The Importance Of Being Organized When Running A Blog

I have stated on many occasions that blogging is hard work, as there is a lot that goes into running a site that many people don’t realize.  This isn’t a bad thing, but it does mean that you need to be very organized in order to keep on top of things and not fall behind with the work that needs doing.  Being organized is essential to your success, as if you are not, you won’t get very far.

Why Being Organized Is Important

Many new bloggers are under the impression that you only need to write content in order to run a successful site.  But as well as that, you need to;

• Write posts regularly (between 1-5 a week),
• Social Media marketing,
• Write an email newsletter once a week (or more),
• Reply to any comments left on your site,
• Reply to emails,
• Write guest posts,
• Find people to write guest posts for you,
• Produce Audio/Video/Infographics, etc.
• Maintain your website (updates, web design, links, etc),
• Research new posts (test products for review, learn about a new topic, etc.)
• Monitor your website stats (Google Analytics) and look to improve them,
• Answer people’s questions,
• … and much more!

And that is only if you are managing everything yourself.  If you are part of a team, you might need to;

• Hold regular meetings/hangouts,
• Review each other’s work,
• Cover for someone if they are away,
• Write up or present information on what has/hasn’t been working,

These are just some of the things that you will have to deal with on a regular basis when running your site, which is why it’s essential that you are organized.  With such a lot of work to do that can be quite spread across different topics, it is easy to get side-tracked.  Worse still, you can end up working all day on one specific area, and neglect all the other important ones that go into running your site.

Google Calendar To The Rescue

One of the best ways to stay organized is to properly structure your week and make a note of all the activities that you need to do.  It doesn’t really matter ‘how’ you do this, as long as you do something.  Not only will it help you remember what you need to do, but it will also give a structure to your day/week and help you to be more productive.

A simple pad and pen can be great, but for something a bit more useful, Google Calendar is one tool that you can use that makes it much easier.  As well as being able to make daily/weekly/monthly notes (just like you can with most calendar software), Google Calendar lets you share these dates with other people.

A good example of this is when scheduling guest posts for your site.  When you approve someone to write for your site, you can schedule their post within Google Calendar and share that date with them.  That way, you are conforming the date, which can appear a lot more professional than a simple email.  This is how I manage my guest posting schedule.

The other added benefit of Google Calendar is that it is completely compatible with your smart phone.  Download the iPhone app or Android app and you will be able to keep up to date and edit your schedule to stay on top of things.  I personally find this to be extremely useful when out and about.  It’s easy to lose track of what I need to do at times, so referring back to my schedule helps greatly.  Likewise, as it is fully integrated with your Gmail account, simply login on any device and you can check your schedule.

Google Calendar For Bloggers

I find that having a strict posting schedule for your blog makes it much easier to get things done.  If you state that you are going to post three times a week (Mon Wed, Fri), then stick to it and make sure you do it every week.

I do the exact thing with this site (and another site), which helps me to stay focused on what I need to be working on next.

A Good Blogger Is An Organized Blogger

There are plenty of things that go into running a site, which is why it’s good to be well organized.  Whether you plan out a simple structure or micro-manage each and every aspect that you need to do – either way, it will help you to be much more productive.

There are plenty of people out there that started a site, but slowly fell off the radar after putting off their next post.  If you are serious about this industry, you need to treat it like a proper job.  There are no shortcuts; it just takes hard work and perseverance.

Do you structure your blogging week like this? Do you use Google Calendar or perhaps something else?   Do you think it is even necessary to structure your working time?  Please let us know by leaving a comment below?

Image by ‘Aleksi Aaltonen’ [Source]