October is just around the corner (6 weeks from now!) and this is the perfect time for Christian bloggers to start prepping for a Blogtober Challenge! This is a great way to give your Christian blog a significant traffic boost and to challenge yourself to really focus your blog strategy for that month. We are doing the Blogtober Challenge in my membership group, so I thought this would be a great idea to share with you to help you take advantage of this traffic opportunity!
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What is a Blogtober Challenge
A Blogtober challenge is a writing challenge that encourages you to publish new content on your Christian blog every day during the month of October. Now, before you start freaking out because there are like 31 days in October – you can start prepping for it today to lessen the pressure when October rolls around. This is one area I think most Christian bloggers struggle with – actually creating a content plan in advance. When you plan ahead, you actually making it easier to write!
6 Planning Strategies for the Blogtober Challenge
The key to completing the full 31 days of content is to plan early! Don’t wait until October 1st to activate your plan. You can start writing additional posts now, as well as reach out for guest posts to have ready to publish. Here are 6 easy ways to get your 31 days of content ready so you can focus on other stuff during the month of October.
- #1 Plan Your Regular October Post Topics – What is your current blog posting schedule? If you currently publish one post per week, then in the physical month of October, you will still do that. Before October arrives, however, make sure you’ve already lined out what those posts will be so you can simply do the keyword research and write them. Write down the blog post topic for one day each week in October. (5 posts)
- #2 Draft One Additional Post Weekly – As of this post being written, there are 6 weeks until October 1st. See if you can find small pockets of time each week to complete one additional blog post (other than the one you are publishing for that week). Then schedule these to publish (one per week) in October. To make it a bit easier, consider the blog post topics you listed for Strategy #1 (above). See if you can write an additional post on that topic to keep the momentum going on it for that particular week (and to link to in the post). (6 posts)
- #3 RoundUp Posts are Golden! – Since time may be an issue for getting some of this additional content, save yourself some time and seek out posts from other bloggers on a specific October topic and publish a handful of Blogtober roundup posts. Ideas for these can range from “10 Christian Halloween Family Traditions for Sharing Jesus” where you link to blog posts from other bloggers writing about how they do it. Another idea for Christian mom bloggers could be something like 20 Fun Trick or Treat Snacks to Make with Your Kids. When doing roundup posts, be sure you have your own content prior to the actual list linking to the other bloggers’ posts. And be sure to create amazing Pinterest graphics for it!
- #4 Start asking for Guest Posts Now – By requesting guest post submissions early, you can have a whole pile of them ready to publish during the Blogtober Challenge. Be sure to provide specific content ideas when requesting a guest post. You could have 4-5 separate topics, or you could do sort of a Blogtober Series (1-2 weekly posts on a specific topic such as how to share the gospel during the Halloween season). (If you start now, you could try to acquire up to 10 posts – 2 per week for publishing in October).
- #5 Update and Use Older October Posts – If you’ve been blogging longer than a year, go back to some of the posts that you published for October in previous years. Update them for better SEO and create a new pinnable image to change out in it. Then, write a brand new blog post on a related topic. If you have a post that is more of a “list post” where you list XXX ways to do this or that, simply write a single post on one of those ways. Much of your older content could be written again but from a slightly different perspective and using a different (but similar) keyword. For example, we have a post on Giving it to God, as well as a post about Giving God Your Worries. Same topic but written differently. (5 posts)
- #6 Add Bible Verse Posts – As a Christian blogger, I would imagine that the majority of your published content includes at least a handful of Scripture references. Bible Quote posts do extremely well on Pinterest! This strategy is an easy one because you’ve already done the research! Simply find 5 -10 older posts from previous years and draft a brand new post titled XX Bible Verses (or Prayers, or Scripture) About (the topic of that older post). You could probably get half of these knocked out before October. Then maybe do the other half on posts you are going to publish in October. (10 posts)
If you follow this strategy, you could end up with a total of 36 blog posts. You only need 31 so this will give you some lead-way during weeks where you may not have as much time. (Or, you could use those excess posts to submit as a guest post for another blogger during the Blogtober Challenge.) Some of these are meant to be accomplished before October 1st. Others will be done during the month of October. Generally speaking, you’ll do some now as well as some during Blogtober. You can see a sample schedule below to give you an idea of how all this looks.
Make Your Graphics Easier
To make this a smooth process, it is really important that you already have a set of Pinterest templates created. This way you can simply switch out the title for each new post. My blog post template has around 8 different templates (different colors, different backgrounds, etc). I make up to 8 pins for every single post. This way, I have new pins ready to continually pin throughout that month and the next.
Updating Older Posts
When you update those older posts for SEO, be sure to create a brand new pinnable image for the post. Pin it and schedule it using Tailwind. This will definitely give those older posts a traffic boost. Be sure to also ensure those older posts are linked to any newer related posts. Once your Blotober posts go live, be sure to go back and add the link for the new post in those older posts as well. Interlinking posts is so important!
Blogtober for Christian Bloggers
As Christian bloggers, we should continually strive to challenge ourselves and step outside our regular routines. In doing this, we are able to truly have a bigger impact for the Kingdom of God through our online blog ministries. Even if you aren’t able to get the full 31 days of content, take part in the Blogtober Challenge and simply do more than what your normal publishing schedule is.
The Blogtober Challenge is going to help you give your organic traffic a significant boost as we roll into the Fall and holiday seasons. Writing these additional posts may also spark new ideas for content that you may not have already considered. It may also spark some creative ideas for optins, printables, and other things you can offer your readers. It is also just really fun to collaborate with other Christian bloggers (through guest posting).
[bctt tweet=”Ready to boost your traffic? Join us in participating in the Blogtober Content Planning Challenge for Christian Bloggers! ” username=”kingdomblogger1″]
This writing and planning strategy can also be used for other months (other than October). If you just don’t have the time for a Blogtober challenge, you can do it for other months such as the Thanksgiving/Christmas season or even in February (all about love!).
I challenge you! Start preparing now for the Blogtober Challenge so you can truly see some amazing things happen during the month of October! And if you are feeling really confident, be sure to include a Blogtober social media challenge as part of your blog traffic strategy!
Be sure to also read:
- 35+ Back to School Blog Post Ideas for Christian Bloggers
- Social Media Strategy for Christian Bloggers
- How to Create Printable Scripture Cards for Your Subscribers
