting so lazy!!
They are great tips for planning your content! I hope maybe one of these tips can help! Thank you for reading and commenting x
I need to be like you!! You are so organised, I started a spreadsheet to start planning my posts but it went a little unloved.. time to break it back out again!
Definitely give it a go! Maybe start small and build, it can be less daunting and restrictive to start. Please can you link your blog so I can have a read x
I only started blogging in August this year so it’s all very new still. I can’t seem to plan ahead though with posts, I just seem to lose the creativity of it if I plan. I’ve noticed I seem to work better when I just write when I’m inspired to. I do however have a note book especially for ideas and taking notes also have a list of subjects to write about😊
I think I definitely need to schedule my days though because I’m posting once a week but on random days, so thanks for your post I’ll be starting that…hmmm but which day🤔haha..
Great post!! Thanks for the tips. Would love a schedule sample or template even 🙂
I will share those things on insta soon xx
Hey! Great way to come up with content. I do have a question: when dealing with brands, how do you it? I have been wanting to work with brands for years and aside from posting on IG when I like a brand& tagging them and being on the Influenster app, I don’t know other ways to get a notice and have confidence to approach them. Thanks for any advice!
I have shared 4 tips on how to work with brands. DM me on Twitter and I will send you the link
Thanks!!!
I don’t plan anything! I’m notoriously bad at sticking to anything so perhaps planning my posts would help me be more consistent. The only thing is I have trouble coming up with ideas for posts. Need to get my thinking cap on! Great post Lauren xx
I have a blog post 8 ways to never run out of blog post ideas, I hope that could help you. I find planning my posts so much better xx