Depending on the type of blog you are running, you might come across scheduling issues every once in a while. Bloggers who are new to the market and rely on notepads and analogue scheduling tend to look for dedicated apps as soon as their real life starts catching up.
Just like with any form of freelancing or hobby, blogging tends to take up much of your free time. Sometimes it even turns into a full-time job, meaning you definitely need to start thinking about tools that can help you manage the workload. What are some of the most useful and user-friendly tools that can help you manage time better and get content online on time?
- CoSchedule
As one of the most popular scheduling tools on the market, CoSchedule offers much more than just a virtual notepad to work with. The platform revolves around complete workflow management for your blogging habits, meaning that you can easily schedule your own working hours, create milestones and goals as well as assign work to potential coworkers.
Bloggers usually delegate work that they are unfamiliar with personally (such as design work or photography), which can make scheduling new content more difficult. CoSchedule can help you deliver content on time and with a proper level of quality that reflects your passion for blogging. You can even analyze reader behavior and schedule automated content posts straight from the platform, effectively centralizing your blogging needs in one place.
- Google Docs
Bloggers who are just starting off might not want to invest time or money into a dedicated scheduling app. Why not consider the most affordable and straightforward option on the market then? Google Docs allows users to customize their own spreadsheets anyway they want. You can easily set up your blogging schedule and manage your own time without any automated handling of said content.
While you will have to learn the ropes when it comes to cell creation and algorithms for calculating cell input, Google Docs can easily be your tool of choice for the entirety of your blogging career. Keep in mind that Google also provides users with a plethora of other tools for content creation, meaning that you can create and publish content without ever using your desktop software to do so.
- WordPress Editorial Calendar
Sometimes all you need is the right plugin to alleviate all of your worries. WordPress blogging has several perks under its belt, not the least of which is the ability to fully customize your work environment with plugins and extensions. One such extension comes in the form of an editorial calendar that aims to improve your blogging productivity. Scheduling content and creating new content concepts based on your practice so far is much easier with this plugin, meaning that you will often forget about other scheduling methods besides the Calendar.
The tool is simple to use and fairly lightweight, meaning that your bandwidth and SEO will never suffer for it. You can also combine the tool with a writing service in order to maximize the quality of content you provide for your readers. Editorial Calendar gives bloggers an extra incentive to jump ship and use WordPress as their tool of choice, making sure that they have a good scheduling app to rely on at zero cost.
- Buffer
Buffer is a blogging management tool used by over 4 million people across the world. Some of these bloggers are independent freelancers while others represent large companies such as Business Insider and Shopify. What this means is that Buffer is made for professional bloggers who want to take advantage of advanced scheduling tools in order to maximize their content quality and output.
The tool allows you to easily manage all of your content from one place, analyze access patterns and see what’s trending among your niche’s competitors. Scheduling and planning your next blogging step is much easier and safer with Buffer, since the platform has been built with an all-in-one mindset. It offers around the clock customer support and any of your problems or queries can easily be solved by the professional management team responsible for the tool itself.
- ToDoist
Lastly, ToDoist provides bloggers with a healthy balance of professional and casual features for their blogging needs. The tool was built with a one-man-army mindset, meaning that bloggers with collaborators need to look elsewhere for their scheduling needs. While it is possible to collaborate with others and get things done, the interface and onboard tools are designed with an individual use in mind, meaning that it might be difficult to delegate and share tasks in the long run.
However, ToDoist is unique in aesthetic and choice of tools, meaning that it makes up for the solo mindset with a plethora of interesting features. Some of them include progress and productivity tracking as well as cross-platform synchronization through a dedicated app. The tool itself is fairy cheap and available to anyone who’s willing to put a bit of time and effort to learn the ropes of its intricate design.
In Summation
Choosing a blog scheduling tool that suits your needs is a matter of trial and error. Rarely do bloggers choose a tool to use and stick to it for the remainder of their online career. Try different tools and don’t settle for mediocrity just because someone else recommended a tool that they like.
Different tools have different options, payment plans, and scheduling management which means that the tool you are looking for is waiting for you somewhere on the web. Take your time and choose the perfect platform that suits your individual needs before you invest any money or time into learning the ropes of it. The fact of the matter remains that the tool you choose will determine whether or not you are a better blogger with it under your wing.
