Keeping fresh website content flowing all month long
One of the things that I hear a lot from small business owners is how there just isn’t enough time in the day to do it all! I get it and have been there too, yet I also understand the value of keeping fresh website content flowing with something new on a regular basis. And, a little brainstorming, planning and scheduling can go a long way to keeping fresh website content flowing all month long! So today I thought I would share with you my process, along with a handy little check list download.
The best way I have found to continually add new content to your website is to blog. I know blogging isn’t for everyone, and many of us don’t have the time to blog each and every week. The good news is that you don’t have too! This is your business and your website, so you get to decide.
Perhaps you want to add new content twice a month instead, or maybe once. Both approaches are still great, and will help keep fresh website content flowing. And you don’t have to do it all at once! In fact I encourage my clients to spread it out into smaller manageable tasks throughout the month. Take a look at what I do below…
Week 1: Brainstorm next months focus
I realize that next month is a month away and you are just trying to get through this month, but it never hurts to start thinking ahead. While you are going about doing the things you love in your business keep a eye out on some helpful topics your clients and potential clients would be interested in.
Jot down the ideas that come to you and think about what focus will be the most helpful in the coming month. For example, let’s say you are a professional organizer like my friend and client Crystal with Cloud Nine Organizing. If summer is coming up you could do a series of tips on outdoor organization.
You can also keep an eye out for quotes and videos that support these ideas, which can later be shared on social media.
Week 2: First Draft and Review
Now that you have an idea of what focus you want to share next month, writing a quick blog post is going to be much easier. It doesn’t have to be anything huge and in fact, most people don’t want to read a super long blog post. The ideal blog post length is 300 – 500 words.
Whether you are writing a new post each week, every other week or just once a month, now is the time to write that first draft. Once the first draft is completed, set the post aside for a few days and then come back and review. This will help you catch any errors you may not have caught when you wrote it. Feel free to set it aside for a few more days for a final review as well, as it never hurts to be thorough and a review takes minutes.
Week 3: Time to do a little scheduling
Now that you have those blog posts written and reviewed, it is time to schedule them out on your website. All WordPress blogs have a scheduling feature that is incredibly helpful.
And if you are doing a newsletter, this is also a great time to schedule your newsletters for the upcoming month as well. I typically schedule my newsletters to coincide with my blog posts. This allows me to use the same content in both areas. It also helps drive valuable traffic back to my website.
Finally, if you use social media for your business this is a great time to schedule those posts on Facebook, so they can be shared with your followers as soon as they are posted to your website.
Week 4: Celebrate and Reflect
- What went really well? (Make sure you celebrate everything that comes to mind)
- What did I enjoy about the process?
- What would I like to tweak?
- What would I like to change completely?