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April 26, 2021 Content Chat Recap: How To Become A More Productive Blogger

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Time can easily be a writer’s worst enemy. Right as one piece of content is finished, there is often another deadline right around the corner, and a multitude of new tasks can pop up at any moment. Before you know it, your day is over and you’ve made no progress on your next blog post. But there is a way to break this cycle.

In this #ContentChat, we’re joined by Eb Gargano (@EbGargano), professional blogger at Easy Peasy Foodie and Productive Blogging, to explain how to become a more productive blogger. Read the full recap below, where we discuss how to develop a blog content plan, ways to remove distractions from your workday, tips to overcome writer’s block, and tools to help with blogging.

Q1: How can bloggers set realistic goals for 2021? What KPIs or metrics should they track to measure their success?

Eb focuses her goals on actions, not numbers. She recommends setting goals around what you will do to increase your metrics.

To measure the success of your blog and its content, track KPIs including pageviews, pages per session, percent of returning visitors, organic traffic, and engagement.

Set up your goals in Google Analytics.

Historical metrics can help inform what is a realistic goal to set. Remember that if you’re starting from scratch, it can take ~6 months to gain momentum.

And always ensure that your goals and KPIs map back to your overarching business strategy.

Q2: What should a blog content plan include, and how do you develop this plan? Do you have any templates or resources that help?

A blog content plan can be a basic spreadsheet with dates and post titles. Remember that a simple grid can be incredibly effective.

To build out your blog content plan, include columns for a post’s current status, category, short description, responsible team members, resources to inform the post, key deadlines, and URL (when published).

Consider color-coding your document.

Trello is often recommended by the community.

When planning individual blog posts, consider creating an additional plan-on-a-page. This document should explain the goal of the piece and capture all necessary elements, including SEO considerations and proposed social copy. Link to these plans on a page in your main blog content plan.

Per the chat, many members of the #ContentChat community combine their editorial calendars and blog content plans.

Eb and Jessica share their content planning templates to help get you started.

Q3: How can bloggers effectively brainstorm new content ideas?

First document any seasonal or fixed-date content. Then, brainstorm content ideas that align with your team’s focus topics. Prioritize this list with a keyword research calculator to find which ideas are most likely to drive traffic to your site.

Use tools like Ahrefs, AnswerThePublic, BuzzSumo, Semrush, and Quora to help brainstorm new content ideas.

Get to know your target audience and brainstorm content topics that meet their needs. Directly ask your target community what topics they’re interested in, use social listening to identify priority topics, and gather internal stakeholders from any customer-facing teams to share insights.

Freely write ideas without judgment.

Use the ‘Wonder-Wheel’ technique, where you write your broad topic and all possible subtopics.

Brainstorm visually with a whiteboard, sticky notes, or a mind-mapping tool.

Use Google’s ‘people also ask’ suggestions.

And actively break your routine or seek out new media sources to help spark ideas and creativity.

Check out Eb’s post for more details, plus her Keyword Research Calculator.

Q4: What daily practices can marketers and bloggers follow to stay productive and focused throughout their day?

To be more productive during your day, check email and social media less often (which can include scheduling time for those activities). Close any internet browser tabs that are not an immediate priority. Stick to the plan for your day, and add any new tasks to tomorrow’s to-do list.

Eat the frog, which means identify your most challenging or time consuming task, or a task that you simply have been pushing off for too long, and work on it first thing in the morning.

In addition to eating the frog, know your best time for doing different types of tasks.

Break large tasks into smaller steps.

Take daily breaks or use a morning routine to clear your mind.

Check out Eb’s article for more ideas.

Q5: What productivity tips do you have to keep bloggers focused on writing, instead of getting distracted by other work or life priorities?

Write a daily to-do list, including all work and life needs. Tackle each task one at a time, and do not multitask. Silence your phone, close all unnecessary browser tabs, and turn off notifications to stay focused.

Take breaks to reset, and break large tasks into smaller steps to stay motivated and more easily recognize your progress.

When you first write, write without judgment. Focus on getting your words/ideas out, and then refine those ideas.

And, again, silence or hide all distractions as necessary.

Q6: What are your go-to tools for blogging, including spelling and grammar, headline optimization, SEO, etc.?

Check out the multitude of tools for blogging that the community recommends below. Is your favorite tool missing from the list? Let us know in the comments!

About Alek Irvin

Alek Irvin is a content marketing professional with a rich history in social media management, executive thought leadership development, and media relations. As a consultant at Erika Heald Marketing Consulting, he creates human-focused content and thought leadership platforms that help brand leaders connect and engage with their communities. Alek has worked with a range of startups and Fortune 500 companies across the B2B technology and consumer spaces, including IBM, Dell Technologies, Hitch Works, Emtrain, Integrate, and Frameable. Connect with him on Twitter @AlekIrvin.

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