Have you considered having a plan for your blog and social media channels? Ever thought about a blog calendar or a Social media calendar? You may ask what the purpose is and I am here to tell you that nothing else can boost your productivity, your output and your regularity as a blogger than a well-structured calendar.

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As bloggers, most of us are managing the roles of multiple people at once. We are writers, marketeers, PR agents, advertisers, digital and graphic artists all rolled into one. And I get that it can become incredibly overwhelming if you look at it this way.

Think about it. You not only have to write a blog post, but you also have to format it, add images, proofread it, work on the SEO, promote it, add fresh images, tweak it, continue to promote it and more. Seen like that, it can almost seem like it’s not worth all the effort.

But it is.

Once you see that the content you create is resonating with people, being shared and appreciated, you feel a sense of satisfaction that makes all the hard work worthwhile.

Also, don’t miss my post on Time Blocking Tips for Bloggers!

Today, I am going to share my personal weekly schedule for my blog and how you can design a similar one for yourself. And I am going to show how long each of these steps take and at the end of it,tell me what you think.

This post contains Affiliate links. What that means is if you click on any of the links and make a purchase, I get a commission at no extra cost to you. Read my complete disclosure policy here.

[easy-tweet tweet=”7 Steps to creating a Weekly Blog and Social Media Calendar” user=”shyvish”]

Determine Posting frequency

Decide, based on your niche, your Google Analytics and the time available, how often you want to post on your blog. Since I personally have two blogs , I opt for writing once  a week on each blog.

Some of us have full-time jobs and the blog is a side hustle. Between my blog and my client work, I can afford to blog twice or thrice a week. Any more and I risk fatiguing myself and my readers too.

Once you’ve decided how often you will post, look at your Google Analytics for the last 30 days. Check to see when your audience is most active. For me, those are Sunday nights and Wednesday nights, IST.

(It’s ironic that I am posting this on Tuesday night, but just go with me for now). 😉

So I plan my posts to go live late on Sunday night. This usually involves about 2 to 3 hours of work, including creating the post, adding images and checking if the SEO is up to standard. That’s also because my posts are about 1500 words long (or longer).

Time taken per week for the blog post: 3 hours

Share the post on social media

Depending on how many networks you’re on, this can take either 15 minutes or 30 minutes per week.

Confused? Don’t be. It doesn’t matter how many networks you’re on, if you know how to automate your content and share strategically.

For instance, I have an active presence on Facebook, Twitter,Pinterest and Instagram. I also have an account on Linkedin and Google Plus. *Pinterest is a search engine but for the purposes of the calendar, let’s club it with the social media platforms.

  1. The minute the post goes live, I share it on Pinterest using the Social share icon, to my Main blog board.
  2. I then use Tailwind to schedule the post to my relevant category boards and  high-performing group boards with an interval of one day between shares. With Tailwind, this takes exactly 3 minutes, no matter how many boards you have.
  3. Then, I use Buffer to schedule my post to my Facebook page, my Facebook group, my Twitter account and Linkedin profile (if it’s relevant to the platform). On the free plan of Buffer, you can link up to 3 social media accounts. This takes 10 minutes with the custom scheduler.
  4. Once a week, I also use Canva to design different-sized images for Twitter, Facebook and Instagram and re-share the post to those platforms. This can take up to 10 minutes for each platform.

Time taken to schedule the post on social media per week: 30 minutes

Reply to comments on your social media channels

Write a meaningful comment instead of link dropping/expecting a reciprocal visit and you will observe that you will build an engaged community and audience that will appreciate you and your content.

Bonus: They may turn into subscribers and that’s always the best return on your investment as a blogger.

I typically have days dedicated to visiting other social media profiles/blogs and replying to comments on my own content. It makes it easier for me to fit it around my client work, my chores and my daily routine. There are days I dedicate to  replying to comments. Usually, I try and visit about 10 business pages on social media at a time.

So I need about 3 minutes to read the post and another 2 minutes to leave a comment. That works out to about an hour , thrice a week, dedicated to this activity.

P.S. Here is why I no longer recommend blog hopping because it’s a colossal consumption of valuable time.

Time taken for netcaring and replying to comments per week: 3 hours

Make New Pins for Blog Posts

This really appeals to the creative side of my brain and I thoroughly enjoy making fresh pins for posts that are doing well. It’s the best way to drive consistent traffic to your blog and it is absolutely free! Why wouldn’t you do it, am I right?

Use Canva to instantly make templates and replicate them. This will save tons of time. I usually make about  3 or 4 pins at once.

Time taken to make fresh pins per week: 30 minutes

Don’t miss the calendar snapshot below. I made it using Canva. Neat, right? 🙂

Blog and social media calendar for May 2018

Analyse your traffic

It’s one thing to create content. It’s another thing to track how it’s performing.

Why is this important? Because if you know exactly what content strikes a chord, wouldn’t it make sense for you to focus on creating similar content for the future? Your readers are your best feedback machine. Use the analytics features in Google, Pinterest and Tailwind to learn which content is doing great.

Focus your energy on doing this just once a week. Any more and you risk getting upset by the fluctuations in numbers. Believe me, it’s not worth it.

Time taken to study Analytics per week: 15 minutes

Research and Read

As bloggers, a lot of us like to write. But many of us don’t make the time to read.

Without research and insights from the experts, we’d be stuck in the same groove, plugging away at something that has no chance of growing out of its comfort zone. Dedicate an hour or two a week to listen to podcasts, watch YouTube videos and study newsletters in depth.

Pick from the experts in your industry and listen to what they are saying. Take copious notes and apply their strategies. See the difference it makes to your blog’s performance. Again, there’s a lot of content out there. Be judicious in your subscriptions and where you spend your time.

I usually club podcast listening with my daily walk so that it doesn’t eat into my blogging calendar. Try it!

Time taken to research and read per week: 2 hours

Do Admin work/ Take a blog backup

Ensure that your plugins are up to date. Also try and see if any pages on your blog need to be changed. Pay specific attention to sales pages, among other things. Initially, this could take a while to design/update but once you’re comfortable with it, the whole process won’t take more than an hour.

Definitely ensure that you are taking weekly backups of your blog. Schedule that into your calendar.

Time taken to work on admin tasks/take a backup per week: One hour

Total time taken for the blog per week:

10 hours and 15 minutes

If you notice, that means even with a day off (Sunday), I only spend about two hours per day on the blog, maybe less! Isn’t that amazing?

Now tell me, how do you plan out your weekly calendar for the blog?

Pin this post if you loved it!

Blog and social media calendar for the week with tips on how to optimise your time to your benefit.

In December 2018, I bought a copy of Meera Kothand’s CREATE Blog and Editorial Planner and it’s transformed my approach to digital marketing and planning. Get your copy on Amazon!

*FREE DOWNLOADS FOR YOU*

Would you like a template for a weekly calendar? Click here to see what I use on Trello and make a copy for yourself. 🙂

This post contains links to the Amazon affiliate program. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. You can read my complete Disclosure policy here. 

*Featured and pin images courtesy: Shutterstock