A content schedule is something that every single blog and website needs, but that many do not. This is simply put, a schedule that will outline when you are going to post certain articles and when you are going to cover particular topics. In order for a blog to be successful, it needs to publish regular, high value content. This is what people will come to your site for after all, and if you don’t provide it, then people will eventually stop going. Not only that, but Google looks for sites with good content and that are regularly updated. But why do you need a schedule? Here are some important reasons.
Why Sites Need a Content Schedule
Variety
Most blogs will cover a range of different topics. Take something like the Four Hour Blog. This is a site run by Tim Ferriss that covers lifestyle design, fitness, productivity and a host of other related topics.
Tim Ferriss himself points out that this is a potential problem from a marketing perspective: if you’re someone who only really cares about the fitness side of things and there’s a ‘streak’ of posts about working online, then you might eventually get bored and leave. And vice versa.
Creating a content schedule can help alleviate this problem and ensure that there is a steady, varied stream of relevant and interesting content to a website.
Planning
There are certain times at which having a particular post go live is important.
For instance, if you’re making a post to coincide with Christmas or the release of a new movie, then this is crucial. Even more important is if you’re writing a post that is currently under ‘embargo’ meaning that you’re legally forbidden from publishing it early.
Even releasing content at the right time of day is important: as this maximizes the number of people awake and available to read.
Collaboration
Today more and more companies collaborate remotely. They have teams that are distributed all around the world and working together on projects using tools like Asana and Slack. This makes scheduling even more important as everyone needs to be on the same page about when something is going live – especially if there are set roles within the team such as editors, proof readers etc.
In these scenarios, having an agreed schedule is once again absolutely a requirement in order to make sure that you aren’t going to make mistakes and errors.
Ideas
Finally, it’s important to have a schedule in order to ensure that your very best ideas are making it to your site. It’s not enough just to post content that ticks boxes. Don’t post a blog post just so you can say you posted one!
You need to make sure you are posting blog posts that have something to say. That have a USP. So when you have a good idea write it down. Then find out how it fits into your grand content plan. That is the power of the content schedule.
