When you blog regularly for your business you benefit from improved search engine rankings and brand awareness. Without a content calendar to support your efforts, however, you risk missing out on some of the commercial benefits of blogging for business.
A content calendar helps you plan and develop your blog with purpose and intent. It brings clarity to the process, allowing you to get ahead with your blogging. As a result, you can keep an eye on the titles and topics that work, and identify those that don’t.
So what exactly is a content calendar, and how does it improve results when you’re blogging for your business?
What is a content calendar?
A content calendar is an organisational tool that lets you see at a glance the topics, categories, and keywords you’ve covered, and those that need more exposure. It helps you plan your content months ahead.
Essentially, a content calendar holds all the important information and ideas you’ve had about your business blog in one place. It enables you to put together a cohesive blogging strategy, and keeps you accountable as you progress.
A blog content calendar is particularly useful if you hire guest bloggers or other contributors to write posts for your business blog – you can easily assign pieces of content online, and provide access to writers/editors as necessary.
Why do you need a content calendar when you blog for business?
- It keeps you organised and holds you to account with regard to deadlines
- You can see at a glance which areas of your business you’ve already covered in depth, and choose new topics of interest to your audience
- It helps you plan all the different elements of writing a blog post, including keywords, titles, calls to action, and publishing dates
- You can get ahead with your writing and blogging when you have extra time by creating blog posts in advance and scheduling them for dates in the future
- It helps you publish consistently and keep to a regular schedule – an important consideration when blogging for business
What should you include in your business blog content calendar?
Although larger businesses may need more detail in their content calendar, these are the basic requirements that help you stay organised:
- Publishing date
- Topic/category
- Author
- Blog title
- Description
- Keywords
- Status/progress
- Images
If you’re a prolific blogger or operate a larger business blog, you may also want to include:
- Notes/links to research
- URL
- Meta description
- Calls to action
- The social media channels you’ll use to share your posts
Which platform to use for your business blog content calendar
These are just a few ideas for developing your business blog content calendar:
Spreadsheet
If you don’t plan to blog frequently you may find that a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet or Google Sheets keeps you organised, holds the information you need, and is readily accessible. You might also choose Google Calendar as a simple, no-cost option for your content calendar.
CoSchedule
CoSchedule is content marketing platform that integrates social media and other editorial tools in one place. You can plan your business blog posts here, but also social media posts and other highly valuable types of content that build your brand.
You can also connect CoSchedule to your WordPress account/use the WordPress plugin. Integrate with other popular productivity and marketing apps too, including Evernote, Google Docs, and Google Analytics, as well as MailChimp and Constant Contact.
Monday.com
Monday.com is a work operating system that enables businesses to manage projects and control/track their marketing efforts effectively. You can build an editorial calendar for your business blog within this system, but it also offers an entire suite of organisational tools that may be useful for your business.
If you consider how many blog posts you’re likely to publish each week or month, it will help you decide on the most appropriate type of content calendar for you.
Do you already run a business blog or are wondering where to start? Why not drop me a line to find out how I can help. I write about money management, debt management, budgeting, freelancing, and working from home.
Let me help you reap the rewards of business blogging – building your brand, connecting with customers, and becoming the ‘go to’ resource in your market. Please get in touch via the Contact form, or drop me an email at: ann@cornerstonewebcontent.com
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