How to Create a Good Plan for Amazing Blog Content
Start With a Good Plan
As bloggers, we need a good plan so that we have a solid understanding of the direction we want our blog’s content to take. Blog content planning is a vital part of every successful blogger’s toolkit. I’ve recently been working with my content planner, and I want to share my blog content planning worksheets with you as downloadable resources so that you can set up a good plan for your blog and website content.
Blog Content Planning Series
I have several planning worksheets that I will release over the next few weeks. Let me tell you why I’m releasing them one by one instead of putting them all out there. I could release everything at once, but I want you to take the time to work through them one at a time. A good plan for your blog content takes a lot of thought and consideration and having everything in front of you can get overwhelming. I urge you to go through each step to create a good plan with a strong foundation for your content.
The Content Brainstorm
The first piece of the content planner I’m going to share with you is the content brainstorm. The best way to a good plan is to download everything you have swimming around up in your head onto something tangible. Or at least something digital and out of your head for safe keeping.
Everything you think you can remember by keeping it in your head will give you so much anxiety. Not only are you trying to get things done but you’re also using valuable brain power you could be using to focus on one thing to remember all the things.
A good content planner will start with a download session, and that is what my blog content planning system does.
How to use the Blog Content Planning Brainstorm
The only thing you need to do here is to get all your ideas out. I set up my content planner based on the categories in my blog because it’s easier for me to come up with a balanced list of ideas for all of my blogs sections but you can do this based on tags or just start listing and set up groups later.
A good plan doesn’t happen right away. Everything feels like a mess in the beginning because you have so much you’re trying to remember all at once. When you first sit down to do this, it feels easy to get the ideas out, and the ideas flow freely, but you will get stuck a few minutes into the session.
I would recommend that you sit with your content planner for at least fifteen minutes per session. Take some notes in the margin, doodle if you need to but keep yourself focused on the task. I’ve included two versions of the content brainstorm, one with nine columns and one with six columns. Whichever you use is based on your preference. If you like a lot of space for writing, the six column has more significant areas for notes and your lists. In comparison, the nine column worksheet is more concise.
You will feel like you have nothing left. You’ll get over that feeling of restlessness, and the ideas will start flowing again. You can set a timer to force yourself to stick to the time you’ve set. It may feel like torture for a few minutes, but it’s worth it. Your best ideas will come after all the “crap” is out on paper.
What to Do With Your Blog Content Planning List
After you have everything out and you have two, three or four brainstorm sheets full of ideas. You can go back and pick out your best stuff. The content brainstorm sheet has checkboxes next to each line.
All you have to do is check off the things you want to keep. Once you have the topics picked out, pair them up with a few keywords that make sense and will be easy to incorporate. Then, all your best ideas will be transferred over to your content calendar. We will go over the yearly content calendar in part two of this blog content planning series.
Why Should I Go Through All This Trouble?
A good plan for blog content will get you so much further and leave you feeling a lot more confident in the direction of your blog. Consistency is critical when you’ve committed yourself to a blog. Having a consistent writing schedule is the only way people will begin to trust you as a writer.
Having a good plan also helps you create content that makes sense for the type of reader you’re trying to reach.
I Don’t Need a Plan, I Write From My Keyword Research
You probably have a great big list of keywords somewhere on your computer ready to go. If you find yourself trying to write around keywords, please stop.
Keyword research is fundamental and you, need to do it but use the keywords to create your content planner rather than writing from a list of keywords. Keywords are essential if you want to get discovered in the search engines eventually. However, I’ve found that when I start with keywords without a bigger plan, I focus too much on them.
When I write from a keyword list, I get caught up in the keywords and start writing more for SEO rather than expressing what I want to say. It’s important to write for SEO, but it’s more important to write something that makes sense and will be relatable to your readers. A good plan for your content will help you do that.
What’s Next?
In a few days when you’ve had some time to sit down and think this one through I’ll upload the next worksheet for you.
I hope this content brainstorm worksheet serves you well and that you find the time to not only come up with a good plan for your content but also that you get a better sense of direction for your blog content. Working through this is about getting strategic with your blog and business and what direction you want to take it from here.
Don’t forget to come back next Monday for the next part of this series. I’m super excited to share it with you. You can also sign up for the newsletter, and we will notify you whenever a new resource is made available on the blog or in the shop.
Other Resources
If you’re serious about getting organized and want more planning printables, check out these free downloadable resources from our last planning series:
The Weekly Big List (Weekly Planner)
Here’s an excellent system for downloading the “RAM” from your brain in all aspects of your life. This list of triggers will help you so much if you’re just beginning to plan your life and business. I use it in my planning process regularly.
This list of triggers helps me get past that “stuck” feeling I get when I’m trying to get everything out of my head. I’m sure it will help you as well.
