How To Plan A Blogging Schedule You’ll Stick To And Succeed

Last Updated on July 19, 2023 by Jordan Alexo

Do you have a full-time job or other commitments? And find it a pain in the backside to consistently work on your blog without your brains turning into mush?

Or, probably, you simply want to be extra productive and efficient. So, how do you go about planning a blogging schedule? Well, don’t worry because…

This guide is packed with actionable tips and strategies to help you design a killer blogging schedule.

You’ll discover how to set SMART goals, prioritize tasks, and create a realistic timeline for blog posting, social media, link building, and other important blogging aspects.

Let’s roll!

Key Takeaways

• Identify Your Blog’s Purpose: Before you start blogging, you need to understand why you’re doing it. Is it to share your expertise, build a community, or promote your products or services? Your blog’s purpose will guide your content, tone, style, and schedule.
• Set SMART Blogging Goals: Your blogging goals should be Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Timely. For example, instead of saying, “I want to increase my blog traffic,” make it more specific and measurable, like “I want to increase my blog traffic by 20% in the next six months.”
• Analyze Your Traffic For Optimal Scheduling: Use Google Analytics to understand when your audience is most active, which posts they love, and which ones they ignore. This data will help you optimize your blogging schedule.
• Create a Well-Balanced Blogging Schedule: Your blogging schedule should be a balance between informative and transactional content. For every ten posts you publish, eight to seven of them should be informative, and the other two to three can be transactional.
• Set Days For Building Backlinks and Social Media Promotion: Backlinks from relevant and higher authority websites can boost your blog’s visibility. So, set specific days for these tasks in your blogging schedule.
• Stick To Your Blogging Schedule: Use tools like Google Calendar or a plain Google Spreadsheet to create your blogging schedule. Also, have a list of all your blog post ideas and companies you want to outreach for guest post opportunities.

What Is The Your Blog’s Purpose?

Before you get your hands on the dough of creating a blogging schedule, you have to ask yourself, “Why am I blogging?”

• Is it to share your expertise?
• To build a community?
• To promote your products or services?
• Or maybe it’s a mix of all three?

Whatever it is, your blog’s purpose is your North Star. It guides your content, your tone, your style, and, yes, your schedule.

How Do You Define Your Blog’s Purpose?

Here are a few actionable steps:

Step 1 – Identify Your Audience

Who are you writing for? What are their interests, their pain points, and their goals?

You got understand this stuff! Once you do, you can write higher-quality content. Because you know what triggers your audience and how to help them out.

Step 2 – Define Your Mission

What value do you want to provide through your blog? Is it to educate, entertain, to inspire, or to inform?

Your mission should reflect the value you want to deliver to your audience.

Step 3 – Align With Your Brand

Your blog is an extension of your brand. So, make sure your purpose aligns with your brand values and goals.

For example, if your brand is all about “sustainability,” your blog should reflect that.

Your blog’s purpose isn’t set in stone. In other words, it can evolve and change as your blog grows.

But having a clear idea of your purpose from the get-go will give your blog direction and focus. It’s like having a compass in the vast sea of content creation.

How To Set SMART Blogging Goals?

Well, you don’t want to set any goals, but SMART ones.

So, what the heck is a SMART goal?

It means, Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Timely. So, let’s break this down:

1 – Specific

Your goal should be clear and specific. For example:

• I want to increase my blog traffic (that sounds generic and boring)
• I want to increase my blog traffic by 20% in the next six months (that sounds better, right?)

So, set percentages, days, or other metrics to make your goals laser focus.

2 – Measurable

You also want to track your progress. Without it, then how can you tell what you’re doing is working? Nope, you can’t.

So, set goals with reachable metrics, like the number of visitors, page views, or shares.

3 – Achievable

Your goal should be challenging but achievable. You don’t want to aim for the stars if you’ve just built your rocket.

Rather start with something more realistic and then raise the bar as you go.

4 – Relevant

Your goal should align with your blog’s purpose. If your blog’s purpose is to educate people about sustainability, a relevant goal could be to “publish one detailed guide and several smaller supporting posts each month.”

5 – Timely

Your goal should have a deadline. Without a time limit, there’s no sense of urgency, and your goal just becomes a wish.

And hey, don’t be afraid to adjust your goals as you go. With Jordan Alexo, I changed my content “niche” three times in a year until I settled.

See, this part is crucial! Your blogging goals push you to take action, stay motivated, and push through hard times. And whenever you achieve something, you feel great.

How To Analyze Your Traffic For Optimal Scheduling?

So, that’s where Google Analytics comes in.

Like it or not, Google Analytics gives you loads of data. You can see when your audience is most active, which posts they love, which ones they ignore, and so much more.

And the best part? It’s free!

Anyway, here are some tips for using Google Analytics to optimize your blogging schedule:

1 – Identify High-Traffic Days

Go to Google Analytics GA4 > Home and set the date range to 3-6 months.

Then look at the graph and check the days when your blog gets the most traffic. See, those are your high-traffic days. You should publish new or biggest content these days.

Of course, this depends on your site. I mean, if you have a new site, it doesn’t matter. You most likely don’t have an audience to worry about.

So, go ahead and publish as much as possible.

2 – Identify High-Engagement Posts

Head to Reports > View Pages and Screens. The ones with the highest Avg. Time on Page is your high-engagement posts.

These are the topics your audience loves. Or, sometimes, it may hint at the content ranking well in search engines.

So, aim to publish similar posts.

3 – Identify Low-Performance Posts

Look for posts with low Avg. Time on Page. Often these are your low-performance posts.

Ask yourself, “Why did these posts not perform well? Was it the topic? The style? The blog post length?”

Use these insights to improve your future posts.

How To Create a Well-Balanced Blogging Schedule?

We have our purpose, goals, and data. Now, it’s time to bring it all together in a balanced blogging schedule. Why balanced?

Because Google doesn’t like when you only publish transactional posts. Yes, we all want to make money – But you need to find a sweet balance between informative and transactional content.

Also, it’s weird for someone to visit your site and only see posts reviewing products or services.

In most cases, an 80% to 20% or 70% to 30% ratio works well.

Meaning for every ten posts you publish, eight to seven of them should be informative, and the other two to three can be transactional.

If you don’t know how to find keywords for blog posts, read this post here.

So, what topics should you include?

1 – Informative Posts

These are your how-to guides, tips and tricks, and expert insights.

Informative posts should support your transactional ones. So if you publish five posts a week, your blogging schedule should look like this:

• Best Blogging Tools For 2023 (transactional posts)
• How to Choose the Right Blogging Tools (informative post)
• What Is Blogging? (informative post)
• Benefits of Blogging for Business (informative post)
• How Many Blog Posts Should You Publish Weekly (informative post)

As you can see, I kept an 80/20 ratio. This gives me enough informational posts to help my audience and money-making post to make income.

2 – Transactional Posts

Your transactional posts are your blog’s money-makers. These include product reviews, X best product lists, comparison posts, and product A vs. product B reviews.

You want to publish relevant transactional posts to help your audience decide to make a purchase or take a specific action.

3 – Educate

These are your deep dives into a topic, case studies, and research findings.

Quite similar to informative posts but with more depth and detail.

4 – Entertain

These are your fun posts, such as quizzes and your light-hearted stories.

They add a human touch to your blog and make your brand more relatable.

5 – Inspire

These are your success stories, like motivational posts and calls to action. They ignite a spark in your audience and motivate them to take action.

How To Set Days For Building Backlinks? (Optional)

Now you have two components to build a successful blog:

• Write content in a niche like there’s no tomorrow
• Get backlinks from relevant and higher authority websites to boost your blog’s visibility

No, you don’t need to set these days. It all depends on your blogging goals. However, I must mention the whole picture, and building links is one of them.

See, the more links from high authority sites you have pointing to your blog, the easier it will rank on search engines. Meaning you will get more people visiting your blog.

You have several ways to build backlinks from:

• Guest Posting: you write content for someone else, and they give a link to your blog.
• Broken Link Building: You find a broken link and contact the website owner to offer your content as a replacement, along with a link back to your blog.
• Haro Link Building: Subscribe to a Help A Reporter account and reply to relevant queries from reporters. You provide insightful replies and earn a link back to your blog.

Choose one or a combination of strategies. I commonly like to have a day a week where I outreach twenty or more companies asking for guest posting.

But for HARO, I suggest replying daily to a few relevant queries.

How To Set Days For Social Media Promotion? (Optional)

Let’s dive into another crucial aspect of your blogging schedule – social media promotion. It’s like having a megaphone that amplifies your voice and extends your reach.

So, how do you set days for social media promotion? Here are some actionable steps:

1 – Identify Your Social Media Channels

Not all social media channels are created equal. So, where your audience hangs out and focus your efforts there. Is it Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, or YouTube? Go where your audience is.

2 – Set Specific Social Media Day

Just like you have specific days for writing, and outreach, set specific days for social media promotion.

It could be a day a week where you set a sequence of messages to be posted on your chosen social media platforms.

For YouTube, I enjoy having one day to produce two to three videos and schedule them to be released throughout the week.

3 – Use a Scheduling Tool

Tools like Buffer, Hootsuite, or Later can schedule your social media posts for you. This way, you can set it and forget it.

So, you can load up social posts for a full week or even a month. Then automatically publish them at the best times throughout the week.

4 – Analyze Your Results

Use your social media platform’s analytics to see which posts get the most engagement. Use these insights to refine your social media strategy.

Examples Of Blogging Schedules

I will give you some ideas for blogging schedules to help you out. Let’s imagine you want to publish three blog posts, take care of your social media account, outreach and produce YouTube videos:

Day	Task
Monday	Morning: Write Blog Post #1 Afternoon: Social Media Promotion
Tuesday	Morning: Produce YouTube Videos Afternoon: Outreach for Guest Posting
Wednesday	Morning: Publish Blog Post #1 & Promote Afternoon: Write Blog Post #2
Thursday	Morning: Edit YouTube Videos & Schedule Afternoon: Social Media Promotion
Friday	Morning: Publish Blog Post #2 & Promote Afternoon: Write Blog Post #3
Saturday	Morning: Outreach for Guest Posting Afternoon: Schedule Social Media Posts for Next Week

Let’s get one thing straight! This schedule is for those of you hustling full-time on your blog. We’re talking morning to evening, coffee in hand, fingers on the keyboard.

We’ve got a mix of creative stuff like writing and video production and then some promotional tasks like outreach and social media.

And why the mix? Because we want to keep things fresh, keep things moving. New content is popping up and getting promoted all week long.

But wait, but what if you’ve got a full-time job and only 2 hours a day for blogging? Then here’s a blogging schedule example:

Day	Task
Monday	1 Hour: Write Blog Post #1 (Part 1) 1 Hour: Social Media Promotion
Tuesday	1 Hour: Write Blog Post #1 (Part 2) 1 Hour: Outreach for Guest Posting
Wednesday	1 Hour: Finalize & Publish Blog Post #1 1 Hour: Social Media Promotion
Thursday	1 Hour: Produce YouTube Video (Part 1) 1 Hour: Write Blog Post #2 (Part 1)
Friday	1 Hour: Produce YouTube Video (Part 2) 1 Hour: Write Blog Post #2 (Part 2)
Saturday	1 Hour: Finalize & Publish Blog Post #2 1 Hour: Schedule Social Media Posts for Next Week

You’re hustling full-time and only got a couple of hours each day to dedicate to your blog. No worries, I’ve got you covered. This schedule is designed with you in mind.

We’re talking bite-sized, one-hour tasks that are as manageable as they are productive.

We’ve got a mix of creative tasks like writing and video production and then some promotional stuff like outreach and social media.

So, even if you’re juggling a full-time job and your blog, this schedule ensures you’re always in the game. It’s all about making the most of the time you’ve got. So, ready to hustle smart? Let’s dive in!”

Time To Create Your Blogging Schedule

Hurray! So, based on everything we covered here. Now it’s time to create your blogging schedule. You must consider the purpose and goals of your site. And more importantly, how much time you can dedicate.

1 – Use the Scheduling Tool

You have several tools out there, but let’s keep it simple. Just use Google Calendar or a plain Google Spreadsheet.

With all the things you know, just write down your schedule. Ask yourself:

• How many hours can I daily or weekly dedicate to my blog?
• How many blog posts can I write weekly? (Most of your blogging time should go here)
• Do I want to spend time focusing on social media? If yes, how much time?
• Do I need to set a day to outreach companies for guest blogging? Or will you do an hour each day?

2 – Write Down Your Perfect Schedule And Adjust

Just go day by day and write down your tasks. You should end up with something similar to the examples above.

Beyond that, don’t worry. Later you can adjust things. Sometimes we realize later we can dedicate more or less time to a specific task.

3 – Blog Post List And Outreach List

I already mentioned, but I like to have a Google spreadsheet with all my blog post idea. This saves me time weekly because I don’t need to think daily about what to write about.

I also have a list of all the companies I want to outreach for guest post opportunities. If you don’t know how to do this, then read this post here (link needed).

5 Ways To Stick To Your Blogging Schedule

Now comes the real challenge – sticking to it.

Based on University College London’s study: it takes an average of 66 days to form a new habit.

That’s over two months of consistent effort. But don’t worry. I’ve got some strategies and tools to make it easier.

1 – Reserve Time

This is non-negotiable. You need to set aside dedicated time for blogging. Whether it’s an hour every morning, a day every week, or a week every month, block it in your calendar. Make it a priority. Remember, what gets scheduled gets done.

2 – Use an Editorial Calendar

This is your blogging command center. It’s where you plan your posts, track your progress, and manage your workflow.

There are plenty of free editorial calendar tools out there, like Google Calendar, Trello, or Asana. You should pick the one you enjoy.

3 – Use Tools

You have tons of blogging tools out there to make your life easier. For instance:

• Grammarly: It helps you quickly correct your grammar mistakes and improve your overall writing.
• Canva: This tool lets you easily create and edit images for your blog posts
• RankMath: This plugin helps you optimize your blog posts for search engines
• ChatGPT: This tool can assist you in generating content more quickly. Like summarizing sections, writing introductions, conclusions, and even brainstorming ideas.

Use them to save time, improve your posts, and stay organized.

Remember, consistency is key in blogging. It keeps your audience coming back, boosts your SEO, and builds your online presence.

So, use these strategies and tools to stick to your blogging schedule. It might take some time to form the habit.

Last Thoughts

So, let’s quickly recap everything spilled here: before creating a blogging schedule, you’ve got to ask yourself one crucial question:

• ‘Why am I blogging?’ Is it to share your expertise? To build a community? To promote your products or services? Or maybe it’s a mix of all three?

Whatever it is, your blog’s purpose is your guiding light. It shapes your content, your tone, your style, and, yes, your schedule.

Now, how do you define your blog’s purpose? Here’s a simple three-step action plan:

Identify your audience, define your mission, and align it with your brand.

Once you’ve got this down, you’re ready to set SMART blogging goals. Remember, your goals should be Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Timely.

But that’s not all.

You’ve also got to analyze your traffic for optimal scheduling. Use tools like Google Analytics to identify high-traffic days and high-engagement posts.

This data will help you optimize your blogging schedule and make it as effective as possible.

Now, let’s talk about creating a well-balanced blogging schedule. You’ve got to strike the right balance between informative and transactional content.

So, aim for an 80% to 20% or 70% to 30% ratio. And don’t forget to set aside time for building backlinks and social media promotion.

Finally, create a blogging schedule on Google Calendar or Google Spreadsheet. You may need to adjust it as you go along based on your goals, audience behavior, and your personal circumstances.

So, there you have the full pickle! A detailed guide to creating a mind-blasting blogging schedule.

Now don’t be shy! If you have a question, leave it below so that Jordan Alexo may help you out.