If you are new to blogging, or even if you have been in it for a while, it is important you develop a weekly schedule. Having a weekly blogging checklist will help you work towards your goals in a productive and steady rate!
Depending on your individual blogging goals, your weekly blogging checklist might look different from other bloggers. That is ok! There is no “wrong” way to blog, and it is very individualized.
I like to create both daily and weekly tasks for myself and my blog. This helps break down larger goals into workable, daily tasks! There are certain things I do every day for my blog, which are outlined in my daily blogging checklist.
I also have tasks I aim to complete each week, which I will describe in this list! While I may not work on my weekly goals every single day, I try to incorporate them throughout the week, whenever I am finished with my daily tasks.
I use a weekly planner that I bought from a craft store to help keep my days planned, and keep myself accountable. To do so, I write my daily tasks under each day, so I can cross them off when finished. For weekly goals, I might break them up and add specific tasks to each day as I see fit. Or, I will write my weekly goals on the side margin as a reminder they need to get done!
You will need to play around with different planning ideas that work best for you. Some bloggers don’t use planners, and opt for online scheduling, alarms, timers, or just their own minds! You will find a groove that works for you, and keeps you on track!
Here are some items I always keep on my weekly blogging checklist, as I have found them to be helpful in growing my blog. Feel free to take all, or just some, of these ideas!
Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.
Weekly Blogging Checklist: Pinterest
Most bloggers know the importance of Pinterest in growing their blog. If you don’t, check out these reasons why bloggers should use Pinterest! Especially in the beginning of your blog’s career, Pinterest can truly make all the difference! It is important for bloggers to have both daily and weekly Pinterest tasks, in order to stay consistent- which Pinterest loves! Here are some of the Pinterest tasks I try to do daily.
Schedule pins for the week
Staying consistent in your pinning strategy is one of the most important things a blogger can do! In order to grow on Pinterest and get traffic flowing to your blog, you need to develop a consistent strategy for pinning.
This requires either manual pinning or scheduling pins. Most bloggers use a combination of both. Because it is near impossible to manually pin 20-30 times a day (especially if you have other jobs or a family), most bloggers rely on pin schedulers.
Once a week, usually on Sundays, I schedule pins for the following week. There are two main ways of doing this: Pinterest scheduler and Tailwind.
Pinterest has their own scheduling system that is free! However, it is very time consuming, as you need to schedule each individual pin separately.
This is why most bloggers use Tailwind. Tailwind is a true life saver for bloggers, and saves hours of time each week! If you have not used Tailwind yet, you should definitely take a look into it! You can try it out free for a month, and I guarantee you will love it!
When scheduling my pins for the week, I like to use pins I have already posted before. Every week I try to use different pins than the week before. For each post, I have a folder of “old” pins, that have already been posted. I select a handful of these for each of my most popular posts, and reschedule them!
Then, I manually pin at least 3-5 brand new pins each day. After pinning them, they go into the “old” folder, for rescheduling in the future! You may have to play around with your pinning strategy and see what works best for you!
Create 1-2 new pin templates
The latest Pinterest algorithm favors fresh pins, making it super important that you continually create new pin layouts and templates! I recommend doing this anyway, because it helps keep all your pins from looking the exact same.
While I am on Pinterest throughout the week, I like to screenshot pin layouts that capture my attention. When I go to create my own templates for the week, I refer back to these screenshots for inspiration!
This can get tedious, though. I recommend purchasing this bundle of 50 Pinterest pin templates, for only $5 (when you join the QBB newsletter)! This will save you so much time and energy, and it is super cheap! I did all the work so you don’t have to!
By having a folder of templates, you can easily and quickly customize each one, creating tons of new pins in just minutes! All bloggers know just how many pins you need to create each week, so get a bunch of pre-made layouts to make the process easier!
Once you create a pin with a new layout, manually pin it, then add to your scheduling system!
For tips on creating the best pins, check out my guide of creating pins that get clicks!
Apply to group boards
Applying to Pinterest group boards is one weekly blogging checklist item I admit I slack on. When it comes to Pinterest group boards, there are a lot of debates on their effectiveness. Many bloggers swear by them, and for others, they aren’t as successful.
That’s the thing about blogging- what works for one blogger, might not work for you. The same goes with group boards. If they work for you, awesome! Keep doing what you’re doing! If not, don’t waste your time.
If they do work for you, take some time each week to evaluate and review your analytics. What group boards are you getting the most engagement from? Are there boards that are simply not doing anything for you? Delete those boards, and apply for new ones!
You aren’t committed to sticking with any group board. If they aren’t doing anything for you and your blog, ditch them! Apply to a couple each week, until you find some that are giving you the results you want!
You will need a solid email template when applying to boards. Here is mine, feel free to use it!:
“Hi there!My name is Erica and I run the website QueenBeeBlogger.com where I help aspiring bloggers grow their online business! I was hoping to join your group board, Group Board Name Here, as this would be a great place to share my resources, as well as collaborate with other bloggers within my niche!Here is my Pinterest URL : https://www.pinterest.com/ericas4510/ My email is QueenBeeBloggers@gmail.comHope you are doing well!Erica”
Simple, sweet, and to the point. Remember to include your Pinterest URL as well as the email associated with your account so you can be easily added to the board! Check the board for specific instructions on applying.
Weekly blogging checklist: Content/writing
Of course, weekly blogging goals are going to include writing! Although writing is not all that bloggers do, it is still a huge part of our jobs. So, it makes sense why there should be weekly goals related to content and writing! Having weekly writing goals will help prevent you from writing burn out and writers block! Here are some of the things I do weekly when it comes to content and writing:
Write 2-3 blog posts
As of right now, I write 2-3 posts a week for QBB, and 1 post a week for my travel blog. There is a reason for this difference. Depending on the age and status of your blog, you can adjust these numbers.
Because QBB is newer than my travel blog, I want to get more content posted. My travel blog is older, has many more posts, and is already well established, so maintaining one post a week seems to be enough!
Whatever number of posts you choose to write per week, make sure you are consistent. If you just know you won’t write 3 posts a week, don’t push it. Choose an amount that works with you and your schedule! Google and Pinterest love consistency, and knowing when they can expect a new post from you. Readers like this as well! People just like consistency, right?
Now, I get it is difficult to write every day. I touch on this in my daily blogging checklist. Remember, it is better to write when you are feeling inspired, than to write just because you “need” to. However, getting in the habit of writing more often will help you in the long run.
It might seem difficult and like a chore to write every day (or most days), but once it becomes a habit and just part of your job, it isn’t so bad anymore! Plus, you became a blogger for a reason- you must like to write at least a little bit!
Stay consistent, stay inspired, and try to write even a little bit each day!
Plan new content
Part of my content planning system is to plan new posts for the following week. Create a list of researched keywords you plan to use, and keep them in a list. Then, when you want to plan a post, you can select one of these topics.
Choose a keyword, and starting planning how your post will look. I typically spend some time doing research of what I will write about related to that specific topic. Then, I will write down about 10 (or more) key points and ideas. That way, when I go to write the post, I have all my ideas and thoughts already laid out!
This makes writing new posts much easier, and less time consuming. Sometimes getting yourself to write a post can be difficult, but if you have your ideas already written out for you, you can start typing away much easier!
The notes don’t have to go that in depth. For example, for this post I had written bullet points like, “2-3 blog posts”, “schedule pints for week”, “plan content”, etc. Simple notes that remind me what I was thinking!
Your content planning system might look different, but make sure you are taking a look at it and editing it weekly to stay up to date!
Here are some ideas for how to create a blog content strategy.
Update one old post
Another important item you should add to your weekly blog checklist is to update at least one old post. This can be kind of annoying, especially if you have hundreds of posts. Your first posts might seem not so great, and you might feel like you need to redo the entire post.
That’s what this time is for! Take an hour or so each week to choose one post to give a face lift. Add new internal links, fix grammar mistakes, add more details and elaboration, update pictures, change any weird formatting issues, check for broken links, etc.
You will want to keep old content fresh, as Google takes note of this. They won’t want to promote your old, lackluster content. Shine up an old post, then promote it! You never know, an old post might become popular again once you fix it up!
If you are in Mediavine or other ad networks, try to space out your content, use longer images, and make your post longer for more room for advertisements!
Weekly Blog Checklist: research & planning
Part of any good weekly blogging plan includes doing research and planning. Without these important items, you won’t have a solid plan of what your goals are, or how to reach them! The following ideas are what I try to do each week in terms of research and planning:
Plan the week ahead
At the beginning of the week, usually Sundays, I always plan my following week. This helps me keep track and remember what I need to do that week, and helps hold me accountable for completing tasks.
I start by writing in my planner the typical weekly things I do such as specific days I post, days to send newsletters, scheduling pins, etc. Then, I fill in as I see fit other weekly goals, like the ones outlined in this post. After, I take items from my side projects or work in progress list, and fill in empty spots in my days with these.
If there is too much to do, I will prioritize, and put less important items in the side bar, as a reminder I can work on these if I have extra time. I love lists and bullets, so this helps me remember everything I am working on!
Additionally, this is a great time to take a look at your schedule for the following week, outside of blogging. Are you going out of town that weekend? Maybe you will need to plan some things ahead of time. Perhaps you have a doctors appointment you forgot about. Keep all your things in one schedule so you can keep everything on track!
Brainstorm!
When I have completed all my work for the day or week, I love to take some time to brainstorm (when I’m feeling inspired). Think about where your blog is right now, and where you would like it to be. How can you get there? What can you do to bring your business to the next level?
Do you want to sell digital products? Brainstorm some ideas of what to create. Maybe you want to make a book- outline some chapters. Or, just brainstorm some new content ideas. Peruse other bloggers websites to get motivation, or browse Pinterest for new ideas.
My notebook is stuffed with brainstorming lists. Even if you don’t end up doing everything on your list, it is still a great way to stay inspired, motivated, and excited about your work!
This can also be a great time to organize your thoughts, explore new avenues, and learn new ideas when it comes to blogging! You never know what you might find, or where your brain will take you! Turn on some music, and let your mind wander!
Research topics
When it comes to blogging, there is a lot of learning involved. I am completely self-taught when it comes to blogging, and have not spent a single dollar on training or courses. This was just my personal preference, as I learn best by doing, making mistakes, and going at my own pace.
I have watched tons of free training videos and courses, but mostly have done my own research and trial and error. If there is an area of blogging confusing to you, take some time each week to learn about it! In order to grow your blog and business, you will need to learn.
Unfortunately, there is no “degree” in blogging, so you need to find all the information on your own! This is kind of a fun part though, since you can explore your own journey and learn as you see fit!
Moz Academy has some amazing courses you can take to learn more about SEO in a simply and easy to learn way. However, they are super expensive. They go on sale often and even free! I took all of them when they went free for a few months, so keep checking back!
The thing about working online is that things constantly change. You need to stay updated on the latest updates and algorithms in order to be successful. The more you know, the more comfortable and successful your business will be!
weekly blogging checklist: other
You might also want to consider writing and sending out a weekly newsletter. Newsletters are a great way to connect and engage with your audience. Send your readers the latest information in your niche, deals and discounts, and any updates you might have!
Additionally, you might want to take some time each week to do some keyword research. You can read more about keyword research in my guide of easy blog corrections to improve your SEO.
If you have time, work on some of those side projects you brainstormed. Even an hour or two a week set aside to work on these can lead to great results!
You can also take some time during the week to check for broken links in your posts. These can have a negative effect on your SEO and readers experience, so make sure you catch these!
Contact Me!
As always, if you have any questions or concerns related to blogging, don’t hesitate to reach out to me! You can find my contact information in the menu above, or leave a comment in the section below!
Don’t forget to join the Queen Bee Bloggers email list to get a FREE Blog post planner!
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