Steps for Developing a Basic Website Content Calendar

It’s widely known that content marketing has the potential to attract a significant number of customers at a fraction of the cost. However, with hundreds of thousands of websites producing content for their blogs, podcasts, YouTube channels, and social media accounts, it has become increasingly challenging to stand out. According to some estimates, over 3 million blog posts are published every single day.

To differentiate yourself from the competition, it’s not enough to simply create high-quality content; you must also deliver it on a consistent basis. So, how can you balance the demands of growing your business with the need to publish content regularly? The solution is straightforward: use a content calendar to plan your publishing schedule weeks or even months in advance. This guide will teach you how to develop a content calendar from scratch, enabling you to stay ahead of the game.

A Content Calendar helps content creators plan, organize, develop, and schedule content in advance. 

What is a content calendar?

A content calendar also referred to as an editorial calendar, is a useful tool that enables content creators to plan, create, and schedule content for owned channels (such as company blogs) and third-party channels (such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram) weeks, months, or even days in advance.

The primary objective of a content calendar is to streamline your workload and ensure that you can produce high-quality content regularly. Besides setting publication dates, it also helps to track authors, themes, and promotional strategies, and maintain product quality. A well-designed content calendar should cover three types of content.

The three types of content 

• Regular content 

Regular content refers to the pieces you produce most often. They relate to your business in a broad sense and can cover multiple topics. For example, if you have a fashion brand, you can create a blog that talks about how to wear dress shirts, what to wear in the spring, how to look good in leather, etc. While they’re all related, each piece stands on its own and can be in a variety of formats.

• Themed content series 

Themed content can be a great way to engage an audience over the long term. These are pieces that have a specific theme and follow the same format. People tune in for the series because they know what to expect and find the content or format interesting. For example, a fashion brand could make a weekly video series titled “wardrobe essentials.” Each weekly video shows viewers how to make the most of simple pieces of clothing.

• Once-off content 

This particular type of content is not produced frequently and is generally harder to develop. It centers around a significant issue or topic of interest to many individuals in your ideal audience. For example, a fashion brand may produce an eBook on “developing a classic style,” while a marketing agency may produce an annual report related to their field. All three forms of content are essential, and a content calendar can assist you in arranging and generating them.

A good content calendar includes various topics, has a publishing frequency, establishes the content format, assigns the right platform to be posted.

What to include in your content calendar

Let’s look at the information you’ll include alongside each type of content you add to your calendar. Keep in mind that the way you present the information will be based on the tool you use which is discussed in the next section.

• Topics 

Your content calendar’s list of topics should continue to expand, and having a substantial backlog of topics is beneficial. Set aside time at least once a month to add more general pieces and thematic content series to your calendar. This way, you can avoid missing deadlines due to a lack of ideas. Instead, you can select a topic from the backlog and assign a deadline.

However, don’t just stop at creating a backlog of topics. Consider elaborating on the topic by adding a perspective or outlining the article’s focus. This will ensure that your content maintains a consistent level of quality and point of view. Write a brief paragraph or two summarizing the primary idea or providing a basic outline of the piece.

• Publishing frequency

One of the main reasons organizations create content calendars is to establish and stick to a regular publishing cadence. Since everything is planned out, creating pieces well in advance is easier. For each type of content outlined in the previous section, you want to decide how often you’ll produce it. Once decided, arrange the topics by order of preference. If you’re using a calendar to arrange your content calendar then you can assign a due date to it now.  

• Content Format 

Each content format has its own pros and cons. For example, the written content is easier to create, but it’s not as engaging as video content. Video content is more difficult but it’s easier to hold the attention of your audience once you get the hang of it. Audio content has less competition than video and written content, but it also requires a different skill set to create. 

For each topic you add to your content calendar, you should also have a clear idea of the format you’ll use initially. You may also want to add notes about how the content can be repurposed over time. 

• Platform created for 

Each piece should have a clear home right from the beginning. Make a note that explains where the piece should be published once created. For example, you may create a video that’s for YouTube and one more that’s only embedded on your website. Remember that not all website builders give you the ability to insert the HTML required for a video embed. Choose a tool like Hostgator which you can be sure integrates with the major video players. 

• General guidelines 

Every content producer should have all the information they need to start creating content right at their fingertips. Add a section in your content calendar that shows them how to access all relevant material related to their work. This includes but is not limited to: 

• Stock photo libraries
• Written content guidelines
• Brand voice guide or brand style guide 
• Workflow diagrams and explanations (for example a breakdown or checklist of the company editorial process) etc. 

The general guidelines will look different for each brand but do your best to include everything you think people will need. An optional element to include is the person responsible for each topic. If you do assign topics immediately, avoid scheduling anyone too far in the future because things can change at any time. 

Choosing the right tool to organize your calendar

There are multiple ways to arrange a content calendar, and, in the end, the one you choose will depend on what works best for you and your team. Generally speaking, there are three accepted methods.

• Kanban Board 

When using a Kanban board to arrange your content calendar, the emphasis will be on the workflow instead of the due date. You may create columns labeled content resources, ideas, up next, in progress, draft complete, editing, passed editing, design, and schedule. Here the due date is less important as long as something is in the design or scheduled phases. Kanban boards tend to give people more control over what they work on. 

• Digital calendar

A digital calendar shifts the focus from the individual steps associated with creating content to the timeline. If you use this tool to organize your content calendar then you’ll immediately assign a due date to each topic. The challenge here is making sure people follow the right steps for producing high-quality content. Within each calendar entry, you can link to a checklist they should follow so everything is done properly. Many calendars can be embedded directly onto a platform like Wix or Squarespace so you just need to share the URL with your team. 

• Spreadsheet

Out of all the tools mentioned here, the most adaptable one is the spreadsheet. With it, you can produce numerous columns, rows, and sheets for your team to collaborate with. You can categorize content by date, assignee, and even the associated campaign. To monitor the project’s progress, you can utilize dropdown lists with labels like “in progress,” “draft complete,” “editing,” etc. Additionally, when using a tool like Google Sheets, it’s free of charge.

Conclusion 

A content calendar serves as a single source of truth when it comes to your content production. It helps you stay organized, get ahead of the curve, and deliver a consistently high-quality product. Keep in mind that the content calendar you choose today may not be the one you use a year from now and that’s alright. It’s more important that you’re organized and producing content your audience loves.