Create An Editorial Calendar For Your Blog; Free Template Download (2013 Updated)

My yearly editorial calendar view.

UPDATED TO 2013 Editorial Calendar (see download below).

As part of my goals this year, I wanted to create an editorial calendar for 2012 so I would always know what to post. I searched online for a template where I could just fill-in-the-blanks and be done. I did find some, but nothing that was real simple, yet creative and fun. I liked the basics of this editorial calendar by Alan Peterson of Internet Marketing Nirvana, but it was for 2010, so I created a new editorial calendar.

Editorial-Calendar-Template 2013 (download link)

Editorial Calendar Yearly Format

The editorial calendar is for 2013 and color coded by month. The colors match my tabs in my binder where I keep all my information for my business each month. I also like the way the colors look. It is easy for me to see where each month is and I can look at the year in terms of weeks or months.

Above is a closer view and you can see that I have Post Topic and Month Topic. The Post Topic are my weekly posts. I have a loose system of writing certain types of posts on certain days like this:

• Sunday – Scrapbook Layouts
• Monday – Write about websites, software and/or apps
• Tuesday – Tech Tuesday
• Wednesday – Wordless Wednesday, Quotes
• Thursday – List Day & Book Reviews
• Friday – Friday Fun & Goals updates
• Saturday – Project 365 Updates

2012 Month Topics are for my Project Balance monthly topics and look like this;

• January – Organization
• February – Relationships
• March – Healthy Lifestyle
• April – Career
• May – Spiritual
• June – Recreation
•  July – Finances
• August – Me Time
• September – Education
• October – Hobbies
• November – Family
• December – Balancing It All

If you don’t have weekly or monthly post topics, you can remove those from the editorial calendar.

Editorial Calendar Monthly Format

The Excel Workbook has 2 spreadsheets. One is a view of the entire year on one page as seen above. The second spreadsheet shows one month per page as seen below.

I created the second version because I wanted more room to write in my blog posts. The full year on one page is great for me to see what the different topics are each month and as an overview.

My monthly editorial calendar.

Now, you have the editorial calendar, here are a few posts about how to set it up and why you need one.

• #SITS31DBBB: What Did a Calendar Ever Do For You?
• How to Develop Your Editorial Calendar by Heidi Cohen
• Timing is Everything: Why You Need an Editorial Calendar by Heidi Cohen
• 5 Ideas for Filling Your Editorial Calendar by Michele McGraw (ME) at BlogWorld Expo Blog
• 5 Benefits of An Editorial Calendar
• Why You Need An Editorial Calendar For Your Blog by Outspoken Media

Editorial Calendar Download

Editorial-Calendar-Template (download link)

Let’s Talk About Your Editorial Calendar!

Do you have an editorial calendar? Do you stick to the calendar or is it just a loose guide?

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