Developing a blog schedule for your business that you will actually follow
Blog posts have the potential to be one of the greatest content pieces your business will produce. They can tackle frequently asked questions, provide useful information for customers and are easily sharable on social media—not to mention the SEO benefits. Blogging can differentiate you from your competitors by adding depth and variety to your standard company website. The problem, however, lies in consistency. Committing to a blog schedule is just like sticking to a workout schedule. It can be strenuous and take careful more planning, but if persevere, in the end, it's intensely rewarding. But we know it isn't easy. To help you stick with a steady schedule, we’re sharing our advice for posting on a weekly basis.
Stay Committed. When creating a blog strategy, think of it as the equivalent of a client commitment. State the publishing intentions to your audience, whether that’s telling them you’ll be posting on Mondays every week or Fridays at 3 p.m. By conveying the schedule aloud, you hold yourself, your blog and your company accountable to writing new content. Posting weekly allows you to build up a great library of content over time, but gives you the right amount of time to make each post individually shine. When it comes to SEO, consistent posting helps Google rankings and establishes you as a thought leader. For those that need extra motivation, reward yourself in some way when posts have gone live.
Stick to a Schedule. A weekly or bi-weekly schedule is usually enough to cover a lot of ground each month. While some blogs can get away with posting every day, many don't have the bandwidth to support that kind of commitment, stretching their content too thin in order to hit the “publish” button. By staying true to your schedule and editorial calendar, audiences will begin to trust your blog as the go-to source for your topic of consideration. With each new published piece of content, readers will look forward to returning to your blog, just to see what you have in store for them. If you’re struggling with content ideas, don’t dismiss the idea of guest posting, reviews, roundups and even sharing older posts.
Create an Editorial Calendar. To post weekly, you must remain organized. Use an editorial calendar, just like you would with social media posting. Outline blog topics with bullet points 4-6 weeks in advance so that way, you can plan posts ahead and rearrange if necessary. Use technology - there are various apps and programs to help organize, write and plan posts in ways that surpasses all notebooks and pencils. Brainstorm with Quora, a content strategy app to find what topics people are talking about. Organize thoughts, share links, photos and begin to write with Evernote. Create stunning visual collages with one of our favorites, Canva. Or, just outsource the process completely.
By remaining organized, motivated and dedicated to your blog, posting at least weekly will become a breeze. And if you need help getting started, we can help.