Blogging 101: Working on your Content Consistency

Consistent blog posting can be hard. Full stop. If you’ve clicked on this post, you probably already know this or assume you will be feeling this after a few weeks or months of blogging. But content consistency is also a vital part of gradually increasing your page views. If your audience knows your regularly post on Sundays at 7pm… then they’re more likely to keep an eye out at that time for your post on social media or in their emails. I unfortunately do not have a huge how to guide on how to post consistently (even when you don’t feel like it). I do however have a handful of tips which makes it so you’re on top of your blogging and when those bad days appear, you don’t need to worry about churning out a blog post.

Idea List

A key thing that bloggers struggle with when it comes to consistent posting is running out of ideas. In order to get over this little hurdle, whenever you have a blog post idea add it to a list. Use a notepad or even the notes on your phone, just somewhere you’ll return to, and jot down anything and everything you want to write about.

Ideas don’t just need to be a spur of the moment thing either. Make some time a few times a week to just create blog ideas so you’ll always have a bank of content ideas. Use inspiring sources to help motivate you. Know all your ideas, and you can start to find the good ones hidden amongst the bad.

Remember ideas don’t need to be perfect. That idea you had at 2am may be awful… but at least you wrote it down to remember it when it came to blogging and maybe it could be turned into a winner.

Content Calendars

With all the ideas you’ve came up with in the last step, you can start to create a helpful content calendar. A content or editorial calendar can be as simple or as complex as you want or need it to be! But taking the time to plan out what content you want to post and when can help you organise yourself to create that content.

Ensure your content calendar is realistic – if you can only post once a week then only write in that one post. Trying to overfill a calendar with content can lead to blogger burnout, which throws all forms of consistency out the window. If you do want to post more, work up to it by gradually changing your lifestyle to focus more on blogging.

Make a Schedule

Okay so you have a content calendar… now you need to get on top of it. Creating posts in advance to schedule is such a key part of content consistency. because it lets you have breathing space. If you’re constantly plugged in and creating content, at some point you’ll burn out just like you do with other creative pursuits or jobs. Some bloggers schedule as much as a month in advance to keep on top of posts but giving yourself a few days is good enough. If it gets round to Sunday and you’re ready to have a relaxing day, having a schedule means that you can just turn off and not check your blog that day.

Scheduling means that you don’t have to be physically on your blog to press post, plus automation around post promotion can also help you out. Try to make sure your schedule matches your lifestyle though. If you schedule a week ahead on a Sunday but you start making plans on Sundays then it doesn’t work. Make sure your blog scheduling and how you do it fits the amount of time you have for blogging. This leads us straight onto…

Dedicated Blogging Time

Whilst the above tips do help you take some time off from blogging when needed, you should set aside certain time just for your blog. Whether it’s in the morning at your desk, in the evening on the sofa, or even on your commute to work. Dedicate this time to creating content, and prioritise it other things that may come up. If something comes up that you just have to do – then rearrange your time so you’re blogging at a different time to make up for it.

Creating a habit out of blogging by telling yourself that this is your time for blogging and sticking to that will help. Good habits can increase your productivity as distractions become less intrusive, and your brain will be ready to work at that time. Blogging doesn’t just happen overnight, and people often stop being consistent when they start to reduce the time they spend blogging.

Make a To-Do List

Your blog isn’t solely about content, so your content calendar may be missing a few “to-dos” like replying to comments, checking emails, social media promotion, etc. So making yourself daily, weekly or monthly to-do lists can help you know exactly what you need to do in that dedicated blogging time. You should always make your to-do list work for you though! If you’re more paper based, a notepad or journal may be best or you may work better with one of the many apps available.

Identify, organise and prioritise tasks

After you’ve created a to-do list, take some time to identify the tasks within those to-do’s that you will need. Tasks can be organised in different ways to help you be more consistent, as it reduces the time you spend on blogging. For example, you know which 5 posts you want to create next month and they’re all on your to-do list this weekend. Instead of setting up your camera and backdrop 5 different times, taking all the photos for all the posts at one time will reduce your time spent on it.

Prioritising your tasks is also important. Some tasks can only be done at certain times (like filming with natural light, some tasks have a shorter deadline than others, and some tasks might even just be “more important” in the context of your blog. Knowing what you need to prioritise helps you get the most important tasks out of the way first, giving your more space to breath instead of rushing content.

What do you think about your own content consistency? Are you happy with it? How are you going to change it?