At the start of this series, in Phase A we talked about how to start a blog with no experience and  we covered Steps 1-6:

• Step 1 – Decide on the topic for your website.
• Step 2 – Choose a CMS platform for your blog.
• Step 3 – Choose a host for your website.
• Step 4 – Choose your hosting plan
• Step 5 – Choosing your domain name.
• Step 6 – Set up your account with Bluehost

Then, in Phase B of this series we talked about how to customize your blog as a beginner we covered Steps 7-10:

• Step 7 – Log In and Start Securing and Creating
• Step 8 – Pick Out Your Theme
• Step 9 – Decide on the Customization of Your Site 
• Step 10 – Organizing Your Accounts and Resources

We could’ve stopped at the end of Phase B.

I mean, technically you have a blog website started but I went a step further to give you some resources to help you build the “feel” of your website through fonts and colors.

Then, I took another extra step to help you organize all the madness before it drove you insane! Yep, totally speaking from experience on that one!

But, why stop there? I don’t want to leave you hanging, I remember that “now what?” feeling all too well, it wasn’t that long ago!

So, now we’re going to kick it up a notch and talk about

How to Create a blogging schedule & system with Steps 11-17

• Step 11 – Creating Content & Organizing a System to Publishing It
• Step 12 – Legalities & the Uglies of Operating Your Website
• Step 13 – Analytics & Search Consoles
• Step 14 – Social Media Platform Thoughts

Before you launch your blog, let’s make sure to have things in place, or at least thought about and put on your to-do list.

We want to try to prevent that “okay, I pushed the launch button…now what?” feeling and then the feeling that follows of “What did I get myself into? There’s so much I feel overwhelmed!”

Don’t worry sweets, we got this! We’re going to be constructing your system while creating your schedule and preparing to launch. This will give you a smooth transition from 100% creation into balancing creation, maintenance, and growth. 

And you can check out these posts if you need a little help on how to get your to-do list done easily or how to time block your planner effectively. 

Step 11 –  Creating content & organizing a blogging system

You must create a couple systems, creating content and organizing analytics are both good blogging systems to build the mainframe of your blogging schedule.

Wanting your friends, family and strangers to check out your new blog without content is like wanting your friends, family, and strangers to check out your new house without furniture, food, games…you get the point.

Getting feedback on your site from friends and family is a great idea. Expecting people to hang out there or seek it out on their own without anything to look at, help themselves with, or get to know you through is another thing!

So, in this step we will prepare for launch with content…lots of content. 

If you slow down now to gather some research for content and get a plan, it’ll be easier to put the content together at the same time you’re working through steps 12-17 thus transitioning into post launch productivity instead of finding yourself stuck in “busy” will be so much smoother.

By the time we click the launch button, you’ll have a nice library of things for people to read and solutions you’ve provided for their pain points. After that, you get your content seen while creating more content. 

Here’s the play we’re going to run to create a content creation & blogging schedule:

1.  Research for gaps in your niche

Hopefully by now you have decided on your blog topic, some ways you can help your audience, and the direction you’re wanting to go. Then, you need to do some research on your niche to find out, not so much who your ‘competition’ is, but to answer these questions:

What resources are already available in this niche?

What gaps or questions am I left with when I visit the sites?

How can I fill that gap?

Are people searching these questions and gaps?

What are some commonly used words that you’re seeing consistently used in your niche?

2.   Use Google to help find possible article titles

So once you answer those questions, start typing in the questions you’re left with into Google and see if the auto-populate fills in the question or something very similar. (auto-populate comes from people actually searching these long keywords)

Look over the search results.

If the question is not quickly answered in the top 4-6 results OR the results are being answered by forums or other small sites with a slightly different question and giving a slightly different answer, you may have found a potential article topic that could be being searched and have a better chance of ranking in Google.

Add the search term you used to a spreadsheet – this is your Hit List of Articles. Repeat this process until you have at least 50 in your spreadsheet. Preferable 10 for each category on our website. 

For example, if you’re a momblogger, you may have the categories of mompreneur, diy games, diy kids decor, mama care, and family fun. Make sure you have at least 10 topic articles to write under each category before moving on. 

(PSA: I did not do keyword research or related keyword research for this example. It’s just thoughts off the top of my head to help you visually see what I’m referring to.)

3.   Start writing your content

Don’t get overwhelmed and don’t think about it, just do these steps to get started!

→ Open up your Spreadsheet a.k.a. The Hit List of Articles

→ Pick one….just point and click.

→ Copy it over to a Google sheet, or Word Doc, and place the title center top. (So you stay on point)

→ Next, google it to see what answers or help you get in the results, DO NOT copy others’ work here! This is to see what is MISSING that you can include in your article. Be the gap.

 Just like in school, you’ll want to pick out 3- 5 sub headings or related questions/information to write the body of your article.

Write the introduction of the article in a way that relates to your reader, doesn’t necessarily set you up as an expert, unless you are and have creditability you can refer to.

But write as the neighbor that did some “looking into the topic” or “have learned through your experience or watching someone you know’s experience”and are now sharing what you have found and come to know about the topic.

Then put together your summary. This outlining should only take you about 10-15 minutes. 

Then write the body text and tidy up the article for the next 30 minutes. Followed by proofreading and saving. That’s an article in an hour +/- until you get used to the system.

Because you spent the time to research in bulk, now you can go straight to writing without the added stress of “what do I write about?”

PRO TIP:

As we continue on in the steps, remember to not only do the step but in addition pull an article title from The Hit List of Articles daily and write the content.

You can do more than one per day depending on the length of your articles and time frame you have to work. This will keep your blogging system flowing!

I personally will sit down sometimes and write 2-3 articles at a time, all in the same category so it helps with my flow. I aim for 1200 words, so if I find myself going way over that I sit back and ask if it should be broken down into multiple pieces of content, like I have in this series of How to start a blog, How to customize your blog as a beginner and how to create a blogging schedule.

I also use Google Docs do dictate some articles, then I go backand edit. But I’m able to get my thoughts out faster so I don’t forget what I was wanting to say in the middle of a flow and have a spout of writer’s block lol.

Another PRO TIP:

To create a blogging schedule, and blogging system really, the best thing to do is start creating a calendar.

 I pick out:

1. the day(s) of the month I’ll do my research
2. the day(s) of the week I’ll do my writing
3. the day(s) of the week I’ll do my editing
4. the day(s) of the month I gather, or take, photos and edit
5. the day(s) of the month I’ll schedule ahead my social media posts
6. the day(s) of the week or month that I’ll log my analytics and run performance scans

Pretty simple really! But wow is it vital in reducing the overwhelm and giving me clarity in direction! I also started being a lot more productive instead of just feeling ‘busy’ all of the time!

Especially since I have chronic illnesses and there are days the brain fog, pain, and/or exhaustion are real ya’ll! 

Step 12 – The Legalities & the Uglies of Operating Your Website

I can not tell you how important this is. Due to legal guidelines, there are disclosures that must be made, a privacy policy in place, and terms and conditions to have on your website. 

Years ago, I worked at a law firm…not claiming legal experience or ability to give advice, but what I am saying is that I read my fair share of legalese! I recognize it, but I’m definitely not confident in speaking it lol.

So, I decided not to try to write my own. I know how important the fine details are by legal definition to be compliant.

I’ll be honest, I tried to do the freebies for a little while, but I was so worried I maybe didn’t cover something or left something out. I spent way more time than I should’ve…valuable time I couldn’t get back BUT I didn’t have the money starting out to be frivolous with my investments or try a lot of things.

After months of research I stumbled upon Amira at ASelfGuru.com and totally fell in love with what she’s doing! She has her niche and she does it very well!

Ultimately, I finally saw the time I was spending working on it, constantly checking for updated laws and just worrying about it was way more expensive than just investing in her lifetime documents.

I got started with this legal bundle for all three legal papers needed on my website. Super easy to implement, literally plug in my information, per her detailed and easy to read instructions, then place on my website. It was that easy! 

I was so happy that I have since used more of her documents for my freelance work. They come with a lifetime update, and yes when a law was updated she was on it!

I immediately got the updated verbiage in my email with easy to follow detailed instructions of where to place and if any verbiage needed to be removed or replaced.

Hey! When your why is big enough you’ll figure out your how….I literally house sat, bought her package, and haven’t looked back. 

You can try to do it yourself, but I suggest the peace of mind and just do it right the first time around 😉

So now we’ve talked Legalise a little bit, let’s address operating your website.

There are plugins that will make life easier for you and secure/help optimize your site. I have the following plugins, again I had to do some research and figure out which ones I wanted to start with.

Most are free versions that I use. As you create a blogging schedule, don’t forget to check for needed updates to your plug ins and theme. You also want to make sure these things are kept updated frequently, so if you go to install a plug in and it’s been for-e-ver since it was last updated….just don’t. 

Frequesnt updates keep bugs fixed and reduce chances for security problems. 

Some good free ones I use, at the time of writing this, are:

Rank Math SEO – an in depth SEO plugin and let’s you see internal and external link counts (helps remind me to do the little things for SEO)

WP Affiliate Disclosure – automatically ads the affiliate disclosure to your pages and posts.

Updraft Plus -Backup/Restore your site with files backed up to a list of different options 

Depending on your site, you may not need these specific plugins. I suggest to write them down or plug them into a spreadsheet tab, like I did, so you can research and decide.

Trust me, you will come across a ton more recommendations while you’re scouring the web starting your business or expanding one….I’m just hoping my little corner of the web will provide solutions and answers to some of your questions!

Step 13 – Analytics & Search Consoles

Analytics days should be added to your blogging schedule to be a part of your blogging system. – I totally just geeked out a little on this one!

Keeping up with your site performance will be crucial in knowing what to do (or not do), and what’s working (or not working) for further growth. 

Of course getting your site connected to the analytics and found by the search engines come before monitoring!

This will depend on what platforms you’re using but to get started, you need to make sure the search engines can find your site, crawl it, and index it properly.

1.   Go to Google Analytics, create your account and link your website.

It’s super easy and took maybe 15 minutes…because I read EVERYTHING lol. It walks you through most of it and if you have any questions I utilized the help section and YouTube videos to understand everything that’s available to be seen in your analytics!

2.   Now, go to Google Search Console and follow the directions to ‘add property’ or claim your site.

3.   After Google, go to Bing Webmaster Tools and claim the site, though not used as much as Google, it’s still a search engine so don’t leave traffic on the table 😉

I once again just watched a couple YouTube videos after using the help section in both the Analytics and Search Consoles. The tutorials I found had slightly different screenshots and some verbiage has changed but it’s pretty simple to follow once you realize what you’re doing. Both the Search Consoles and Analytics explains pretty well.

4.   Submit a Sitemap for Google to more intelligently crawl your entire site. You’ll go to https://www.yoursitename.com/sitemap.xml

Once you hit enter you’ll get a Page showing ‘XML Sitemap’ with a list of mapping under it. (If this sounds intimidating, the Rack Math SEO app set up wizard walks you through Google Analytics and verifies the sitemap on Google Search Console. Just don’t forget Bing Webmaster Tools!) 

Curious – have you worked on that Hit List of Articles today? Don’t forget to keep building your library!

Step 14 – social media platforms

Now is the time to decide which social media platform(s) you’ll be on. Pick one or two and then stay away from the others for now. Master a couple at a time, otherwise your strategy isn’t going to be worthwhile.

I’m naturally a creative and visual person. I hate gossip, drama or unnecessary negativity. So, naturally I lean towards Instagram and Pinterest.

Facebook is great for private groups, building a community, and I use the messenger to stay connected with people. But I didn’t do them all at once.

In fact, I already had a personal Facebook profile that once I started my website and was working on learning more about Instagram and Pinterest, I didn’t get on Facebook actively. I logged on to intentionally look up a page, reach out to someone, or check out the groups I joined. 

And I saved the groups on my phone home screen so I wouldn’t get distracted by the Facebook feed, for almost 6 months. I starting having a ton of messages start coming through of people checking on me to see if I was still alive and if everything was alright lol. Sweet as it was, I had just turned my focus on other areas for a timeframe.

So pick your couple to learn and master and wait til you’re really good and comfy before you keep adding. 

I’m working on multiple platforms right now.  I started working on my personal Instagram to get comfortable with the platform to begin with.  I’m not using my personal accounts for business purposes, just for people to get to know me and to share our outdoor hobbies and active lifestyle despite chronic illness. You can take a peek here at my personal account.

I recently started an Instagram Account for Crushing It Chronically, I haven’t started focusing on working to build it yet, and I connected it to a Facebook page.

I’d love to start a YouTube channel for Crushing It Chronically at a later date. But for now, my husband is building a YouTube channel for one of our other businesses. So, my focus in YouTube is that project.

Anywho, do some research for each social media platform.

You’ll want to note down information you find before you decide; such as the audience demographics, the lifespan of a post, buying habits for the audiences, and how each platform allows monetization….if making money is a goal for you at some point.

I would include a screenshot here, but it’s social media and algorithms (and thus audience information) will change from time to time. More often than not.

Keep a spreadsheet for what you’re finding about each platform and then research free courses or resources and paid resources. This way you can research each one and decide what you want to invest your time and money into for your business later.

Hey don’t forget! Keep working on that content library while you’re doing all of this! I suggest starting your work time with content creation because you can end up down a 12 hour rabbit hole of research quick, fast, and in a hurry! Trust me!

Where we are in our blogging schedule that’s creating a blogging system!

We’ll pause here for your researching and note taking along with content creations!

Don’t do what I did!  Don’t do one day of this schedule and move on down the list.

Literally, at minimum, spend 3-5 days of content creation and research time to start creating your habits and routine! We don’t really want to hit that launch button if there’s nothing on the page that’ll benefit your visitors, right?!

It’s all about user experience and solving problems for your audience. It’s that simple, so let’s not rush pass this!

I’ve read many recommendations of at least 10 articles published, SEO reviewed (using the plugin walks you through it), images added (also SEO optimized-again using the plugin checks these for you), (and if you’re promoting through pinterest 3-5 pins for each article ready before you click that launch button) and I definitely agree with this outline.

If you’ve sat down and figured out your calendar of when to do these tasks while researching your social media platforms and working on connecting analytics, then you’ve definitely laid the foundation for a great blogging schedule which will create your blogging system!

This doesn’t happen overnight, you may need to print this series of articles or keep returning to stay on track and progressing with one task per day or two days while you’re also writing a post per day or two days. 

14 days for this content building strategy to get to this point would be normal, especially if you have a full time job, chronic illness, or other commitments that keep you working on your blog only a couple hours per day.

So way to go you for hanging in there, dedicating yourself, and getting stuff done!

When you’ve got a handle on the situation and feel ready to move on, just follow me to your Checklist and Launching your blog!