A big part of having and growing a blog is blogging consistently, also known as maintaining a consistent blogging schedule. This is especially tricky (and important) if you have a chronic illness and/or a day job! Both of those apply to me, and while I have not been good at blogging consistently the last 2 months, it’s something that I’m pretty good at in general. So in this post, I’m going to share how to blog consistently, as well as resources that will help you do so.
This post contains affiliate links. All opinions are my own. Thanks for supporting Kate the (Almost) Great!
How To Blog Consistently
Plan your blog content in advance – I know that I say this in basically every blog post about blogging, but planning your content is a GAME CHANGER. It’s much harder to blog consistently when you don’t know ahead of time what you’re going to write about.
That’s not to say that you have to write about what you decided on ahead of time – if you change your mind about what you’re going to write about, then you shouldn’t feel forced to write it.
There are a couple of different ways to plan your blog content in advance.
One is to decide on what day each week you’re going to publish new posts, and then write what inspires you in the day(s) leading up to it.
But if you’ve read my blog posts before, you probably know my favorite one: making and using an editorial calendar.
An editorial calendar is a calendar where you keep track of your blog post dates, categories, and topics ahead of time. Basically, you decide what you will write about on what days in a calendar format.
I have found my editorial calendar to be especially helpful now that I’m not writing as many blog posts as I used to. I went from posting 5 days a week to 3, and then I went to 2, and now I aim for 1-2. Since I’m writing fewer posts, being strategic in spreading out my content is more important than it ever was.
What I Would Do If I Started a Blog Today
Work ahead if possible – This is my biggest tip in general, but it really, really helps blogging consistently. Sometimes we know about upcoming events that will affect our blogging schedule, such as a vacation or holiday. Sometimes we don’t, like a pet dying. (PS – Thank you for the kind words on Instagram about Abby ❤️.) Working ahead helps both of those possibilities.
Here’s an example of how working ahead can help you be consistent. My last gift guide of 2021 is going to be about homemade gifts, as it will be published shortly before Christmas and there won’t be time for people to read the post, order gifts from it, and receive the gifts in time for Christmas. Since it doesn’t require products to be available 2 months from now, I have written and scheduled the post and its promotion.
I don’t know what my life will be like in December, but I do know that that time of year is busy, and this is one way to ensure that I regularly post on my blog.
Starting a Chronic Illness Blog: Tips for Blogging with Fatigue and Pain
Cut back on your post frequency – If you’ve been blogging for a while – whether that be months or years – you may feel that you’re struggling with blogging consistently because you’re publishing many posts. If that sounds like you, I really suggest you cut back on how many blog posts you publish per month or week.
Back in 2014, I wrote 4 blog posts a week, but most of them were shorter (less than 500 words) and they weren’t great quality. I cut back to 3 posts a week in 2015 when I started grad school. Then, when I started my current job in June 2018, I cut back to 2, and when I added more working hours per week to that job, I cut back to writing 1 per week.
I like to think that I’ve written better and better posts every year, but in order to do that without sacrificing my stress levels, I’ve needed to write fewer posts. Plus, I want to like writing posts, and I can do that if I’m not constantly stressed about it. Now that I’ve been blogging for over 8 years, I know that I won’t like it 100% of the time, just like any hobby or job. But I don’t want to dread blogging or wish that I wasn’t doing it. And I know myself well enough to know that that means writing fewer blog posts.
How To Be a Health Blogger: Writing Blog Posts
Don’t Reinvent the Wheel: Use Resources Already Available
There are so many incredible resources out there already, and a ton of them are available for free. So one way to blog consistently is to use tools that are already out there! Here are some tips to help you with that.
Have a formula for your blog posts – Figuring out what works for you, your blog, and your posts means having a formula of some kind. For example, I always have an introduction, an image, the meat of the post, and a call-to-action at the end such as a question or asking people to share the post. Sometimes, I need an introduction to the meat of the post after the introduction to the post. That usually involves explaining the topic a bit more, whether it be explaining terms or explaining why people should care.
There are a lot of blog post formulas and templates out there. I’ve written one! But there are a ton out there, and all you have to do is search.
How To Be a Health Blogger: Writing Blog Posts | How To Write a Blog Post in 10 Easy Steps + Free Blog Post Template
Get (and keep) lists of blog post ideas – I keep running lists of blog post ideas in Evernote, and I also have the blog post ideas list(s) that I’ve pulled together for readers. It’s important to keep a record of what you want to write so that you don’t forget and so you’re able to work ahead when you’re able to.
There are a lot of blog post ideas out there, for every possible niche. So if you don’t know if you have enough blog post ideas on your own, don’t worry. There are many out there.
Since this is in the “don’t reinvent the wheel” section, I have some free resources for you:
- All of the blog posts I’ve created about blog post ideas
- Get 164 blog post ideas when you sign up for my newsletter
25 Awesome Blog Post Ideas for Beginners
Use free tools and resources when possible – I strongly suggest using free things as much as possible while you figure out what you personally need that is worth paying for. Blogging can be really really expensive, especially if you pay for everything that is sold.
For example, I’m not a fashion blogger, so I’m not going to shell out money for a DSLR camera, and if you’re starting out as a blogger, your phone probably works for your camera.
Similarly, this post is a free resource, almost like a free version of my ebook. (Almost – as close as you can get before a paid resource.)
Basically, use free tools like Canva before you buy something like Photoshop. Then figure out what you specifically need for your blog that has to be paid for. Don’t spend money on things you don’t necessarily need!
12 Tips for New Health Bloggers
Use freebies by other bloggers – Oh hey, are you looking for some free resources that will help you blog? Bloggers tend to make free downloads to help other bloggers. Some of them require you to sign up for the blogger’s newsletter and some don’t. Here are 3 that I made that don’t require you to sign up for my newsletter:
- Blog post template
- Free downloadable editorial calendar: PDF
- Free downloadable editorial calendar: Google doc
Want more free downloads by me? Sign up for my newsletter here and you’ll get access to my freebie library: sign up for The Greatest People.
But know when it’s worth paying for something – There are a lot of free resources out there! But there are some that are absolutely worth paying for.
I really think Pinterest with Ell is one of them. I thought that I was pretty good at Pinterest already (and, not to brag, I was definitely better than the average user), but this course showed me more ways to use Pinterest that have clearly brought me more traffic.
The reason that I chose Ell’s course is that I had heard so much about it since I’ve been in her Facebook group, and it wasn’t just from people who were new to blogging and using Pinterest for blogging. It was also from bloggers like me, who already used Pinterest and already thought that they were experts.
The course itself is $39, which is a pretty good price, especially if you’re new to Pinterest and using it for blogging. To me, it’s worth it. Especially because Ell regularly updates the course, so you can get up-to-date Pinterest information without paying for a new course.
Tailwind is another one. I use Tailwind for Pinterest and Instagram scheduling, and it is beyond incredible. According to their website, they have “Multi-board pinning, bulk upload, drag-and-drop calendar, and many more shortcuts built with your busy schedule in mind.” I love it.
My blog traffic grew so much when I started using Tailwind … and then it grew again when I actually started using it for more than just scheduling pins.
And like I mentioned, I also use Tailwind for Instagram. One of the biggest draws, for me, is that Tailwind is one of the only sites that can automatically post to Instagram without requiring you to open the app to post. So, while you’re at a day job or a doctor’s appointment, Tailwind can post for you. If you’re posting to your Story or you’re posting a Carousel, you do need to use that method. But otherwise? Go live your life.
In order to provide as much value as I can, I’ve made an ebook that I hope you deem worthy of paying $10. So, why should you?
Take your blog (and your income!) to the next level is a bundle of resources I created that is designed for health bloggers – specifically, those who blog about chronic conditions.
Something that has been very important to me about blogging in the last few years is using my platform to help other chronic illness patients. Whether it’s helping patients directly or helping them by educating the people in their lives, that has become my blog’s primary purpose.
But there is so much more room for other chronic illness bloggers. Truly, even if there was 1 blogger for every chronic illness – which would be a lot – it wouldn’t be enough. We need an endless amount of chronic illness bloggers, and we need them to succeed if we’re going to make a difference in patients’ lives.
That being said, I created an incredible 17 resources to help you succeed as a chronic illness blogger. They are:
- List of weekly blog tasks
- 49 chronic health blog post ideas
- 30 health blog post title formulas
- SEO checklist for bloggers
- Blog post promotion checklist
- Social media optimization for bloggers
- 25 chronic health Instagram prompts
- 26 chronic health TikTok/Instagram Reels prompts
- Tailwind checklist for Pinterest
- Tailwind checklist for Instagram
- 100 inspirational quotes to share on social media
- 60+ Christian quotes to share on social media
- Media kit template for bloggers based on mine
- 54 ways to grow your blog
- Blog set-up checklist
- My favorite resources for blogging
- How you can make money from your blog
This is all worth over $250*, but I’m selling it for only $10. That’s less than six percent of the minimum worth.
(*I worked at least 1 hour on each – not including the years of experience that enabled me to come up with these. If I charged Massachusetts minimum wage, which is where I live, it’s $255)
As a whole, I think this ebook is worth the cost. And yes, I think it will help you blog more consistently. Get it here.
What other blog issues would you like me to address?
Like this post? Check out:
The Blog Tools I Use and Love, Your Guide to Making and Using a Media Kit as a Blogger, How I Manage Social Media Platforms for My Blog, 13 Blog Strategies for 2021, How To Be Good at Blogging: Blogging with Limited Time
Kate Mitchell is a blogger, chronic illness patient, and advocate who helps people understand chronic illness and helps chronic illness patients live their best lives.
Thanks for these tips.I’ll find them quite helpful.