The situation described above is equivalent to creating a content strategy without a content schedule. Suppose you don’t have a framework or technique to organize your approach. In that case, it may be difficult, if not impossible, to meet deadlines, monitor your success, and do many other essential things.

Having a content calendar helps you and your team with this. Using it, you can easily meet your content objectives and keep on track while keeping the stress levels at a reasonable minimum.

What Is a Content Calendar Exactly?

A content calendar is a list of when and where new material will be released in the future. Its primary goal is to help you visualize content and plan your content distribution strategy.

Upcoming blog entries, status updates, tweets, planned promotional activities, and modifications to current material might all be on your content calendar. Content calendars are usually kept in a spreadsheet, which allows you to use features like dropdowns and checkboxes.

There are no two content calendars alike; some contain numerous pages and features, while others have only a few columns and rows. However, regardless of how simple or sophisticated they are, content calendars typically share a few fundamental aspects, but more on that later.

Let’s start with how a content calendar can help you.

How Are They Useful?

1. They Guide Your Strategy

Content calendars aid in the development of a unified, successful content marketing plan that is aligned with your overall business objectives. It’s easy to lose sight of what you’re attempting to achieve and post content that doesn’t correspond with your company goals if you don’t have a plan in place.

If one of your goals is to generate more qualified leads through organic search, your content should reflect that.

2. They Save Time

Content calendars are simple to build and save you time and frustration. Instead of rushing to complete everything on the day of, use an organized calendar to plan and schedule all of your social media content or blog posts ahead of time.

Of course, you might do it the day of, but if there’s an error in the caption, for example, you could not notice it until after it’s gone online.

3. They Improve Consistency

A content calendar ensures you have subjects and themes planned ahead of time and a timetable for all of your responsibilities.

Another reason content calendars are so significant is because they enable you to publish material more consistently. It might be challenging to come up with new content ideas regularly if you don’t have a plan in place.

How to Create a Content Calendar in Google Sheets

One of the most appealing aspects of using Google Sheets as a template for a content calendar is that it is completely free, accessible from any device, and infinitely customizable.

However, no two calendars are the same, but they usually contain some of the same components, so buckle up and let’s take a look at those and how you can incorporate them into a content calendar.

The best way to approach it is to create either one for the whole year or monthly. Therefore, the first column should be a mini-calendar of sorts that will allow you to see the big picture and plan for the month ahead of time. Take the A-G columns and create a mini calendar you can sort by date.

This is an example for January, but if you do wish, you can easily repeat the process as you move further down the line and have a mini-calendar that will allow you to see far into the future.

After that, we recommend that you consider the necessary elements. If you primarily publish articles, the calendar should include aspects like a due date, meta description, and so on. And if you’re posting video content on YouTube, maybe the calendar should have a link tab, and so forth.

So, let’s look at the essential elements of a content calendar depending on the kind of content you’re creating.

Essential Elements of a Content Calendar

For blogging, we suggest you use the following columns:

• due date
• meta description
• title
• format
• a file link
• images
• author
• status(check this off with either up next, working on it, ready for publication or published)

For video content on YouTube or other platforms, utilize the following:

• upload date
• title
• CTA
• YouTube/Vimeo title
• URL
• Notes

Create columns for all of the elements listed above, and edit or add anything else you may need on yours; as we said, there is no such thing as two identical content calendars.

Make sure to color code and properly separate things, and you should be good to go in no time. When you’re done setting everything up, your first draft of your calendar should look something like this.

Google Sheets Calendar Templates

Creating such a calendar may be tricky if you have no experience in Google Sheets or similar tools. But, the good news for us is that many people out there have shared their templates, and they can come in handy.

So, to make your job even easier, we’ve searched the web and accumulated a list of the best ones.

Best Google Sheets Calendar Templates

• Template by spreadsheeppoint
• Editorial Calendar by Medium.com
• Content Calendar by Backlinkio

Content Calendar Tools

Aside from using Google Sheets to create a content calendar yourself, there’s always the option to opt for a tool designed to help you out. There are numerous options available, and some of them provide adequate free options to get you started. And while some paid-for options are far superior, you can always start small and work your way up.

Best Free Options

• Monday
• WordPress Editorial Calendar Plugin
• Gather Content
• CoSchedule

Paid-for Tools

• HubSpot
• Loomly
• Evernote (not its primary purpose but can be turned into a content calendar).
• Buffer

You can check out any of these options and see what works best for you. However, as far as the free options are concerned, the Editorial Calendar plugin is an excellent place to start if you’re using WordPress.

Final Thoughts

A content calendar is your roadmap to success. It helps you stay organized and always be on top of things. So, if you’re feeling a little lost and are unsure of how to organize your publishing schedule better – it’s time to up the calendar game.

The post What Is a Content Calendar And How to Build One: Crate Your Roadmap to Success appeared first on WP Pluginsify.

Good organization is crucial for achieving your goals, and nothing helps you organize like a content calendar. Content calendars help with organization and ensure you post consistently and that your posts are targeted at the right audience.

So, in the spirit of finally getting your content straight, we’ll recommend five of the best content calendar platforms. Let’s start with the first one.

1. Strive

Strive is a new WordPress plugin that adds a content calendar to your WordPress dashboard. Unlike third-party apps, you don’t have to worry about syncing your calendar with your site. When you schedule a post in Strive’s calendar, it’s actually scheduled on your site.

This plugin also adds four post statuses (Not Started, Writing, Editing, Complete), so you can easily track the progress of each article. Posts are color-coded in the calendar based on their status, so you can tell at a glance which articles are finished and which ones still need work.

If you need more granular progress tracking, you’ll enjoy the post checklist feature. You can create an entirely custom set of steps for each article to complete before publication. The checklist shows up in the post editor sidebar, so you can check off items while you work. This is especially useful during editing.

Strive also includes a unique Pipeline view for managing your drafts and a Revisions feature for republishing old content.

Pros:

• Easy to use
• Full toolkit for content creation
• Beautiful, user-friendly design

Cons:

• • No free version
  • No social media integration

2. Loomly

Loomly is by far one of the best content calendar platforms out there. The main idea of this tool is a brand success. It’s effortless to set up, use, navigate, and edit. It’s that simple.

Perfect for both startups and smaller teams and larger companies. Loomly offers features that help create, plan, and execute campaigns across multiple platforms at once.

The commenting system and approval workflow are for sure its standout features. They streamline the process and aid in never missing a date and double-check anything and everything before it goes out.

Pros:

• Suggests ideas on optimizing posts
• Quick collaboration
• Automated publishing for virtually any social network
• A comprehensive analytics system

Cons:

• Few integrations with other platforms
• Few integrations with other CMRs
• The mobile website is not optimized

3. ContentCal

If you’re a photographer, blogger, or even an eCommerce store owner, ContetCal might be a perfect choice. This tool focuses on the “visuals.” Meaning if you have a lot of media attached to every post, and the photos, videos, gifs, etc., are the most crucial part of the campaign – you’ve got yourself a winner.

Once the calendar is all set up, you’ll be able to see all of the attached visuals without having to click any links. You won’t even have to open additional files. That way, editing, commenting, or rejecting specific posts and projects has never been so simple.

The “Planning Channels” feature allows you to manage every social media channel separately.  Also, it will provide you to add or delete those you no longer plan to market on.

To better grasp, your inspiration, use the web clipper whenever something tickles your fancy. And use it even later when creating a post. In essence, this calendar is simple, fast, and intuitive.

Pros:

• Very user friendly even for those lacking experience
• The ability to add notes others can read on every project
• Categorization by theme

Cons:

• Not the best for videos
• If you’re planning to use it for Instagram, you’ll have to integrate with Zapier or something similar.

4. Trello

While Trello is typically considered a team management tool, it can intelligibly be used as a social media calendar if set up the right way.

The Trello dashboard allows the user to set up and help them complete work tasks for team members and “due by” time or date. Also, the crucial fact is that it significantly decreases the number of emails required every day.

To use it as a content calendar, you can create several columns and name them accordingly – to-do needs review, published, etc.

However, once you organize everything to your liking further is pretty easy to manage. Simply go into the calendar, and it will give you a comprehensive insight into all your upcoming content. Who’s working on it, and when it’s going out, etc.

Pros:

• Simple, intuitive interface
• Automation without coding
• Works well on all devices, even tablets
• Color coding cards for more straightforward navigation

Cons:

• For automating social media content, this tool will require further integration
• It gets a bit hectic if you have a large number of clients

5. Edit Flow

The sole reason why this calendar tool isn’t placed higher on our list is that it’s limited to WordPress. However,  this tool will provide a convenient and straightforward overview of your content monthly.

However, while this is just the thing some of you need, it’s not the right fit for everyone. Also, it is essential to know that Edit Flow is the best option for content-heavy WP websites.

By default, you’ll be able to see six weeks ahead in your calendar. Also, posts that have yet to be published you can drag and drop from one date to another should your schedule change.

Besides its primary function, Edit Flow offers a handful of other valuable features. Just some of them being custom statuses, editorial metadata, and comments. Also, notification on the content you’re following and user groups.

Pros:

• Easy to navigate and edit
• It’s completely free
• Allows the user to set up a monthly content budget

Cons:

• Impractical for larger teams
• Considering it’s free, there’s no dedicated support

6. Crowdfire

If you are looking for the tools but still want to keep your cost at the minimum, we have one more recommendation. Crowdfire is a simple social media geared content calendar tool. And even though it may not offer as many options as other tools that found their place on this list, it gets the job done well.

It’s the best fit for growing businesses looking to find new ideas and easily pre-schedule their posts. Crowdfire’s standout features are automatic post customization based on the platform and image suggestions filtered by topic.

Pros:

• Simple and easy to use
• Offers a browser extension
• A customizable report builder
• Affordable when compared to other similar tools

Cons:

• Not suitable for bigger teams
• Lacks certain standard features of a content calendar

Honorable Mentions

While the calendars mentioned above are the best ones, other viable options out there might work for you as well. So, here are some honorable mentions.

• Edgar – Great for social media as it allows for over 25 at one time. It’s a little pricey, but if your main focus is social media, you might want to give it a go.
• CoSchedule – Ideal for marketers, a simple calendar completed with intuitive visuals and automated tasks.
• Oktopost – A viable option for B2B companies with a wide range of integrations and per campaign analytics.
• Post Planner – This covers Twitter and Facebook and comes with a discovery tool and performance tracking.

The Key Takeaway

Content calendars are essential for virtually any online business. However, those who have just started will have a much easier time getting the hang of it, especially if they choose the proper tools. Hopefully, one of the tools we’ve recommended today is just what you were looking for.

Also, we hope so that we’ve made your search just a little bit easier. If you have any other questions or recommendations, please let us know in the comments below.

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