Posted on: Thursday, April 11th, 2013

Do you need an editorial calendar?  The answer is a resounding yes!  This blog to-do list will keep you organized, help you plan ahead, and even help you see where you are lacking content or have content overload.

There are several options to create an editorial calendar—it is a matter of personal preference.  You can use a basic weekly or monthly paper planner, create a spreadsheet on your computer, find one online, use a WordPress plugin, a calendar app—or whatever you can dream up!  Really, just numbering the days in the month in a notebook will work, too!

Some important info you might want to include in your editorial calendar is: post date, title, subject, keywords, categories, tags, notes, scheduled status, and anything else you might need to create a successful post.  It’s YOUR calendar—there is not a right or wrong way.

It is also helpful to create a spot in your editorial calendar to record your stats for the month—Facebook followers, Twitter followers, RSS feeds, email subscribers—whatever you need or want to track.  This will give you a comprehensive look at your reach and other metrics.

Do you post to Sverve, Twitter, Facebook, Google+, and other social media sites?  Add a checklist for each day to ensure you are broadcasting your posts!  As I said before, it’s YOUR editorial calendar.

At Mom on the Run x2, I keep two—my editorial calendar planner and Google Calendar.  My editorial calendar planner is just a sounding board for my posts—I notate the post titles and other information into the calendar, use it to keep track of my stats and metrics, and keep a running list of post ideas as I come up with them.  I also have a section that I keep track of my income and expenses, as well as any pending review or giveaways I have going on.  This planner has been crossed out, written over, and probably even stepped on… it’s not pretty.  It doesn’t have to be.

Once I figure out a working plan for the month, I then transfer all my post titles into Google Calendar.  This way I have this information whenever I am near a computer with Internet access or on my phone with the Google Calendar app.  I highly recommend using it for an editorial calendar for the sole reason that you can point-click-drag to move things around… it’s a time saver when you need to move posts around to make room for more relevant content.

The most important piece of advice I can give you is don’t set your editorial calendar in stone.  You have to be flexible and willing to rearrange your posts if something comes up.  Just because it is on the calendar doesn’t mean it has to go live that particular day.

No matter what type you choose – a paper planner, a notebook, or an online calendar—it will make your blog planning much easier and less time consuming.   And we all need a little (or a lot) more time.

 

Julia Gibson is a mom of twins, wife, accountant, scrapbooker, card maker, and self-proclaimed nap sneaker. She blogs about life, crafts, recipes, simplifying, organizing, reviews, blog tutorials, social good, survival tips for moms, and anything else that makes her laugh at Mom on the Run x2. Keep up with Julia on Facebook, Pinterest, and on Twitter.