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

By on February 22, 2012

editorial calendare template

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.

sample editorial calendar 2013

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.

editorial calendar template closeup

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.

editorial calendar 2012 month view

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.

editorial calendare month view

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.

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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About Michele

A 40-something geek trying to juggle 4 kids, lifestyle technology blog, husband, running, living a healthy lifestyle and still find time for digital scrapbooking. Love Lifestyle Technology, Social Media, Fitness Gaming, Diet Coke, Running, PC & Mac Geek, Reading, Learning, Beach and anything with Bling!
72 comments
Joao Campos
Joao Campos

I needed a solution to visualize the vacation days of my company's employees in a single sheet and your calendar was the perfect starting point. Many thanks.

Michele
Michele

Awesome alternate use. I'll have to add that to the post.

Debs
Debs

Hiya :) I love this calendar and I know it's something I would benefit from.

If you don't mind me saying your social media bar jumps out over your post and I have been unable to get to read your words or see the full benefit of what you offer on your blog. I thought it was just my phone at first but then I found it was the same when on my computer.

Debs

Michele
Michele

Thanks for letting me know on the social media bar. I just changed to a new bar! Guess that won't work!!!

Helena
Helena

thank you for this post! really helpful and i plan to use the calendar for my website to motivate me to generate content more regularly.

Michele
Michele

AWESOME! So glad it will help you take your website to the next level!

Sean
Sean

All I wanted was a simple calendar with simplicity, and I'm happy to have now downloaded yours 2 years in a row. Thanks for making it free. It is amazing how many of these "content marketers" (aka people who write for money just like the rest of us) continually outsmart themselves by overcomplicating a calendar, how to download the calendar, how to customize the calendar etc. etc. I just needed a calendar. Thank you.

Michele
Michele

you are very welcome. Glad it will help.

Amy
Amy

A good editorial calendar should be able to publish to social media sites. It should work with Twitter and Facebook because that’s where your customers hang out. Even better, it should combine content curation with content creation. Namely, it should be very easy to curate content, but also very easy to integrate with existing blogging platform like WordPress.

ContentDJ has a good social media editorial calendar feature. It integrates with Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin and Wordpress. You can drag and drop to schedule posts.

The tool also helps you find the most shareable content to publish.

Michele
Michele

But sometimes you just want a very simple editorial calendar so that you can plan ahead. I like having something on my desk that is printed out and easy for me to see at all times. When the editorial calendar gets too complicated, I don't look at it. Simple is best for me.

Amy
Amy

Michele,

Completely agreed, simplicity is definitely the best. The tool is no replacement for a piece of paper that sits on your desk.

But with a software based solution, you can share the editorial calendar with your team and access it anywhere.

Lee
Lee

This is such a good way of getting organised and seeing where you are what you've done and what you need to do. I tell myself time and time again to do something like this but unfortunately it never seems to get to the front of the list of things to do. Which I keep I my head I must add. So I will attack this project why it is right at the front.

So for that thanks lee

Talaha
Talaha

I love to explore I recently came across your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I don’t know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog. I will keep visiting this blog very often.

Michele
Michele

So glad you like the blog. I love writing and it's nice to know that others are reading and find the information useful!

Carly
Carly

Thank you for the template and even more importantly the insight into how you stay organized. It's very useful as I'm trying to get my act together for 2013!

Plus, who doesn't love a rainbow? Happy!

Crystal M.
Crystal M.

We are also hoping to use your 2013 version...this is great!

Michele
Michele

LOL! You are so true. The rainbow is icing on the cake. So glad you like it.

Mike
Mike

Thanks for this. I seem to have hit a bit of a snag. I'm not seeing anything in the template. The excel doc is blank.

MonicaP
MonicaP

Fabulous template! Since I just started my blog and it's November - I sure didn't want to start from scratch. Have been looking for a template for a couple of days.

Best,

Monica.

http://www.pear-shaped-gal.com/

Kerstin
Kerstin

Thank you for sharing this. I love the colours. Do you have a template for 2013 as well?

Alex
Alex

Thanks for sharing this!

Kathy Miranda
Kathy Miranda

Thank you so much!!!! This is an excellent template!

Scarlet
Scarlet

I'd love to download this but your download link is broken!

R. Klane
R. Klane

I'm interested in downloading the template also, but keep getting an error message saying that the page does not exist.

louisvuitton59
louisvuitton59

I'm glad that I have become one of the fans of your blog . From you which I can learn a lot of meaningful knowledge and helpful information . Not only that, I can also communicate to other readers some valuable experience.

DJ
DJ

I can't seem to download the file. It gives me an error message that the page does not exist. Any thoughts?

Kathleen Whatley
Kathleen Whatley

I'm starting my blog and want to have a good idea of how to organize my posts. I found your format to be easy to follow. I also loved how you listed your "rough" outline of what you post. Extremely helpful. Thanks. Kathleen

Michele
Michele

So happy the calendar will help you get organized. Good Luck with your new blog.

lori
lori

I am having trouble getting the download. Is it still available? Thanks

Michele
Michele

Yes, Lori it is still available. Be sure you download it first and then open it up. Let me know if that doesn't work.

Lisa M.
Lisa M.

Oooh, this is blissfully geeky. I have an editorial calendar by month, but yours is much prettier. :-) I love the idea of a yearly overview by topic, too. Think I may be "borrowing" that idea too.

Thanks for so generously sharing.

Michele
Michele

LOL! I never sacrifice beauty for functional. :D

Roshonda Payne
Roshonda Payne

Thank you for sharing! I have been looking for an editorial calender like this to keep me organized and consistent with my posts.

Michele
Michele

Having an editorial calendar has really helped me be more consistent. It's also a lot easier to see my schedule when I get another request for a review or campaign.

Cristy Clavijo-Kish
Cristy Clavijo-Kish

Hi Michelle- this is great! We have a simple editorial calendar that we have been using but I like your format much better! I'm going to update our calendar with your template- cheers for 'simple' organization... gracias!

Michele
Michele

so glad you like the editorial calendar. I love simple and colorful!

Den Nicholson
Den Nicholson

Thanks for an excellent post Michelle, I use my outlook calendar at the moment but this looks great. I also use Evernote as it is great for hoarding facts and details for my future posts.

Michele
Michele

I use Evernote too. I also use both Outlook and OneNote. Different tools for different projects.

Natasha
Natasha

Definitely one of he best calendars, I had started formatting my own but I love the colour coding on this, Thanks!

Jessica
Jessica

I LOVE THIS ED CAL!! You just made my morning! thank you for posting this I am going to show it to my team!

Michele
Michele

You are very welcome!

Dana
Dana

Thanks for this awesome template!!! It's a major time saver.

Michele
Michele

You are very welcome, Dana!

Michele
Michele

Thank you for sharing this calendar. Quite comprehensive, and coming from a person who has faced the problem herself and has evolved whit method.

Would be glad to keep in touch.

Regards

Pramodh BN

Co Founder

Business Marketing System

Anja
Anja

thanks so much! This was exactly what I was looking for. Love the colors :-)

nichole
nichole

I just downloaded your calendar. Thanks for sharing this. I am sending others over here to download also!

Michele
Michele

Nicole - So glad you found it useful.

Sujeiry
Sujeiry

New to the site but this is so informational! I've been meaning to create an editorial calender but never follow through monthly. I really need this as my schedule keeps getting busier and busier. Love that it's annual so we can look ahead, which is so important for blogs and business. Thanks again for this!

Michele
Michele

Awesome! So glad it will help you out. I always feel 100 times better when everything is organized!