How to Build a Content Workflow to Systematize Content Creation

What Is a Content Workflow?

A contented workflow is the series of activities progressive successful creating contented from commencement to finish.

For example, here's the contented workflow for creating an article:

• Determining the content’s intent
• Performing keyword research
• Researching nonfiction topics
• Preparing the contented brief
• Writing the draft
• Editing the draft
• Publishing the finished page

Your contented squad volition execute your contented workflow. And they whitethorn usage tools to facilitate their work.

If you nutrient content, you apt already person a contented workflow. Even if it lives lone successful your head.

But this whitethorn not beryllium the champion attack to contented production.

So, let’s research the value of implementing a due contented workflow erstwhile creating content. Plus, the cardinal components of an effectual contented workflow.

And however you tin make 1 if yours needs an overhaul.

Key Components of an Effective Content Workflow

An effectual contented selling workflow volition comprise:

• Detailed documentation: Where you’ve written down each indispensable accusation relating to the contented workflow, similar its stages and tasks. So that anyone who needs a refresher tin notation it anytime. And caller squad members tin rapidly familiarize themselves with your processes.
• Defined contented squad roles: With wide duties for each squad member 
• Clear owed dates for deliverables: To guarantee squad members taxable their enactment by their deadlines. And assistance the task proceed connected schedule.
• Open connection channels: Allowing anyone with questions to get answers from others quickly. Without holding up the accumulation process.

The Importance of Implementing a Proper Content Workflow

With specified a due contented workflow successful place, scaling contented accumulation becomes straightforward.

Why?

Because you’ve built a contented instauration system. To ramp up your contented volume, you simply request to put much resources into each contented workflow step.

In contrast, a contented workflow that involves deciding your adjacent measurement of contented instauration connected the fly, based connected your representation of what you did previously, whitethorn pb to disorder and delayed production.

This is if your team:

• Misremembers owed dates
• Has to treble backmost to implicit forgotten steps

You whitethorn besides look trouble expanding the magnitude of contented you produce.

Because producing much contented tin adjacent having much tasks to oversee. More squad members to supervise. And much owed dates to support way of.

There’s nary mode you tin negociate each this successful your head.

Types of Content Workflows

If you’ve decided to revamp your contented workflow, you’ll archetypal request to determine which benignant of contented workflow to adopt.

Here are 3 of them. Where each 1 provides a antithetic absorption connected the contented instauration process.

Task-Based Content Workflows

A task-based contented workflow breaks the contented instauration process down into tasks.

Here’s an illustration of a task-based contented workflow template:

A task-based contented workflow makes each measurement of contented accumulation clear. With nary ambiguity arsenic to who needs to instrumentality enactment astatine each step.

As a result, task-based contented workflows tin beryllium particularly utile for larger contented projects. Where creating the contented involves galore steps. And galore squad members.

But a task-based contented workflow tin besides look intimidating and overwhelming. Especially if you’ve finely divided a project’s responsibilities into a (very) agelong database of tasks. Such that your squad members consciousness discouraged erstwhile they look astatine what’s connected their plate.

Status-Based Content Workflows

A status-based contented workflow categorizes the contented accumulation process into stages. Where each stage, oregon status, whitethorn impact 1 oregon much contented accumulation tasks. And 1 oregon much squad members.

A status-based contented workflow could person these statuses:

Using a status-based contented workflow is adjuvant for getting a wide overview of the project’s advancement done the contented instauration pipeline.

Instead of tracking a blow-by-blow relationship of precisely who is doing what close now. Which whitethorn travel crossed arsenic micromanaging. And whitethorn not beryllium the champion usage of time.

The drawback of a status-based attack to content?

You get little visibility into the tasks happening astatine each stage.

Which could present uncertainty into the contented instauration process. And origin you to walk much clip uncovering retired who is presently moving connected the project—and what they’re doing—when you cheque connected it.

Hybrid Content Workflows

A hybrid contented workflow takes some a status- and task-based attack to contented production.

It splits the contented instauration process into assorted stages. And outlines the tasks squad members request to instrumentality astatine each stage.

A hybrid contented workflow could look similar this:

By combining elements of some status- and task-based workflows, hybrid contented workflows connection a macro overview of a contented project’s progress.

While inactive providing a micro look into who is carrying retired each stage’s tasks.

Preparing to Create an Effective Content Workflow

Before creating a workflow to negociate contented production, you request to beryllium wide connected the contented you privation to nutrient successful the archetypal place. And the tools you’ll usage to nutrient it.

Use these steps to constituent yourself successful the close direction.

1. Establish Your Content Goals

Decide what you privation to get retired of creating content. For example:

• Increasing marque awareness
• Growing your email list
• Generating much leads
• Selling much products

Avoid chasing aggregate goals astatine once.

Otherwise, you whitethorn agelong your constricted resources excessively thin. And not marque important advancement connected immoderate of your goals.

Instead, absorption connected pursuing 1 (at most, two) contented goals well. You tin ever set your contented goals arsenic your concern priorities change.

Further reading: 6 SEO Goals to Help You Grow Your Business

2. Research Your Target Audience

Knowing your people audience’s demographics, interests, desires, and symptom points volition assistance you make contented that efficaciously addresses these.

So that your people assemblage gets—and stays—interested successful your content. And the products oregon services featured successful it.

Here’s an illustration to illustrate:

Let’s accidental you tally a software-as-a-service (SaaS) concern selling accounting software. And your people assemblage is tiny concern owners.

You observe that galore tiny concern owners don’t cognize however to automate their bookkeeping. Which is thing your accounting bundle tin assistance with.

So, your SaaS contented marketing efforts—and your SaaS contented workflow—could impact producing contented to:

• Raise consciousness among tiny concern owners of your software’s automation capabilities
• Educate tiny concern owners connected however they tin automate their bookkeeping utilizing your software

Methods of researching your people assemblage include:

• Conducting surveys
• Interviewing imaginable customers
• Analyzing information from your customer narration absorption (CRM) software oregon different interior information sources

Learn much successful our usher to finding your people audience.

3. Select the Appropriate Content Formats and Types

A content’s “format” refers to the mean successful which you contiguous it. Like text, video, oregon audio.

While the mode you operation and bundle contented for depletion volition find its “type.” Like a blog post, YouTube video, oregon podcast episode.

Use your cognition of your people assemblage and contented goals to place suitable contented formats and types.

For example, TikTok is the top hunt motor for implicit fractional of Generation Z individuals. Not Google.

So, if Generation Z is your superior people audience, you whitethorn privation to prioritize creating not conscionable video (being the contented format), but video for TikTok (being the contented type). And besides enactment connected your TikTok SEO.

4. Plan Your Content Production Frequency

Decide however often you privation to produce—and publish—content. This could be:

• One blog station a week
• Five Instagram posts per week
• One YouTube video a month

In general, the much often you nutrient content, the greater your content selling instrumentality connected concern (ROI) volition be. But astatine the outgo of juggling much analyzable contented workflows.

And having to walk much time, money, and effort.

For example, freelance writers astir commonly complaint between $250 and $399 for a 1,500-word blog post.

We’ll presume a middle-ground fig of $325 for simplicity. So, if you privation to people 1 1,500-word blog station a week, you’ll request to wage freelance writers $325 x 4 = $1,300 for a month’s worthy of blog posts.

This fig doesn’t see the outgo of having your full-time staff—such arsenic an in-house contented strategist oregon editor—assist with the blog posts arsenic well.

Our advice?

Aim to onslaught a equilibrium betwixt producing contented often capable to assistance execute your contented goals. But without overstretching your resources oregon team.

5. Use Content Production Tools

The close tools and resources tin assistance amended your content’s quality. And velocity up your contented accumulation efforts.

For example, Semrush's SEO Writing Assistant is simply a penning instrumentality that tin measure whether your contented is readable and successful your preferred code of voice. It tin besides supply recommendations for improving your content’s hunt rankings.

To usage the tool, log successful to your Semrush relationship and click “Content Marketing” > “SEO Writing Assistant.”

Then, click “Analyze caller text.”

Type oregon paste your substance into the tool’s editor. Add your people keywords and acceptable up your people audience, past click “Get recommendations.”

The SEO Writing Assistant grades your substance connected readability, SEO, originality, and code of voice.

The instrumentality volition besides springiness you suggestions to amended your contented successful each of these 4 categories. 

For example, if you click connected “Highlight Issues” and prime “Readability," you'll spot portions of the nonfiction that request betterment from a readability position highlighted. 

Alternatively, you tin besides find issues with your contented by clicking connected the applicable class successful the apical close corner. 

For example, you tin click “SEO” to larn however to optimize your penning for organic traffic.

You’ll spot keyword recommendations, immoderate issues with your links, and more. 

Find much content instauration tools successful these articles:

• Tools for wide penning and editing: 15 Best Writing & Editing Tools successful 2024 (AI Tools Included):
• Tools for a contented repurposing workflow: Top 10 Content Repurposing Tools for 2024
• AI contented generators: 11 AI Content Generators to Make Great Content successful Minutes

Creating Your Content Workflow

Once you’ve decided connected your preferred contented workflow benignant and the contented you’ll produce, you’re acceptable to make your contented workflow.

So, travel these 5 steps.

You whitethorn request to make abstracted contented workflows for each benignant and format of contented you privation to create.

1. Identify Your Content Creation Stages

These stages correspond the main events successful the contented instauration process, like:

• Determining the content’s intent
• Researching a taxable and keywords
• Preparing a content brief
• Writing the draft

And they'll signifier the statuses of your status-based contented workflow. Or assistance you found the tasks successful your task-based oregon hybrid contented workflow.

If you’re unsure wherever a signifier starts and ends, deliberation about:

• The points successful contented instauration wherever a squad subordinate hands disconnected their enactment for different squad member’s action. At the constituent wherever the writer submits their draught for an exertion to edit, the writer’s penning of the draught could beryllium 1 stage. And the editor’s editing of the draught could beryllium another.
• The “checkpoints” astatine which determination is important advancement successful your contented instauration efforts. The mentation of an nonfiction brief, the completion of the draft, and the work of the draught could beryllium 3 abstracted stages of an nonfiction instauration workflow.

2. Flesh Out Your Content Creation Tasks

List the actions that hap astatine each signifier of contented creation. They'll signifier the tasks successful your task-based oregon hybrid contented workflow. Or, supply clarity into the enactment happening astatine a status-based contented workflow’s assorted stages.

To place these tasks, envision the contented instauration process measurement by step. Keep asking yourself: “What comes next?”

For example:

So connected and truthful forth.

Approach this thought process systematically until you've listed each the tasks you and your squad volition request to implicit to nutrient the portion of content.

3. Define Team Roles

Go done your database of contented instauration tasks and delegate them to antithetic squad roles.

This way, the idiosyncratic fulfilling a definite relation volition cognize what they’re expected to bash erstwhile the task reaches them. And tin manus their deliverable to the adjacent idiosyncratic aft that.

The result?

The contented task proceeds arsenic smoothly arsenic possible.

Examples of squad roles are:

There’s nary request to place circumstantial individuals for the squad roles astatine this point. E.g., “Harry volition beryllium the contented strategist and Susan volition beryllium the contented coordinator.”

You’ll bash this astatine the adjacent measurement instead.

4. Assemble Your Content Creation Team

Identify the radical who volition fulfill the squad roles you’ve defined. And springiness them entree to the contented accumulation tools they request for their work.

Your squad members could beryllium full-time staff. Especially if you’ve hired them for circumstantial roles, similar an in-house editor.

You could besides prosecute freelancers to assistance with contented creation.

Depending connected your disposable resources, a azygous squad subordinate whitethorn instrumentality connected aggregate roles.

For example, the idiosyncratic helping to edit pages nether the “Editor” relation whitethorn besides assistance to people pages nether the “Content coordinator” role.

5. Set Up Your Content Workflow successful a Project Management and Collaboration Tool

Project absorption and collaboration tools supply a level for visualizing your contented workflow. They connection features for:

• Managing your contented projects’ activities. These see tracking a project’s existent presumption and the squad members assigned to a task.
• Facilitating squad collaboration. By assigning tasks to individuals truthful they cognize they’re liable for these. Or letting squad members permission comments connected tasks for each other.
• Automating contented workflow-related tasks. E.g., automatically informing a writer of their caller duty via email erstwhile a project’s presumption changes to “Ready for Writing.”

All these marque for effectual contented workflow management. Compared to trying to way everything successful your head.

Popular task absorption and collaboration tools see Monday.com and ClickUp. Once you’ve decided connected a tool, acceptable it up with the information columns you’ll request to negociate your contented workflow. And invitation your squad to it.

Here’s however managing a blog contented workflow utilizing Monday.com could look:

Anyone looking astatine this contented workflow tin get each this information:

• The blog post’s title
• The writer assigned to constitute the blog post
• The task’s existent status
• The deadline for submitting the archetypal draft

In conscionable 1 glance.

Monitoring and Improving Your Content Workflow

Run your contented workflow erstwhile it’s ready. And show it to spot however you tin amended connected it.

Here’s how:

Audit Your Content Regularly

Auditing your contented means to measure it against definite benchmarks. Like:

• Its performance
• Your contented goals

This way, you tin spot however your contented is performing against these benchmarks. And whether your contented workflow needs refining to match.

Various analytics and reporting tools tin assistance with content audits.

For example, is 1 of your contented goals to summation your hunt visibility?

If yes, usage Semrush’s Position Tracking instrumentality to automate the tracking of your content’s hunt rankings. And get play email reports connected them.

To acceptable it up, log successful to your Semrush relationship and click “SEO” > “Position Tracking.”

Type your domain into the tool. Then, click “Set up tracking.”

Select:

• Whether you privation to way your basal domain, its subdomain, oregon subfolder
• The hunt motor whose rankings you privation to track
• The instrumentality benignant for which you privation to way rankings
• The determination and connection for which you privation to way rankings

Then, click “Continue To Keywords.”

Next, participate the keywords you privation to track. You tin besides click “Import from” to import a keyword database from sources similar a CSV record oregon Google Analytics.

Click “Add keywords to campaign” erstwhile you’re done.

Position Tracking volition adhd the keywords to your tracking campaign.

It volition besides nonstop you a play email of your keyword rankings. If you don’t privation to person this email, uncheck the “Send maine play ranking updates via email” checkbox.

Click “Start Tracking,” and the instrumentality volition commencement gathering rankings data.

When it has finished doing so, you tin presumption accusation like:

• Your tracked keywords’ rankings
• Your website’s visibility for your tracked keywords
• The rankings organisation for your tracked keywords

Use this information to measure your content’s visibility successful the hunt results. And whether you request to instrumentality enactment to amended it.

Further reading: Top Content Marketing Solutions for Boosting Efficiency and ROI

Refine Your Content Workflow

A contented workflow isn’t acceptable successful stone. And whitethorn request adjusting from clip to time.

Because arsenic you execute it, you may:

• Discover aspects of your contented workflow you privation to amended upon. Like simplifying your contented accumulation process. Or utilizing much precocious contented accumulation tools.
• Need to alteration your contented workflow to accommodate changes to your content. E.g., Undertaking translation enactment aft deciding to construe existing content

If your contented workflow needs urgent modification, update it arsenic soon arsenic possible. But adjacent if it seems to beryllium humming along, docket regular reviews of it with your team.

Doing this, you’ll cognize however your contented workflow is moving for them. And whether it needs revising to assistance your squad bash their champion work. So it continues to get you your desired results.

Improve Your Content Workflow

A due contented workflow whitethorn instrumentality clip to enactment unneurotic and document. But erstwhile you instrumentality yours—and regularly support it—you’ll find contented instauration to beryllium a much systematic, efficient, and scalable process.

These Semrush tools are utile additions to immoderate contented workflow:

• SEO Writing Assistant: Get recommendations for improving your writing’s readability and hunt rankings
• Position Tracking: Track your content’s rankings automatically

Sign up for a Semrush relationship to effort them for free.

This station was updated successful 2024. Excerpts from the archetypal nonfiction by Amanda Milligan whitethorn remain.