Today we will dig deeper on how to plan your blog content in advance.
One of the major goals I have since the enhanced community quarantine began was to blog in advance. I want to be at least a week or two ahead of content.
Content writing takes up too much of my time I could spend in growing my reach, increasing my traffic and finding ways to monetize the blog. And so I gave myself some strict guidelines that I may be able to blog in advance.
In this post allow me to share all the helpful tips and tricks I learned that can help you plan your blog content in advance too. Let’s begin.
#1. Figure out your posting schedule
Before you can start planning your blog content in advance, you need to figure out first your posting schedule.
Which days of the week will you publish a new post?
There’s no right or wrong answer with this one. There’s no really written rule how many posts a month you should publish in order to succeed. Some find blogging every single day easy, others every other day while some just once a week.
Really think of the amount of time you have at the moment and moving forward. How many posts in a week can you commit? Decide on this first so you can have a total number of posts you need to create in a month.
For IzzaGlinoFull, I publish new content every Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Occasionally, I also blog on a Sunday for monthly recap or faith-related posts.
Now you don’t have to get pressured to do the same. The most important thing to keep in mind is to decide on a schedule that works for you. You want to have the impression of being a consistent blogger especially for your new readers. You don’t want them to visit your blog only to find that your last post was a month ago already.
Also do note that quality over quantity when it comes to blogging. You want to publish content that is valuable to your target audience. This will make your blog noticed and turn visitors to loyal readers.
#2. Have your main blog categories ready
In the past, I used to blog about everything. Not until I found out the value of narrowing down your niche. Blogging every topic there is will not only make your readers confused. It will also make you, as a blogger, confused!
So how do we fix this?
Have your main blog categories.
You want to have a main or core topic that best represents what your blog is about. This process will take time especially because there are a number of topics worth blogging now. But, spend time deciding on your own which core topics you want to be known or found.
For IzzaGlinoFull, I have Beauty, Blogging, Planning, Life and Faith. I see these topics as a bucket I can fill in with any specific content ideas I have.
So take a look at your current blog and see what your main categories are. This will cut down the process of finding what to post next in an instant. See next step.
#3. Dump your blog post ideas for each category
With your main categories ready, type in blog post ideas for each category you can think about or you have searched on the internet. Just write down whatever comes to mind a.k.a. your working titles.
Here are ways you can find blog post ideas:
From other blogs. Reading blogs and/or reading in general will help you accumulate blog posts. I mostly read my favorite local blogs to see what they've been up to lately. If I find an interesting post I get inspired to do my own spin to it.
I also visit Bloglovin’ a lot. It’s a platform that allows users to read, organize, and discover their favorite blogs on mobile and desktop. As you discover more blogs blogging on the same topic you are interested with, you gain more post ideas for your own.
Pinterest. This is another gold mine for blog post ideas. You can easily search any topic and find thousands of posts related to it you can read and blog about.
Life. Of course one major way I get fresh blog ideas to blog about simply based on what’s happening currently in my life. This blog post for example was made because I’ve been trying to blog in advance.
Here are blog post ideas you might want to check out:
#4. Start plotting on your calendar or planner
With your big list of blog post ideas ready, it’s time to plot content on your calendar or planner. You want to have a clear picture of the very post that will go up on a particular date of the month. This will also help you plan out what post to write first.
Read next - My Blogging Essentials
#5. Conquer your task list
The last step is to conquer the task. This means acting out on steps 1-4 accordingly. The hardest part when it comes to planning your content is getting started. I am a big procrastinator myself so I deeply resonate with those who find it hard to take action on the task.
Commitment will play a crucial role in this part. You have to make a commitment with yourself, your blog and your readers. Set a deadline so you’ll have a time frame as you work on your task list.
# 6. Get rid of distractions
This is such a common way we don’t get to do what we ought to do. If you are really serious in planning your content in advance, make sure you get rid of all distractions. Set your phone in Airplane mode so no notification comes in. You can also delete apps that are dragging your productivity down.
Another way I get rid of distractions is by setting a timer.
Have you heard of the Pomodoro Technique? It is a well-known technique in accomplishing any to-do list wherein you set an amount of time, commonly 25 minutes, of continuous deep work. You cannot be distracted or you cannot withdraw from the task you are doing in that time frame.
This really helped especially with the tasks I have as a blogger. You can easily apply this with every task you have moving forward. To stay away from procrastinating, time each task and do it.
I hope the above tips help you plan your blog post in advance.
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