The key to a successful blog is well-written content that’s posted regularly.

For some bloggers, that means a post every day. For others, it’s once a week or every other week. That’s a decent amount of content to create and oversee from an idea, to the first draft, and to a published post, year after year.

With a workload like that, amongst other creative endeavors and responsibilities, you’ll want to keep on top of your content with as much ease as possible. And that is where the following tricks will come in handy!

Blogging Tricks For Keeping On Top Of Your Content

Work Ahead Regularly

If you’re able to make the time to draft one blog post, why not try two? They both don’t need to be completed in one session, but if you get one completely written and another half-written or outlined then you’re already at an advantage the next time you sit at your keyboard.

If you do this regularly enough, you’ll always have an idea of what you’re working on for blog posts. Having something semi or fully completed also stops the horror of staring at a blank page and gives you a buffer of content if you aren’t able to create something fresh during your usual blogging routine.

Draft When/Where You Can

If you’ve ever noted down sentences first thing in the morning when half awake, standing in line, as soon as you’ve gotten out of the shower (the place where all the best ideas pop into your head), or while waiting in your car for a meeting to start or a school pickup, you’ve discovered the fun of drafting when and where you can!

Just as we never know when the muse will strike when writing, the idea for a blog may hit you at unexpected times. You could also build a habit of putting down ideas when you’ve got a few minutes to spare, so resist checking social media for the tenth time that day and be productive instead.

Keep an ideas folder in the notes section of your phone (or a notebook and pen in your bag/car if you like the idea of going old-school) and jot down ideas, paragraphs, and even whole posts. It’s a better use of your time, it’s relaxing, and it will get you ahead with your content.

Set Up A Schedule That Works For You

If you’re the type of writer who loves schedules, this trick is for you!

Making the time to blog is the first step to getting any content written. Having a consistent and workable schedule is the second step. There is, of course, the actual act of writing the content itself (yeah, unfortunately, you’ve still got to do that), but that works much better when you have a schedule that works for you.

If you can consistently blog for ten minutes a day, do that. If you can only spend 2 hours on a Thursday, that’s your goal. If you can knock out 5 blog posts in one day, and then nothing again until the next month, say hello to your schedule.

Work out when you can write regularly and lock it into your to-do list. Stick to that schedule for as long as it works, and then readjust as needed.

Plan The Content

When you’re first starting as a blogger, you may not know what you want to write about or have enough ideas for more than a handful of posts. That’s fine. Write what you can until you find your voice, style, and content direction. Once you do, get into the habit of planning that content.

This will help you create regular content, build up a reliable body of work, and provide inspiration and direction for those times when getting on top of your content is hard.

Personally, I like to work out how many times I need to post in a month. Once I have that number, I know how many posts need to be written, and from there, I can pick the topics, research, and/or start outlining.

Sometimes it’s a struggle to get the topic/content for one month, other times, I get so inspired I can come up with 2 months’ worth of blog content ideas. With everything planned, including a regular blog roundup post, it makes keeping on top of the content a fun and straightforward job.

Take Advantage Of Inspiration Flashes

As already mentioned, sometimes writing blogs feels like the hardest thing in the world. The idea-well dries up, getting five minutes to pen something is impossible, or every sentence just comes out wrong.

Other times, the blogging muse smiles upon you and you’re flush with ideas, time, and the creativity to get everything down in a way that makes sense. When that happens, take advantage of it and craft as many posts as you can while the inspirational going is good.

Open Up For Guest Content

If you’re really finding yourself stuck when creating your own content, or at least getting it to a publishable standard, but you do have the time to work on blogs, consider opening up for guest posts.

Sharing your blog space can bring fresh voices and ideas to your readers, connect you with other creatives, and provide content that doesn’t take as much time to put together as when you’re writing solo.

That’s not to say that guest content isn’t hard work. You still need to find the guests/posts, organize deadlines for getting said content, put it together, and market it as you would your own posts. But dedicating a selection of posts to guest content isn’t as involved as penning your own, so it’s certainly a good option to get ahead if that’s something you’d like to explore.

Write Now, Post Later

Just because you’ve written the post doesn’t mean it has to be posted right away. You may also want to write content, such as blogs about your current WIP, but not publish them until the book is released as a form of book promo.

As you’re going through the writing process and inspiration strikes, consider writing a blog post about WIP fun or an issue you’re having crafting your book, and then set it aside. You’ll then have relevant content to post, a book that’s related to that content that can be bought then and there by intrigued readers, and one less thing to worry about in the rush of a book release.

Keep that tip in mind as you work ahead, draft in those spare moments, stick to your schedule, plan content for yourself and from guests, and take advantage whenever the inspiration strikes and you should always have blog content to keep on top of.

— K.M. Allan

You can find me on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Goodreads.