5 Ways to Build Your Editorial Calendar

Editorial Calendar

You just created an editorial calendar. Now what?

It was the biggest dilemma I found myself in, in the early days of my blogging. Getting stuck on – what should I write about next? What should be on my editorial calendar?

Why do I need an Editorial Calendar?

I asked this to myself when my posting schedules were way too erratic. The articles did not really have a focus and well, I had no clue of SEO (I still don’t). That’s when I heard about Editorial Calendar during one of the #BlogChat.

It has been a constant companion since and has helped me think about the topic early on. Keeping the thoughts and research focused improved the quality of my articles and more importantly, I was able to write more articles than I ever could.

So much that I have devised my own version of the calendar which you can download too.

Few Thoughts On Building Editorial Calendar

1. Post Keywords

I end up picking lot of keywords while reading some articles. The interesting ones always land up on the editorial calendar and then go for further research. For research, Google search works the best for me as I key in the keyword and see what people are searching about. On few occasions, I do use the Google Keyword Research Tool but I still like the old-fashioned way of searching.

2.Key Goal(s)

What do you want the readers to know? ‘Online Branding Strategy’, ‘Content Promotion’ are examples of the goals that can be set. With keywords and goals go forward and research on the topic.

3. Post Title

When I have enough research on the subject, the next line of thoughts are on writing a title. Many folks I know simply read or share the article because it has a great title. So, focus on writing a great title. I have found a handy guide to help me write great looking headlines.

4. Call To Action(s)

Before starting to write, it always helps to know what you want the readers to achieve after reading the article. Having definite Call-To-Actions on the editorial calendar helps in elaborating the goal. CTA are great baits inducing readers to stay longer on your site and decreasing the bounce rate, a key SEO feature.

5. Scheduling and planning

While having definite data from each of the above columns should aid in writing amazing content it is important that you plan for content delivery and promotion. Sometimes, if you’re doing a video interview, you may have to schedule the delivery accordingly. So it’s essential to set target dates and the promotion strategy.

Cover each of these and am sure you’ll have a rocking Editorial Calendar.

Your Turn

1. Do you use an Editorial Calendar

2. Do you use any specific Editorial Calendar Tool?

3. What best practices do you suggest?

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...