Create an effective content calendar

Art. no. 216462723 24 Apr 2025

In the world of digital publishing, they can do much more than that for you and your content. A content calendar helps publishers curate and create content and develop their editorial strategies. If you are a digital publisher, you invest your time and resources in producing quality content for your audience. And a great publisher (be it an individual or a team member) often asks themselves questions like - What should I write about? Or how often do I post new content?

And that's when the content calendar comes to save the day.

Why is it a good idea to have a content calendar for your publications?

A content calendar (or editorial calendar) is used by publishers to organize and manage the many stages of content publishing. Its main purpose is to structure the editorial timeline that usually starts with the brainstorming of publication topics and ends with the publication of the final content. It provides a picture of your overall content strategy and allows you to identify gaps in it. For example, you'll know when you should and shouldn't prepare more content. In addition, it allows you to assign different writing tasks to different team members AND acts as a communication hub for them. It also allows you to plan any promotional campaigns you might want to run before and after your publications' releases, creating consistency with both your content and your online presence.

Pretty handy, right? A great content calendar consolidates and streamlines multiple publishing processes. It helps curate and create your content and ensures your workflow is as efficient as possible.

Your content calendar should have

Tags:

Have each step of your editorial process labeled (like brainstorming ideas, publishing dates, ad campaign dates, etc.) so you know how long each process takes and can make adjustments accordingly.

Titles:

List the titles of your publications, blogs, and other promotional materials so you don't lose track of them when working on multiple projects.

Color codes:

Color code calendar entries to convey structure and more easily distinguish between different stages of your editorial strategy.

Analytics:

Include relevant analytics (like page views and average session length) so you know what is and isn't popular among your publications. Then use that valuable information to fine-tune your future content.

Trends:

Include some trend research, like the top keywords to boost your SEO. It's a great way to quickly know which keywords and phrases are generating the most traffic for your publications.

Links:

Include links to online resources (like research articles and surveys) that you want to include in your publications. And when your content is finally published, make sure to link it to your calendar too.

Descriptions:

Your content calendar won't be as useful if it only contains bits of information, like abbreviations or acronyms. It needs to include a full list of your content history to avoid any confusion later on.

Quick Tip:

Start slowly if you have to. Fill in the calendar content monthly, weekly and then daily. Pretty soon you'll be planning your publishing strategy by the hour, like a pro!
Be flexible! Remember that not everything is set in stone. Online publishing is exciting because things are constantly changing. Your calendar should reflect that and leave some room for any last-minute changes you might expect (be it in terms of publishing dates, marketing efforts or trends).
If you are active on multiple social media platforms, a good idea is to create separate calendars for each of them. You'll stay organized and won't have to worry about cramming a lot of information into one calendar.

Scheduling can make or break your publication's success. Use a content calendar to focus your publishing strategy and get the results you want! So why is it a good idea to have a content calendar for your publications?