Do you even need a daily blogging routine? It’s supposed to be fun and not feel like a job right? Switching between posting way too much to barely posting for a month straight is cool when you have no expectations. But, if you want to make your blog a success, you need to have a strict blog post schedule!
To create a blog post schedule that allows you to stay consistent, all you need to do is have content plan, use the calendar blocking method to map out your day, focus on writing quality blog posts, review older blog posts, look into admin work and engage with your audience!
I know what you’re thinking, isn’t Quality>Quantity? But in reality, it is Quantity>Perfection when it comes to blogging. There’s no point in posting quality content once a year because most social media platforms reward consistency. So, sticking to a blog post schedule that addresses your audience’s pain points is necessary to succeed!
Having a productive blogging routine will save you time and which you can use to scale your blog!
In this post, I go over why you should blog consistently, have blog schedule and how often your should post if you’re just starting out.
Why You Should Blog Consistently!
1. A Blog Post Schedule Will Hold You Accountable
You either work all day everyday on your blog or barely put in 4 hours of work per week. Don’t worry, I’ve been there too. This is exactly why you need to work on a blogging schedule!
By setting goals, you can measure your progress and also strategize your upcoming months to improve upon your failures.
2. Sets You Apart From Your Competitors
The only way you can outperform most of your competitors is by showing up daily.
Work on your blog everyday. Even though you have 2 hours to spare, it is more than enough!
If you work on your blog daily, you can complete most of your blogging tasks.
3. A Blog Schedule Allows You To Experiment
With a schedule, you can ensure you have quality content going out consistently. Now, with the extra time on hand, you can experiment with different aspects of blogging like products, services, networking and SEO.
Blog Post Schedule To Post More Consistently
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If you’ve been wondering how to make a blogging schedule for beginners, this is the post for you! From key metrics to keep in mind while creating a blog post schedule to actually implementing one, I cover everything here!
If you’re on the hunt for a planner, here’s a list of some of the best planners for bloggers by bloggers you need to check out!
1. Content Plan- Most Important Part Of Blog Post Schedule
Planning out your content well in advance is literally the first step towards creating the perfect content marketing strategy for your blog.
Yes, having a content plan will hold you accountable, help you stay organized, etc. but, the most important part about this is that you don’t have to worry about the quality of your content or second guess if a blog post will work.
Because trust me, there’s nothing worse than writing a lot of low quality blog posts and feeling accomplished when in reality, it is of no use!
To create a content plan for your blogging schedule, start by defining the goals you want to achieve for that week and month.
First, write down your long term goals. Pick a blog calendar or a digital planner and write everything you want to achieve for the next month. Then, start planning what you’ll be doing each week to achieve those goals.
To nail your daily and weekly blogging tasks, focus on these key factors:
- Blog post publishing frequency
- Finding high ROI social media platforms
- Creating content for those social media platforms
- How to convert followers to customers
Once you have a clear picture of what your day, week and month looks like, you can start blocking time in your calendar for the same.
2. Calendar Blocking- For An Efficient Blog Post Schedule
Calendar blocking is basically dividing your day into blocks of time where you focus on one task only. This will make you way more productive as you can get a bunch of tasks done in one day.
Pick a blog post content calendar or a digital calendar like Google calendar to begin. I prefer Google calendar as it is easy to use and you can move things around if you’re not satisfied with something.
This planner by Day Designer is the best planner with calendar blocking options if you’re someone who loves to jot things down!
1. Create Blocks For Each Task
Having a checklist is great but you can take it a step further and block time for each task in your checklist. This way you know at what time you need to do a task as opposed to staring at a checklist that doesn’t hold you as accountable.
For example, let’s say it’s Tuesday and according to the content plan you created for your blog post schedule, you’re supposed to get a post up on Friday.
What you’d do is, block 2-3 hours on Tuesday for writing the outline of your blog post. Then, maybe on Wednesday you can block 1-2 hours to fill in the blanks and on Thursday, batch create pins, posts, tweets, for the entire week etc.
2. Don’t Change Your Time Blocks
I know it’s tempting when you want to waste your time but don’t change your blocks often unless there’s an emergency. This is so important because you are literally the only one who can hold you accountable.
If you don’t treat your blog like business from day 1, you won’t be able to achieve your goals according to your desired timeline! Remember that your monthly goals depend on your weekly goals and your weekly goals depend on your daily goals.
Once you’ve decided that on Tuesday at 3PM you’re going to outline your blog post, you sit down and outline your blog post!
3. Color Code Tasks Based on Priority
Color coding helps you understand what are the most important tasks you need to get over with in a glance. It’s easy to color code your tasks on Google calendar.
Say you pick the color red for writing a blog post. Every time you see a red block you know what you’re supposed to do. You can duplicate this block for every day or every week. This way, you’ll be more efficient with your time.
I go in depth about my blog post schedule that allows me to write 4 blog posts per week in my blogging routine post if you’re interested! I highly recommend this as it is simple and no, you don’t have to spend 12 hours everyday to achieve this!
Now that you have created tasks for each day, it’s time to focus on the heart of a blog post schedule, working on your blog!
3. Writing Blog Posts- The Heart of a Blog Post Schedule
Writing blog posts that rank or at least have the potential to requires a lot of work from keyword research to SEO to distribution.
Keyword research is the best way to generate unique content ideas for your blog and it also ensures that you don’t second guess the reach of a blog post.
Set aside 2-3 hours in your blogging schedule solely for keyword research. It is a lot of work but totally worth it in the long run!
As writing a quality blog post can take most people anywhere from 2-4 hours, make sure you set aside time exclusively for writing. No phones, emails or social media notifications to distract you.
This is the only way you can maintain your blog posting consistency.
Are you just starting out? Find out how often you should be publishing blog posts as a beginner blogger!
4. Social Media Marketing
Find out which social media platforms provide the highest ROI and stick to it. Me and a million other bloggers swear by Pinterest as it is the only social media platform where people go to find things and are directed to a website.
Batch create pins for the rest of the month in a day or two so that you don’t waste a lot of time! You can easily achieve this by using Pinterest templates. They save my life to be honest.
Don’t try to focus on a bunch of platforms when starting out. This is leads to burnout. Be smart with where you put your energy. Instagram is great with video content right now but, nothing beats Pinterest and SEO in terms of traffic.
I’d suggest give Pinterest your 100% and maybe block an hour per week to strategize your Instagram (or other platform) content.
Read posts related to Pinterest marketing!
Loved what you read so far? I’m sure you’ll find my newsletter useful too! I send 2-4 emails a month where I go in depth about blogging and marketing. Subscribe if you’d like to receive one!
5. Review Older Blog Posts
If you’ve been a lurker on here, you know I won’t stop talking about reviewing and updating old blog posts and rightfully so because there’s so much potential in them!
1. Find Best Performing Blog Posts
First thing you need to do is log in to your Google analytics dashboard and find out which of your blog posts are performing well. Next, block time in your blog post schedule to make changes to these posts.
I go over this topic in depth in my How to Use Google Analytics to Grow Your Business blog post. Make sure you check it out as I mention the key metrics to look for in the Google analytics dashboard!
2. Update Blog Posts
Now, add affiliate links, polish your SEO and see if you can add a freebie if don’t have one already. This way, you have the potential to reach a wider audience, make sales and convert readers to subscribers all at once.
Also, when you review your old blog posts, you can get ideas for your upcoming blog posts. Go to Google and type in the primary keyword of that post and see what’s up.
People have so many questions so, you may find interesting topics to cover! Now add these ideas into your blog post schedule!
3. Improve Your Blog Posts
You know what I love about old blog posts that are performing well? They provide a great opportunity for internal and external linking. If you know anything about SEO, you know how important the structure of your blog and links are.
I like to go back and add links to some of my newer blog posts that are related to the older ones.
Not just that, if I find a fellow blogger in my niche who writes about something similar, I pitch a guest post idea. Now say they are on board, viola! you have amazing internal and external links to one of your best performing blog post!
This will help you build your page authority and eventually domain authority!
6. Client And Administrative Work- Backbone of a Blog Post Schedule
I’m sure you know blogging is more than writing and publishing a couple posts every week. The backend of your blog is just as important. We all love to make our blog look more attractive with themes, colors, images, etc.
But what about site health, navigation, speed, etc.? They are crucial to user experience. So, set aside a day in your blog post schedule to tend to these admin tasks. Fixing broken links, testing sign-up forms, redirection, etc.
Also, if you freelance for other bloggers or have clients to work for, make sure you block time for that well in advance so that you don’t miss the deadline. The best part is that this gives you both time to revise edits and finalize the work!
The time you allot for your clients and admin work directly contribute to networking/references and user experience, without which finding success in blogging is hard. Hence, they are the backbone of your schedule. Make sure you treat these tasks as high priority ones.
Side note, if you’re a beginner and want to monetize your new blog, stop waiting to hit 50k pageviews to finally monetize your website. Take charge and start making money from day 1 with these unique ways!
7. Engage With Your Audience- Feedback To Fuel Your Upcoming Blog Post Schedule
Your audience carries your blog. So, make sure you interact with them as much as possible!
Though Pinterest is a great source of traffic for your site, it lacks the community aspect other social media platforms provide.
This is where social media like Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and email marketing come into picture. These are the best ways to engage with your audience and understand them better.
So, set aside at least 30 minutes everyday in your blog post schedule to respond to comments and ask your audience questions related to your niche!
This way your audience feels validated and you can use their questions and feedback to create new content!
How Often Should New Bloggers Post?
Even though there is no set number of blog posts you should be publishing per week as a new blogger, you should try and post at least one per week.
But, you should be writing everyday or every other day. You don’t have to post it on your blog. You could start a Twitter account and tweet multiple times a day to practice writing too.
Not only does this help you understand how to write content that sells but it also helps you stick to a schedule.
Or, if you can put out 2-3 posts per week, then go for it. But make sure you do this every week because there is no point in posting 3 blogs the first week and never posting again. Consistency is key.
These were some tips to come up with a blog post schedule to post more consistently on your blog. Are you consistent with your blog post schedule? How often do you post on your blog? Let me know in the comments!
Also, share this thread on Twitter or with a blogger who is struggling to stay consistent with their blog posting schedule!
About Divya Hegde
Divya Hegde is a blogger, writer, and designer who helps businesses grow their online presence through content writing and social media marketing.
Saving this for the future – I am wanting to become more serious about my blog, and these are some great tips for how to make that happen.
Thank you Emily!
There are some great tips in here, I do struggle with time blocking so will be giving that a go. Thank you for sharing
I was just thinking about revamping my schedule. Thanks for these tips!
These are great tips! Consistency is definitely my biggest weakness!
I am doing several things with my blog as well, for example, I publish 2-3 post a month. I write my own stories and experience. But somehow, the SEO is an issue as I do not have many page views still.
Great advice. I am in my 2nd year of blogging, but want to grow faster.
I love all of these! I’m still new to the blogging world and know how important it is to be consistent. Thanks for sharing this! I’ll definitely need to implement some of these things.
This is very helpful! I’m the worst at keeping to a schedule, and I need to start doing a calendar.
All very great points! LOVE color-coding based on priority!!
These are great tips. Quite often we don’t plan and we miss the things that could improve our blogging and engagement.
Excellent ideas, suggestions and tips!!! I try to stay on a schedule and it really helps. I make lists of topics and things to do with each, such as writing, editing, posting etc…. it really helps!! Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this topic, I will definitely be referring to this to keep me on track!
I like the idea of blocking time for your writing work. So far I did just try to write 500 words every day, until a post was ready.
It is like budgeting money. You set aside a certain amount for each category and then you spend no more (and no less)
It’s important to have a plan if you want your blog to be successful and not just post whenever the wind blows you there. I write long content with a lot of research so I tend to post 2-3 times a month and that works for me right now. Great tips here.
These are great tips especially for me as a new blogger. Thank you!
Page bookmarked. I found very useful the tips you give. I am struggling with the palnning.
I absolutely have no idea what it’d do without a schedule, it’s so helpful!