How should I plan blog content and themes for the best reader experience?

Question

I have been blogging for 6 months now. I have a general theme of the month but I find it very hard to organize my writing, as these themes are all very broad.

I want to ask fellow bloggers how do you plan ahead your writing, for the best experience for the reader.

Any clues?

Answer 1

If I were to do a daily blog about a general monthly topic, I would make a list of all the important things about that particular monthly topic. Then I would organize the list into an order that makes sense. Lastly, I would focus on one of the important things on my re-organized list per day. Only the last step would be seen on my blog. Hope this helps.

Answer 2

I have been blogging since 2009 (JP On Gaming)and have been through a number of phases as I grew older.

• It's okay to publish fewer articles if they are more interesting (I typically post only up to 1/day)
• If you have wildly diverging interests, have a different blog (I have one for writing fiction and essays and my main one for my gaming-related topics).
• Look at your analytics: what do your readers view more? what type of approach do they comment most on?
• Keep blogging. Sounds a lot simple, but it is perhaps the most difficult of the bunch
• If you plan to have a scattered approach: writing, movie critique, botany, chicken rearing, space exploration, and more, then find a name/theme to your blog that is encompassing "A Lady's Interest" or "We talk about it here" announce what it is.
• Your blog will not please everyone. It won't. But that doesn't mean your regular readers don't love it.
• Have polls asking your readers what they want
• Write in advance

Answer 3

This is perhaps a bit cavalier, but I'm going to say it anyway. A blog needs either a personality or an editorial calendar.

People are interested in people, particularly in people whose interests are the same as theirs. If you find a blog in a field that interests you that is written by somebody with a distinctive voice and some interesting things to say, you will follow the and you will give them a lot of slack when their posting schedule is erratic and when they sometimes get a bit off topic.

If you have a personality and an interest that is shared by other people, then you are probably fine just to write what you want when you want.

If you are a corporation that is creating a blog as a content marketing tool, then, almost by definition, you don't have a personality or anything interesting to say and you have plan very carefully to give the reader the appearance that you do. In this case, you definitely need an editorial calendar.