Planning Guide "Plus" for Your Niche Website Posts
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Time To Read: 3 1/2 Minutes, Absolutely NO Time for Fresh Coffee!
A lot of people look at the blank paper in front of them and are stumped when it comes to what or how to write an article, a review, or a blog post.
To get over that it can help to have a formula or template to follow, much the same as you would use for writing any copy.
Related: See my last two blog posts for more on this...
(1) Using Copywriting Formulas: https://my.wealthyaffiliate.com/davesw/blog/using-a-copywrit...
(2) 10 Secrets of Copywriting... : https://my.wealthyaffiliate.com/davesw/blog/10-tips-on-copyw...
Indeed, creating that "perfect" blog post does take more than just sitting down with a cup of coffee and hoping something comes to mind about what to write.
Also, perfection is a hard thing to achieve. Better to focus on the required elements and ensuring that you are addressing each.
If you want to write a post that will speak to your audience (think customer avatar - who are you selling to?) and will get the readers to take action, there are a few things to consider before you even start.
Let's go through them...
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A Few Questions
It can help to start by asking yourself a few questions and taking a few moments to write down the answers to the questions:
Question 1: Who are you writing for?
Question 2: What kind of information are they hoping to see?
Question 3: What do you want them to do with that information?
This exercise gets your focus where it needs to be as you gain an understanding of who you are writing for and what you want to accomplish with your post.
You now have a "why" for the post, and this makes it much easier to begin planning to address all of the elements that may be required to fulfill that "why?"
I like to use a simple calendar format, leaving space for the basics that will give me an overview of my content marketing plan. I can see for a whole month the direction I am taking the content...
Starting with a few ideas that all lead to the core emphasis of the business, I can fill in the daily planned content activities. These might include articles or other content (i.e. a video, infographic, an audio session, a live event, etc.).
By using the post calendar (sample below) to jot down the ideas for posts, along with some quick notes for each, I have created a nice map for the month. I can also drill down to add in keywords, images, supporting link resources, even tools I will use as appropriate.
This is your calender so make it work for you. Personally I am a big fan of colors, underlining, bold, circling stuff, etc. So my calendar likely will not be pretty like yours can be, but it worls for me...
You can then go on to use a template checklist that you have designed to make sure you include all of the various elements you may need. Simply fill in the details for each and use that completed template to then write your copy.
This is another one that you can start using a stock template and add to as you might need. Depending on what your are involved in, you could be adding in sales pages, lead magnets, social posts, banners, etc. as part of the creation process.
Let's drill down a bit...
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My Blog Post Calendar, Elements, and Article Writing Templates
I have copy and pasted spreadsheet examples of the forms I have come up with here. I am not sure how they will look after publishing this post (they look lousy so I changed to just describing them), but it really does not matter. You can easily create your own version.
In fact, I recommend that you do come up with one so you can modify it for your own efforts and make it an individual set of tools that have been designed for your specific focus, niche, and avatars, as mentioned above.
This makes it easy to provide more consistency in the content that you create, as it all supports and leads to actions you want your targeted audiences to take, and that would be likely moving/selling the items that you have or are promoting.
If you will look at the last few posts I have made, you will see that I am painting a picture here for standardizing your work as an affiliate marketer. I have seen websites that have topics that are all over the map in regards to subjects and posts (and quality).
Determining the direction you want to go, the niches that you will pursue, working up customer avatars for the niche, and using formulas and templates as you plan and create your content and copy is going to get you more traffic (and sales) faster.
Keywords are most certainly important, they are key (no pun intended). But there are a lot of other factors that come into play as well and creating a system for yourself is going to help you get more done in the same amount of time...
It really comes down to creating an effective roadmap for yourself, then following that map consistently and over time. This we learn in the training here, but there are additional little things you can add like these templates that wlll make you even more productive and effective.
These templates do help (me)...
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The Next Steps
Once you start standardizing what and how you are creating copy, the next logical step will be to decide how the content can fit into your social marketing plan. Remember you are trying to get the most bang for your buck here.
While this is in another area of your marketing efforts, as with the content you create, it all should complement one another, so they are related. Try creating some Tweets, Facebook Posts, email campaigns to get leads to pop in, including images for Piinterest while you create your content.
Make these part of the steps you follow when you create content...
This way you have some ready-to-go materials that you can share on the social platforms (do not forget about video, perhaps a central means to get the word out and lots of engagement about what you have created to many of the social platforms).
You may also create lead magnets, sales pages, affiliate programs, bonus products and pages, banners and explainer videos plus many other types of content that will support and promote that article or post, depending on the subject...
So have a look at the templates I have pasted here below and use them as a guide for building your own. Make them a useful tool for ensuring that your efforts are supporting the bigger 10,000 foot view of your affilaite marketing business..
So now over to you...
Do you have some templates or tools that you use for planning your posts? Let me know in the comments below, we can always learn new things from you! Also, are there additional tips or ideas that you have that can help us all? Let us know below!
Cheers!
Dave : )
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Sample Templates:
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(1) Monthly Content Planning Calendar
Month_______
Across The Top: Days
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
Left Side of Sheet : Week 1 Rows
Title
Notes
Under each day add this and then add in the notes and informtion...
Weeks 2 - 4 do the same
Next...
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(2) Elements Template
Blog Post Element Checklist
Task
Topic brainstorm
Target audience definition
Keywords
Title ideas
Subtitle ideas
Introduction text
Body text
Conclusion text
Call to Action
Images
Hyperlinks
Categories/tags
Review/Edit
Schedule/Publish
Social Media and Email shares
Comment monitoring
Next...
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(3) Article Template I Use
Blog Post Template
Title:
Introduction:
Subtitle 1:
Body 1:
Subtitle 2:
Body 2:
Subtitle 3:
Body 3:
Conclusion:
Call to Action:
Recent Comments
21
Thanks for sharing all these ideas. It will take me a while to get my head around all of it.
Well written
Lily 😊
Thanks so much, Lilly...I plan on publishing more of these, so taken together, members can get the bigger picture and incorporate this stuff into their content creation processes...
Cheers!
Dave : )
Thanks, Dave - this series of articles you have posted is a great aid to people who work better with structure in their lives. I am one of them.
I write things down and make lists in order to get things done.
Wow - we think alike...I LOVE lists and use them every day. They are my own personal road map for the day, the week, and the year.
You have succinctly stated how I work best - using structure is how I build my business day, and also the rest of my life quite a bit too. There is that wild side that pulls me in too once in a while, but for work, the structured route is a pretty solid path to follow...
Thanks a lot for putting the whole point of the last three posts into a simple sentence/thought...It can be hard to do this online marketing business unless you have some systems in place and use them...
Cheers!
Dave : )
I agree completely. I tried to wing it online and it did not work for me. I had to go back to what I know best and make lists and plan ahead. Much better.
Really appreciate the templates and training you have provided.
Alex
No probs at all... I am sure others will be helped by moving to at least some of the things we are doing...
Cheer!
Dave : )
Great ideas. I use a spreadsheet to track all of my articles, their keywords, title, hyperlinks, SEO and KGR scores, publish date etc.
I'd love your content planning calendar. I need to find a way to link that to my existing article spreadsheet.
Thanks for sharing.
Michael
Glad that the ideas will help...Can Google Docs so some of that linking for you (or you could use Zapier perhaps - change one and the other is updated)...Best of luck! Dave : )
Thanks very much for sharing your templates with us, Dave.
I admit that I've never used templates for writing. Well, certainly not as great as those you have published here.
The only templates I've used are those available in WA Site Content. Previously, I just sat at my computer and created content.
After all these years, it appears you have provided a goldmine to follow.
Very much appreciated. Thank you.
Valerie
I think this comes from my time in the Army...They loved to provide scripts, templates, tons of guidance on everything from how to tie your shoes to prosecuting a deployment hehe...
Although it can seem a bit overdone at times, it is a great way to ensure that you have left no element out of your copy and that you have covered per your formula (i.e. AIDA, etc. - found in my last post)...
Planning ahead using the calendar is also useful - there are times you will not be able to write a blog post but with the plan, you can prepare them ahead of time and make sure the flow continues (you can schedule them to post using WP)...
Cheers!
Dave : )
Thanks very much for your response, Dave. It's been on my mind to get back to this trail.
Yes, I am definitely going to use the templates you so kindly shared.
Your remark about time in the Army took me back to much younger days when I became aware of some benefits people gain from being in services such as the Army and the Navy. I saw this in both my father-in-law and my husband who had been in military services. Very impressive.
Valerie
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Hey Dave,
Thanks for the great information. Its very helpful.
Don
No problem at all, Don....I am trying to make this into a miniseries of posts that will be sort of like a quick start on steroids for the members that need such a thing.
I am glad to know that others will perhaps benefit from them as well! I like to brush up on skills and tips all the time, it seems there is always something I pick up and can use...
Cheers!
Dave : )