To attract the right kind of visitors to your website you need to create VALUABLE, OPTIMISED content REGULARLY. To help you achieve these aims we have created a free content calendar template, which is ideal for planning blog and news articles.
How to use the free content calendar template
The template has been set up for creating content on a weekly basis, and there is a blank worksheet (page) for each month; obviously you can adjust the template to suit your needs. Please read the notes below on how to use the template:
Target Personas Field
These are the different types of visitors you want to attract to your website. So for example, if you run a hotel they could be:
- A couple looking for a wedding venue
- A local business owner looking for a conference venue
- A wealthy retired couple looking for somewhere to spend the weekend
The content you create need to be targeted to a specific persona. One size does not fit all!
Focus Keywords Field
Now you know who you are creating the content for, you need to think about the words they would use to find you by searching Google (or even Bing). Probably the easiest way to research the popularity of keywords is by using the Google Keyword Planner Tool. This used to be a free tool but now you can only access it by first creating a Google Adwords account. Once logged in you can find it under the Tools menu.
Another useful technique is to ask prospects or customers what words they would use to find your product or service online. It’s very easy to come up with a list of keyword phrases but resist the temptation to use them all and choose just one keyword phrase per article. So for example, the keyword phrase for this article is “free content calendar template”. You can use other phrases for future articles.
Title Field
The article title needs to be search friendly and persuasive to the reader as they will first encounter it in the search engine results page, and will decide whether to click based on its relevance. I recommend starting with you focus keyword phrase as Google uses the position of your keywords in the title as part of its ranking algorithm.
Content Field
Use this field to make any notes about what you want to cover in your article for when you return to your calendar to create your content.
Offer/CTA Field
Use this field to make any notes about any related offer or call to action (CTA) to include with the content. Creating content for its own sake is pointless – it needs to help you to achieve your business goals.
Plan your content in Excel, OpenOffice, LibreOffice, Numbers and Google Docs
The free content calendar template is in Excel format but don’t worry if you don’t have Microsoft Excel as you can also open and update the file using OpenOffice, LibreOffice, Apple Numbers or Google Docs. So there’s no excuse, get your free content calendar template and get planning your content!
Get the free content calendar template
Contact us today to get your hands on your FREE content calendar template.
Need help with creating content? Learn more about our content marketing service.