So, you’ve wireframed your new website and possibly even have it built and ready to fill with interesting, information-rich content. What now?
The process of creating a website is so time-intensive and involves so many steps and decisions that often, when it is done, a very important step is overlooked - that of planning website content on an organizational level.
Here are some tips to help you create an effective content calendar for your new website that provides ample value to your readers while growing your website in a natural, search-engine friendly way.
Step 1 - Identify the Goal and Market for Your Site
Sit down and determine what you want to achieve with your website. What voice do you want to project? What content do you want to share? How do you want to interact with your readers? These are all important questions because they will form the backbone of your site’s editorial guidelines and help you in finding the perfect writer.
Step 2 - Determine Frequency and Length
How often do you want to generate content for your new website and how will it be laid out? While the initial pages for your site are likely already planned according to the services you offer and the design of your website, a good website never stops growing. New pages detailing specific talents your team has, benefits of your products, articles about hot topics in your niche and more are all very effective ways to foster relationships and grow your website for search engines.
Step 3 - Topic Selection and Angle
On a website, you must consider a number of factors when selecting topics for new articles, blog posts or pages. First, there is your audience. What information do they seek from you and how can you provide it in an interesting, entertaining way? Second, you must consider the search engines. You need to create content that is optimized for keywords and phrases in your niche for which you want to rank. While the focus should always be primarily on your audience, never overlook the value of SEO in your content. Third, you need to ensure the content you produce is consistent and true to your brand. Does it represent your company and its goals in the marketplace? You should never pander to either readers or search engines if it compromises your brand.
Step 4 - Creating a Content Calendar
A good content calendar will provide the framework for when your content will be produced, by whom it will be produced and how it will be edited, uploaded and published. Depending on your content needs and budget, you should prepare an outline of new content for between 1-3 months at a time. Some companies will go as far out as one year, though this only works in evergreen fields where content is not dependent on current events in or related to the niche.
For the more current events, content calendars are also very effective for your social media publishing. Read about social media content calendaring in this Hubspot article.
If you have a website, never overlook the value of an organizational process for the content on that site. It will make it easier to find a good writer, acquire steady content for your site and move it up in search rankings rapidly.
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