Editorial plan for websites and blogs: what it is and how to create a content marketing strategy

The editorial plan is a fundamental document for the creation of a website or blog. In fact, it guarantees the organization of the content, establishing the topics to be covered. The editorial plan is, therefore, not a secondary element for the development of a blog or a website; on the contrary, it establishes the logical criterion to follow, to carry out your digital project. 

Editorial plan: what is it and what is it for? 

The editorial plan is, therefore, an extremely important document, to which the utmost attention must be paid. With it, in fact, you identify the topics and content to be covered on your website, blog or social channel. 

The editorial plan can be created using Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Word or even using pen and paper. The only important thing about this document is the content. It is one of the tools used to develop an effective marketing strategy and establishes the planning of the content, text, audio or video to be published from time to time, in order to maintain a solid relationship with the users of the blog or website, as well as to provide relevant information of interest to the focused target. 

A Well-Developed Editorial Plan: Ensuring Valuable Content

A well-developed editorial plan must start from the identification of topics, which must follow a logical thread and a certain continuity. In particular, this document must contain the content marketing strategy to be followed in the medium to long term, in order to ensure valuable content.

The Importance of User-Centric Content

A well-structured editorial plan, therefore, guarantees new visits to your website or blog and tracks down potential customers and admirers of the topics covered. For this reason, it needs effective design, in order not to have the efforts to grow your blog or website be in vain.

The creation of the document must follow several stages. Before focusing on the content, in fact, it is necessary to understand what are the topics that may interest users. The writing of the editorial plan must, therefore, be carried out only after identifying:

• The services to offer
• Your weaknesses and strengths
• The uniqueness of your project

For a winning editorial plan, you must never forget that the user is the one who keeps their website or blog alive. Making sure that you are offering content that deserves their attention is essential for good digital business.

How to organize content for a website or blog 

After reaffirming the importance of a well-crafted editorial plan and the strategies to be implemented, in order to create a good content marketing strategy, it is necessary to emphasize the difference between a document designed to launch a website, and one intended for blogging. 

In fact, it is precisely the intrinsic characteristics of each tool that make editorial needs different. An editorial plan must: 

• Promote activity on the web; 
• Implement an inbound marketing strategy; 
• Ensure the evaluation of the content published over time. 

A website has different needs than a blog. For this reason, it does not require continuous publications, and therefore the content can be released over time. It is possible to publish a smaller amount of content on a website than on the blog, always paying attention to the user, which means providing extremely valuable content. It is important that an editorial plan takes into account: 

• Research gaps: that is, the questions to which Google has not given sufficient answers; in other words, niche topics that have little coverage on the web; 
• Public interest: users must be updated on news, so it would be good to publish at least one article a week. 

An editorial plan intended for a blog must also be based on the in-depth study of its target audience, namely the public. Needs vary especially with regard to publications, which must be much more frequent than those of a website, to keep the users’ attention constantly on the topics covered in the blog. After all, a blog must deal with a certain topic in depth, dissecting any possible doubt or information which may concern the reader. 

How do you identify the right topics? 

To identify the topics that interest your audience, you must investigate their questions and try to provide exhaustive answers. Also in this case, SWOT analysis, or the identification of one’s strengths and weaknesses, is essential for a good editorial plan. 

The editorial plan for the blog must be created as a tool for identifying needs and achieving objectives, so that a strategy can be said to be effective. Although the content is programmed over time, it is possible to identify new topics, perhaps ones that are more interesting or relevant, and modify the editorial plan at any time. 

A blog is a much more active tool than a website, so content programming must be thought out quickly. There’s no time to waste. A blog constantly communicates with the reader, answers their questions, identifies their needs. For this reason, unlike a website, it is necessary to aim for at least 3 publications per week, using an appropriate Editorial Calendar which supports the document. 

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