To create a content plan for your career blog, you need to consider your audience and their interests, and how often they will visit, as well as what will draw people to your content over somebody else’s content. Hopefully, this article will help you answer all those concerns so that you may create a usable content plan for your career blog. The article is inter-spliced with advice from the blogger James Miller from SimplicityResume, just to give it an extra edge for long-term bloggers.

What is the Overall Aim of Your Content?

This sounds like a very silly question, but a big problem with many blogs is that they have no idea what the aim of their content is. All they know is that they “Like” their content.

Think of it like a child who gets out all his/her toys to show you. The kid likes the toys, and maybe the toys are awesome, but what was the point in getting them out and showing them off.

For example, when you think of content for a career blog, perhaps your mind first jumps to career advice. Will this take the form of tutorials, FAQs, advice columns? All of these questions are moot because you have not figured out the aim of your content.

Let’s say you offer tutorials. Why? Why offer tutorials? What are people going to get from your tutorials that is going to draw them in or bring them back?

Picking an Aim for Your Content

Another big mistake that bloggers make is that they pick the sort of content they want to present, and they may even pick an aim for the content, then they wonder why the content doesn't interest people.

Take the example of a semi-famous lecturer who decided to host interviews with very professional and powerful people on a monthly basis, and then turn the interviews into blog posts and YouTube videos. After about six months, the blog posts and videos had almost no viewers, despite an aggressive marketing campaign. Do you know why? It is because the aim of the content doesn't answer any sort of problem, it doesn't entertain, and even though they are packed with information, the information is not something people are searching for, just like most people are not “Searching” for information on snail migration patterns.

When you pick an aim for your content, when you pick a direction, you need to answer a problem or you need to entertain. People read gaming reviews because they have a problem. Their problem is that they want to buy a game, but they do not want to waste their money on games they won’t like. People read fashion magazines for the same reason. People read gossip blogs because it is entertaining. Your content must help solve a problem or entertain.

How Often Will Your Viewers Visit Your Website?

You are talking about a career blog, so your viewers may only visit a handful of times. Unless your aim/goal is something perpetually ongoing, then you need to assume your viewers will not be frequent viewers.

This is actually good news for you because it means you are not pressured to produce every week. You can take your time and publish whenever you like. You can concentrate on quality and value so that when people “Do” visit your blog, they are blown away by its content.

How Do You Include Images and Videos into Your Blog?

This is going to be tricky because career blogs are not easy to add media to. It is not like a gaming or fashion blog where you can add maps to levels or pictures of new clothing designs.

Adding stock images of people doing business-like stuff is going to look a little stale and clinical. So, perhaps do things like making micro-Infographics showing figures, or show graphs and charts with figures laid out beautifully. If you do add regular photos, then try to add images that compliment or prove whatever point you have just made. For example, when people say there are too few women in the construction industry, you can show different photo collages showing the opposite.

Will You Have Other Contributors?

Strongly consider the impact of having other contributors with your blog, especially if you are planning to do most of the writing yourself.

Take the example of the person writing a financial blog. He loves writing all about loans, currency conversions and cryptocurrency, but hates writing about credit cards because of all the small print and tiny boring details. So, the blogger creates a content plan where outside contributors may write about credit cards and nothing else. That way the blogger doesn't waste his time writing about something he doesn't like, and it leaves a category wide open for other contributors to come in and start writing.

What Are Your Major Selling Points?

Selling points and aims are different. The “Aim” of a Volvo car is to get you from one place to another. The “Selling Point” is that it will get you there safely.

For example, let's say that you pick an aim/direction for your content. Let’s say you are creating a vehicle repair blog and your “Aim” is to help people save money by repairing their own cars. What would your selling point be? Would your blog have lots of technical information? Or lots of drawings? Or step-by-step guides? Or insider tips that nobody else knows?

Consider the selling points of your content. Once you have the aim of your content, ask yourself what will then set your career blog posts apart from all the other career websites out there.

Conclusion

If you walk away with anything from this article, try to keep in mind the aim of your content. You may have plenty of ideas and topics for what you want to write about, but always consider the aim of your content. After picking each title, ask yourself, “What is the point of this?” If your answer isn't either “To solve problem x” or “To entertain” then forget the title and come up with another.