7 Reasons You Need CoSchedule For Your Blog

So I started blogging again in May this year, and I have been looking for the perfect way to schedule blog posts, tweets, Facebook posts, etc. all from one platform, and I just couldn’t find it.

But then, when I saw that Madison Wetherill pinned one of her old posts on why CoSchedule is her favourite, I knew I had to check it out! I downloaded the plugin, created an account, and I was instantly hooked. 

CoSchedule is an editorial calendar that allows you to just click and drag your tweets, posts, and Facebook statuses to whichever day you choose. It automatically syncs with your wordpress.org account, too, as soon as you download the plugin, so that all of your old blog posts and scheduled ones are on your calendar, too. It’s an amazing tool for blogging, and there are seven reasons that I have fallen in love with this plugin, and why I think you will, too!

1. CoSchedule allows you to sync all of your social media accounts with your blog

I have my Facebook profile, google+ page, and twitter on there, all in one place! And there are no limits as to how many posts you can plan with each, which I find amazing. All of the social media planning platforms I have used in the past have had limits as to how many posts you can schedule, whether it’s 10 or 25, so I’m loving being able to sit down once and plan out my tweets for the next two weeks!

Not only that, but it automatically inserts the link for the post you’re sharing. All you have to do is click on the post you want to promote and follow the instructions. No more flipping between 5 different tabs to write one tweet!

2. There are automatic scheduling times

After you’ve clicked on that blog post, there are actually times already all set up for you to post to all of your different social accounts.

For instance, if I click on the post I wrote the night before my wedding, it looks like this: (I specifically chose one that I had nothing scheduled for)

All you’ve got to do is click on the little “+” icons and then select which profile(s) you want to post to, and it’s all set to go! It’s that easy! I love how it prompts you for the day of, the next day, the next week, and the next month from when the post is published! I found it easy but frustrating to have to manually type in the dates, so I love that it does that for me now!

Then, after you’ve done one general update for each account you and go in and make them more specialized for each social media outlet. For instance, making sure the twitter messages are the right length and adding hashtags. (Great thing it does for twitter: it makes them outlined in red if they’re too long so you know to change them!)

3. CoSchedule allows you to upload custom images for social messages

I like to make images for facebook that are the right dimensions for Facebook posts, and CoSchedule allows you to upload them right there! It works great, and I’m more than thrilled with it!

4. You can get sync Google Analytics with your CoSchedule posts

I’m kind of addicted to Google Analytics. I love watching stats and see where my traffic is coming from! It helps me figure out how to tailor my posts or tweets to my audience, and see which kinds of things get viewed more.

CoSchedule, though, allows you to get Google Analytics information on not only your blog posts, but also your tweets, Facebook posts, etc!

5. The format makes it easy to see the big picture

I find that scheduling social media can be very frustrating and I easily forget when I have or haven’t updated each account, or how far in the future I have scheduled tweets. With CoSchedule, though, you can easily see everything that you have scheduled for months in the future! I love it!

Not only that, but when you hover over one tweet that’s a link to a blog post, all of your other tweets/posts/updates with that link are also highlighted so you can see how close they are, making sure you’re not spamming anyone. I appreciate that, because, again, I’m forgetful, and I know that I’ve been guilty of spamming when I forgot that I had already scheduled posts for that day! CoSchedule helps that not happen.

So you get a feel of what it’s like, here’s a screenshot for my social media planning for a week:

also notice that CoSchedule has its own tab in the sidebar, too! LOVE that part of it! So easy to get to your planning calendar.

6. CoSchedule syncs all of your old blog information

Not only does it allow you to schedule updates for new posts, but you can link back to old ones, as well. I love this feature, since on weekends I tend to do throwbacks rather than new content (probably will change that soon, though)

Also, CoSchedule keeps track of your sharing stats for each post, so you can share your “most shared post of the week/year/month/all time.” I love that feature, and it’s really fun how you can watch the counts add up! 

7. CoSchedule allows you to have a team of people working on the same calendar

Although I personally do not use this feature, I love that I have the chance to let multiple people all work on the same schedule, making sure that no one double-schedules any posts. That isn’t really an issue since I can handle my blog right now, but in a few years if I have someone else join me I like that I’ll be able to seamlessly make the transition.

So there you have it! Those are my 7 reasons why I have fallen in love with CoSchedule, and why I think you will, too! It’s only $15 a month, but there are lots of great opportunities to get that fee lowered. Besides, $15 a month is only 3 Starbucks drinks a month! That’s hardly anything when you think about how much time and stress this can save you!

Let me know what you think! What publishing platforms do you use?