How To Create an Editorial Calendar Using Microsoft Excel

Blogging requires organisation, whether that's simply writing down a few notes or taking it to the extreme, with endless graphs and charts to track ideas. I like to think that I'm somewhere in between the two, making an effort to thoroughly organise myself, while not covering every single unnecessary detail. However, I think my editorial calendar is one that functions well, is easy to access and makes seeing all of my blog post ideas a lot clearer. I thought I'd show you how I created it and what features it has, so you can easily duplicate it to ensure that your blog will stay organised.

WHY I USE EXCEL:

My editorial calendar is created using Microsoft Excel, which I find is really convenient and useful for various reasons. Firstly, everything on Microsoft Excel is saved to your computer, opposed to online, meaning you can still access it when you don't have the internet. There is also an Excel app for phones, so you can take a look at it on the go. Secondly, it is really simple and easy to view all of the information, unlike with some calendars that are overcomplicated and confusing. It is easily editable and I can change dates and move posts whenever I want to.

HOW I MADE THE CALENDAR:

At the very top of the spreadsheet, I simply stated that this page was for my blog, Daisies and Delights, and that it was to track blog posts. I think this helps to make it look more organised and clean, and will also provide an insight to someone looking at it who might otherwise be confused. Another reason for doing this is that I have multiple pages within my spreadsheets, so this helps to keep things organised and easier to access.

As you can see, my editorial calendar is split into three main columns, the first being for the date that posts will be uploaded, the second for the titles of the posts and the third for a key and ideas for future blog posts. I find that having it like this is a lot easier than one huge table, which can sometimes be too much for the eyes and leave you confused, yet it's also better than having three different spreadsheets dedicated to each, as that will leave you constantly flicking between them.

In the first column, I have all of the dates that I plan on uploading a blog post. I only use this calendar for tracking posts, but if you want to use it for other blog related tasks then you could add more dates into it. As you can see, these are all from June and July, as I didn't want to show you anything current that could reveal what blog posts I have planned for the future. By these dates, you can see that I upload every Wednesday and Sunday, but you can change these dates to suit yourself. It also really helps to write both the day of the week and the date, as there are certain posts that I might only upload on a Wednesday and others that I only post towards the end of the month.

In the second column, which is probably the most important column, you can see all of the blog posts planned for the months of June and July. I think this is an especially clear way of seeing them and doesn't leave you confused by what's being uploaded and when, which a regular editorial calendar might. This also helps you to see what order your posts will be in and whether this is effective, for example if you've accidentally put three product reviews next to each other, you will easily be able to tell and move them around.

If you're the type of person who needs more than a title to help you and wants to add extra notes for each post, you can do this through the comments. Simply click on the cell that you want to add comments to, go to the review tab and click add comments. Then you can type whatever you want, which can act as a reminder when you come to write the blog post. Above, you can see an example of a comment for my Summer Reading List #1, where I added the titles and authors of the three books to remind me. You can see that a cell has a comment by the red triangle in the top right corner.

I use the final column for the key, which helps me to organise the progress and status of my blog posts. Despite all of these blog posts have a white background, as they were uploaded a few months ago, my editorial calendar is usually filled with lots of bright colours, each one representing the posts that are unwritten, drafted, photographed, written and completed. This really helps me to see which blog posts need more work and assess how much time I have left to get that post green before it needs to be uploaded. The ideas section is really useful for writing down my thoughts and possible blog posts, but I had to hide this as I didn't want you finding out any of my future posts!

MY OVERALL THOUGHTS:

I really think that you should try using this style of a calendar, especially if you're looking for a way of keeping your posts organised. It's incredibly easy to use, alterations literally take seconds and you can make it tailored towards your blog and when you post. These are only my ideas, but there are so many other things you could add to the spreadsheet to make it personalised and unique.

If you need help creating your calendar or simply don't know where to begin, you can download this template I created to help you here. If that still doesn't make things clear or you need some individual help, just leave me a message.

Love from Daisy x