How to plan a content calendar
A content calendar is a shared list of what you will publish, where, by whom and when. Here is what goes in each row, a simple spreadsheet layout you can copy, how to pick a pace you can keep, and how to check that people search for a topic before you write about it.
The demand check below uses Google's help pages on the Search Console Performance report and on how autocomplete predictions work. The posting facts come from the help pages for Google Business Profile posts and YouTube scheduled publishing. The layout and cadence advice is our own view, and we say so where it matters.
What a content calendar is for
Your marketing plan says which channels you will use and when the big pieces happen: a seasonal offer, an ad test, the monthly email. The content calendar is the next level down. It lists each single piece of content (a website article, a Business Profile post, a video, an email) with a date and a person, so nothing depends on someone remembering.
For a small business, the main value is not planning far ahead. It is seeing in one place what is due this week, who is doing it and what is stuck. A calendar that covers the next four to eight weeks in detail and the rest of the year as a list of dates (holidays, seasons, launches) is enough in our view.
What goes in each row
One row is one piece of content on one channel. Six columns cover most needs:
- Topic: what the piece is about, written as the question or search it answers, not a vague theme. how long does a roof replacement take is a topic; roofing is not.
- Format: article, short post, photo, video, email, offer. The format decides how long it takes to make.
- Channel: where it goes: your website, Google Business Profile, Instagram, YouTube, your email list. If one piece goes to two channels, give each its own row, because the text and the date usually differ.
- Owner: one name per row, the person who makes sure it goes out. Shared ownership tends to mean nobody owns it.
- Date: the publish date. For bigger pieces, add a draft-due date a week earlier so there is time to review.
- Status: a short fixed list such as idea, writing, review, scheduled, live. Use the same words every time so you can filter by them.
Two optional columns pay off later: a link column for the live URL, and a notes column for the search phrase you checked and what you found.
A simple spreadsheet layout
Any spreadsheet works. Put one row per piece, sort by date, and freeze the header row. A month for a small local service business might look like this (the business and topics are made up):
| Topic | Format | Channel | Owner | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| How often should gutters be cleaned | Article | Website | Sam | Mon week 1 | Review |
| Before and after photos from a job | Update post | Google Business Profile | Ana | Thu week 1 | Scheduled |
| Fall cleaning offer | Offer post | Google Business Profile | Ana | Mon week 2 | Writing |
| Open dates and the gutter article | Email list | Sam | Tue week 2 | Idea | |
| What a gutter guard does, shown on a roof | Short video | YouTube | Sam | Thu week 3 | Idea |
| Answer to the most common call question | Update post | Google Business Profile | Ana | Thu week 4 | Idea |
Notice that one article feeds two other rows: the email points to it, and the video covers the same question in a different format. Planning around a few solid pieces and reusing them across channels is easier than inventing something new for every slot. It also helps to tag each row with the stage of your marketing funnel it serves, so the month is not all first-contact posts or all offers.
A cadence you can keep
Pick the pace from the hours you actually have, not from what other businesses seem to post. Our view: count the hours one person can give content each week, estimate the time per format (a useful article takes far longer than a photo post), and fill only what fits. If a month goes well, add a row next month. If you keep missing dates, cut a channel rather than lowering the quality on all of them.
A regular rhythm also makes the calendar easier to run: the same day each week for the Business Profile post, the same week each month for the email (our email newsletter ideas help fill that row). A steady small schedule that you keep for a year does more than a busy one you drop after six weeks. For choosing platforms and a goal for each before you fill the social rows, see our guide to a social media strategy for a small business.
Quality matters more than count. Google's guidance on helpful content is about pages written for people who need the answer, and a page made only to fill a calendar slot rarely is one; our guide covers what that guidance means for a business website.
Check demand before you pick topics
Before a website topic goes in the calendar, check that people actually search for it. Two free checks are enough for a small business.
Search Console. If your site is verified in Google Search Console, open the Performance report. Google says you can use it to "Learn which queries are bringing traffic to your site", and the Queries tab "groups your data by the search query users typed." The default view covers the past three months. Look for queries with impressions where you have no page that answers them well; those are good topics, and a page you already have may only need a new section. Our Performance report guide walks through the filters.
Autocomplete. Start typing the topic into Google and read the predictions. Google says they "reflect real searches that have been done on Google", and that its systems also weigh the language, location and trending interest of a query and your past searches. So check signed out or in a private window, and treat predictions as a sign that people search the phrase, not as a count of how many. Google also notes that predictions can include words and phrases based on "word patterns found across the web", so a single odd prediction is weak evidence.
Write the phrase you checked in the notes column. If neither check shows any sign of searches, the topic can still suit email or social posts for existing customers, but it should not take an article slot.
Scheduling on the platforms
Most platforms let you prepare a piece early and set it to go out on the calendar date. Two that many local businesses use:
Google Business Profile. When you create a post, Google says: "If you want to schedule your post to publish at a later time, turn on Schedule this post, then select the date and time you want the post to publish." A post can also repeat "weekly, monthly, or a custom schedule." Offers need "a title, dates, and time", and Google adds: "Posts older than 6 months are archived unless a date range is set." Posts are reviewed before they show, so schedule them a little ahead of the day they matter. Our Business Profile posts guide covers post types and rules.
YouTube. YouTube's scheduled publishing lets you "schedule a private video to go public at a specific time." You set the date, time and time zone on the Schedule card when you upload. One detail for the date column: the date on the watch page "is based on Pacific Standard Time (PST)", so a video scheduled late in the evening in a time zone ahead of PST can show a different date than you planned. Setting up the channel itself is covered in our YouTube channel guide.
For other platforms, check that platform's own help pages for scheduling options; they change, and we only list what we have checked at the source.
Review it every month
Set one date a month, ideally the same day you review your marketing plan, to look back and forward. Mark what went live and what slipped, and move slipped rows to a real new date or drop them. For website pieces, check in the Performance report which earlier articles are gaining impressions; a topic that is working is often worth a follow-up. Then fill the next month from your list of checked topics.
Frequently asked questions
What should a content calendar include?
For each piece of content: the topic, the format, the channel, one owner, the publish date and a status. A link column for the live URL and a notes column for the demand check are useful extras.
How often should a small business post?
There is no single right number. Our view: start from the hours one person can give each week, fill only what fits, and keep a steady rhythm you can hold for a year rather than a busy one you drop.
How do I find content topics people actually search for?
Use the Queries tab of the Search Console Performance report to see searches your site already appears for, and check Google autocomplete, whose predictions reflect real searches. Note the phrase you checked in the calendar.
If you would like help with the website your content lives on, our services cover building and hosting it, keeping it in good shape, and Google Ads and Meta ads with tracking set up first.