One of the frequent questions we get from aspiring and present inbound entrepreneurs is, “How do you handle all of that content material?”

The reply: we depend on an editorial calendar in Google Calendar to remain maintain our content material organized.

There are numerous nice calendar instruments on the market you may select from. In truth, for these of you who’re HubSpot clients, there’s a marketing calendar built right into HubSpot’s software. However after attempting a ton of different options, our workforce discovered that we actually operated the very best with only a easy Google Calendar. In truth, this has really been the longest-running editorial calendar resolution our workforce has ever seen.

Here is how we set it up.

Observe Alongside With Free Editorial Calendar Templates

Download the Template for Free

1. Download HubSpot’s free editorial calendar templates.

Very first thing’s first: Obtain the calendar templates, above (they’re free.) By doing this, you may have three editorial calendar templates in your pc to make use of at your leisure: one for Google Calendar, one for Excel, and one for Google Sheets. On this weblog publish, we’ll be going over easy methods to import the Excel template into Google Calendar.

2. Customise your template and put together for import into Google Calendar.

By default, the publish dates on the templates you obtain shall be stamped for the 12 months 2016. Be at liberty to alter them to the current 12 months within the spreadsheet itself — you too can drag them to the dates of your selecting after you add the file into Google Calendar.

Google Calendar makes it straightforward to load a calendar you may need pre-created in one other program into Google. This contains Microsoft Excel. Here is easy methods to import the Excel calendar template you downloaded within the earlier step into Google Calendar:

3. Open Google Calendar.

As soon as you’ve got downloaded (or, for that matter, created) a calendar that opens in Microsoft Excel, it is time to open Google Calendar. Simply be sure you’re already logged into the Gmail account you need this calendar to offer entry to.

4. Use the lefthand dropdown menu to create a brand new calendar.

Now it is time to arrange your Google Calendar to accommodate the knowledge in your Excel spreadsheet. First, go into your Google Calendar and click on the plus signal to the appropriate of “Different Calendars,” as proven within the screenshot under. Within the dropdown menu that seems, choose “Create new calendar.”

5. Fill out the main points of your new calendar.

Fill out the fields that seem on the following display. This features a temporary description of your calendar, as proven under, to offer individuals correct context once you invite them into this calendar. While you’re accomplished filling within the particulars, click on “Create calendar.”

6. Import your XLS or CSV file from the identical dropdown menu.

Utilizing the identical dropdown menu you used to create your editorial calendar, you may now import the Excel file itself into Google Calendar. Click on that plus signal and choose “Import.”

Click on the add field that reads “Choose file out of your pc,” and find the file entitled “Weblog Editorial Calendar – Excel” that was included within the ZIP file you downloaded in Step 1, above.

7. Choose which calendar so as to add this file to.

Within the second field under your imported file, click on the “Add to calendar” dropdown. Remember to select the title of the calendar you simply created from the dropdown menu, as proven under. Then, click on “Import.”

8. Click on Import.

As soon as you’ve got uploaded your Excel file and chosen the calendar you wish to add this file to, click on “Import.” You need to see an Import calendar dialog field telling you that seven occasions had been efficiently imported. Click on “Shut.”

Now, should you did not change the dates of the primary seven assignments within the unique Excel doc, now you can. Navigate to January 3, 2016, which is the beginning of your calendar. Make certain your whole different calendars are quickly hidden by clicking the coloured field to the left of the calendar title. On the week of January 3, 2016, it is best to simply see one “Weblog TBD” calendar occasion on every day from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m.

Use the edit window of every project to alter the publish date. For instance, should you’re glad with the ten a.m. publish time, you may merely change the date from January X, 2016 to January X, 2021. Every project will then seem as occasion blocks in your 2021 month-to-month calendar view.

9. Decide your publishing schedule.

Now that you’ve got your calendar created, it is time to fill it in with assignments for the 12 months. That is when you must make some selections about your weblog’s publishing schedule.

Whereas the Excel file you imported accounts for one weblog publish per day, this doesn’t suggest you must publish seven days per week. Perhaps you wish to publish each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Or maybe you intend on publishing on simply Thursdays. Bear in mind, the important thing to profitable running a blog is high quality over amount.

Do not overcommit to a running a blog schedule if the standard of your content material will take a success. How often your company should blog will range relying on your small business objectives and assets. 

When you determine to lower the variety of days you wish to publish, click on on the calendar occasion of that day and choose “Delete.”

Even should you needed to publish a number of occasions a day, updating this calendar is as straightforward as including an occasion. Choose a slot in your calendar so as to add one other “Weblog TBD” occasion and duplicate the default description from one other one of many occasions you imported.

Subsequent, it is time for some minor changes. Presently, the “Weblog TBD” occasions are set for 10 a.m. Be at liberty to maneuver these occasions to whichever time your weblog publishes through the day. 

10. Arrange recurring occasions.

Now that you’ve got your publish dates and occasions set, you can also make these recurring occasions in your calendar. In case you have a daily publishing schedule, like each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 10:00 a.m., then put that in as a recurring “slot” in your calendar. It is okay if you do not have a bit of accomplished content material — or perhaps a working title — to place there but. It is only a reminder that you simply wish to publish one thing that day.

So as to add your recurring slot, click on in your first “Weblog TBD” occasion and click on the pencil icon to edit your occasion. This can take you to the main points of the publish, the place you may create a customized recurring schedule for every project, as proven within the screenshot under.

You possibly can set the publish up as a recurring publish so it mechanically seems each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 10:00 a.m. (or no matter days and occasions you need).

As soon as you’ve got chosen the recurring days, hit “Accomplished” and “Save,” and you will have an editorial calendar framework to work with.

For now, maintain the title of the occasion as “Weblog TBD,” however be happy to customise the outline with any additional particulars you wish to make certain you embody for every publish. Wait to ask any visitor, as we’ll use this to assign posts to an creator as soon as you start filling in your matters. With every part full, click on “Save.”

If you do not have a recurring schedule like this, you may not be in want of an editorial calendar simply but — however it’s a good method to set objectives for your self. If you wish to publish a sure variety of posts every week, even should you do not hit each single slot, it is a good reminder for your self and your workforce that that is one thing it is best to all be striving for.

11. Fill your publishing slots.

Now that all the slots you need to fill, you gotta really … … fill ’em. (If you do not have subject concepts but, check out this free topic idea generator. It will offer you some good concepts for content material to place within the calendar.)

As an instance one of many posts you wish to write is “10 Shocking Details About Tapirs,” and one of many posts you’ve got already written and wish to publish later is “Assume You are Reduce Out to Personal a Tapir? Learn This First.” Cool! Simply add ’em each to the calendar by clicking on “Put up – TBD” on the proper date, selecting “Edit Occasion,” after which altering the “Put up – TBD” textual content to the precise title of the publish.

Now, as an example you do not really wish to write “10 Shocking Details About Tapirs,” and also you need your colleague to jot down it as an alternative. To assign the publish an creator, you may invite them to the occasion as a visitor. To do that, click on on the occasion, hit “Edit Occasion,” then invite that colleague to the publish by typing his or her title or e mail handle into the “Add visitors” field, choosing “Add” when their title pops up, and hitting “Save” on the occasion when you’re accomplished.

Now, anybody can see who’s answerable for writing the publish that is going up in that point slot.

You possibly can take it a step additional by including particulars to the “Description” field of the occasion, as proven within the massive field within the screenshot above. You may embody a fast synopsis, the key phrases you intend to focus on the publish for, the audience you are attempting to succeed in, and the provide or CTA you’ll direct the reader to on the finish of the publish. Remember a due date for the draft.

Earlier than Google Calendar will allow you to save the occasion, you may see a dialog field asking if you want to alter simply this occasion or all the occasions within the sequence. Choose “Solely this occasion.”

Repeat these steps to assign every weblog subject as we speak and sooner or later.

12. Share your editorial calendar with others.

Now that you’ve got your calendar arrange, you can begin to ask individuals to see it. I might advocate you begin together with your rapid workforce and common contributors — in addition to anybody who usually asks you about publishing content material in your firm weblog.

To share this editorial calendar with individuals, merely discover your editorial calendar below “My Calendars,” as proven under. Click on the three dots subsequent to the calendar title after which choose “Settings and sharing” when it seems within the dropdown menu. You will be taken to the identical display we noticed once you first crammed out the main points of your editorial calendar in Step 2.

Then, you may add within the names of individuals with whom you’d prefer to share the calendar and set the appropriate permission ranges for every invitee.

It is sensible to maintain these with the permission settings to handle adjustments and sharing to a minimal so there aren’t too many cooks within the kitchen — however I like to recommend you let everybody see all occasion particulars so it is clear precisely what content material goes up in every slot.

Below the “Share with particular individuals” heading, enter the e-mail addresses of these in your content material workforce and determine if they’ve viewing, enhancing, or admin privileges. Save your up to date settings.

Why Utilizing Google Calendar as an Editorial Calendar Works

I discussed earlier that we tried numerous completely different editorial calendar options, and that is the one one which’s caught for greater than a few months. I feel one motive for that’s as a result of we use Gmail for our company e mail, which implies everybody on our workforce is already in Gmail (and their calendar, particularly) all day. In consequence, it is not laborious for individuals to kind a behavior of checking the editorial calendar, as a result of it is not troublesome for them to seek out it.

Google Calendar additionally makes issues very easy to maneuver round and schedule as a result of … properly … it is already a calendar. It has all of the performance you must schedule stuff out and let the individuals who must learn about it know. After we had been utilizing different options for this, we had been attempting to hack a calendaring perform as an alternative of simply counting on one which already existed.

Alongside these traces, including individuals to view your calendar is straightforward, which makes it straightforward for a number of groups to collaborate, see what’s being printed, and determine after they may be capable of launch content material and campaigns.

Lastly, this units a precedent for different groups to coordinate with you in a very easy method. You possibly can have a calendar for upcoming campaigns, presents, social media pushes, product launches — you title it. And you’ll all share these calendars with each other for a single-screen view of every part that is occurring so you may coordinate extra simply.

Are there different options of there for sustaining an editorial calendar? After all. However should you’re on the lookout for a minimal viable product, and a free one at that, this ain’t too shabby. It is stored our content material workforce sane, agile, and clear for fairly a while — and I feel it may do the identical for you.

Editor’s be aware: This publish was initially printed in January 2019 and has been up to date for comprehensiveness.