Everyone’s blogging style is a little different and everyone’s process is different, too. I’ve already explained my process for writing a blog post, so I won’t go into that today, but I do want to talk about a tool that can really help every blogger: an editorial calendar. Here I’ll talk about what one is, why you should have one, and how to make one, plus a free downloadable editorial calendar to get you started AND a list of 164 blog post ideas. Basically, this is a super awesome post. *not so humble brag*

Editorial Calendar Overview

An editorial calendar is a calendar where you keep track of your blog post topics ahead of time. Basically, you decide what you will write about on what days in a calendar format. This looks different for different people; for some, the topics written in the calendar are more general, while for others, they are very specific. The whole point is for it to help you, so find a system that works for you.

Overall, editorial calendars help you prepare for posts ahead of time and let you organize your post topics. It helps you to be more organized as a blogger, prepare for posts ahead of time, and not worry the day before a post goes up to figure out what you’re going to write about. It also helps make sure you don’t post about really similar topics two days in a row, which keeps your readers coming back day after day since they know that you’re going to write about new and interesting thing every day. Plus, if you are going to need to take pictures for a post or go shopping for materials or make any other preparations (depending on what you blog about), you’ll know ahead of time and can adequately prepare.

How long it takes to pull together really depends on you and your process. For me, it takes less than a few minutes, but my calendar itself is kinda bare-bones (I’ll explain my process down below). If yours is more detailed, it might take you a little longer. But since it makes me more organized – which lowers my stress level – it is so worth it.

How To Pull Together an Editorial Calendar

First, if you don’t already know, decide how many days a week you’ll post and different types of posts you’ll write about. Next, pick some kind of calendar to keep track of your posts. I use Google Calendar, but I know some people use a paper one, iCal, or something similar. Once you have a calendar, label each day that you will post with the general topic for that day. For example, I sit down towards the end of each month and label each day that I’ll post with one of my categories: Lifestyle, Health, or Writing. If I know a specific post topic that I want to do for that day I’ll label it with the specific topic, but generally I go with the larger category when I’m planning a month in advance.

Next, decide what specific topic you’ll post about shortly before you need to start writing the post. Like I said in a previous post, I keep list of blog post ideas in Evernote. One to two weeks before a post goes live, I sit down with this list and my calendar and decide what specifically to write about. Then, two to four days before the post goes up, I outline the post, which I talked about in my post on my blogging process.

This is what my editorial calendar looks like. I use different colors for different categories. I really like Google Calendar because it tells me when certain holidays are, which is great for planning post topics as well as adjusting my schedule as needed. For example, I have a normal schedule – posting on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday – and a long-weekend holiday schedule – Tuesday and Thursday – so that I don’t post on a day when practically no one will read.

Free Downloads To Help You Make Your Editorial Calendar:

Free editorial calendar with blog post ideas, Free list of 164 blog post ideas

Like this post? Check out:

Writing a Blog Post: My Creative Process, 5 Most Amazing Blog Post Ideas To Bring You Traffic for Years, The Best Pieces of Blogging Advice I’ve Ever Received