c/content-strategy

Choosing between a huge content library or a small, focused one for our new app launch

For our app launch in Chicago, we had to pick between creating 100+ general articles to cover every possible user question or just 20 really deep guides on core features. We went with the 20 guides, thinking quality over quantity would build more trust. It worked okay, but some early users got stuck on basic setup stuff we didn't cover. Has anyone else faced this choice and found a good middle ground?

Am I the only one who thought content audits were a waste of time?

I used to think they were just busywork until I did one for a client's 50-page site and found 15 pages with zero traffic for 2 years. Now I'm a believer, but my coworker still says they're a distraction from new work. What's your take on the real value of audits?

Pro tip: I had a content calendar blow up on me last quarter and it was the best thing that happened

I was in our main office in Austin, running a campaign for a new client. We had the whole quarter mapped out in Asana, with every blog post and social piece planned. Then, three weeks in, a major industry report dropped that completely changed the conversation. Our scheduled posts were suddenly off base. My team wanted to stick to the plan, but I pushed to scrap the next two weeks of content. We spent two days making new stuff that spoke to the report's findings. It was messy, but our engagement went up by 30 percent. Everyone says you need a rigid calendar, but sometimes you have to break it. Has anyone else had to throw out a big chunk of their planned work like that?

PSA: I just found out my 'evergreen' content was actually dead wood

I spent six months updating a pillar page from 2021, adding new stats and links, thinking it was a smart move. A friend looked at my analytics and pointed out it had zero traffic for over a year because the core topic was no longer relevant. How do you decide when to let old content die instead of trying to save it?

Just saw my 'oldest' blog post from 2018 hit 500 visits this month, which is weird because I haven't touched it in years.

Just realized my content calendar was a total mess after a client call last Tuesday

I was showing a new client my plan for their blog, and I had scheduled a post about summer recipes for the week of December 15th. They just stared at the screen and said, 'Is this a joke?' I had copied an old template and forgot to change the dates or topics. Now I have to redo three months of work. How do you guys keep your calendars from getting mixed up like that?

My company's blog traffic went from 200 to 2,000 visits a month after we stopped writing for ourselves.

I swapped my weekly blog for a monthly email and my open rate doubled

For six months I sent a long blog post every Friday, but my boss said people were too busy to read it. We switched to one big email on the first of the month with just the best stuff, and our open rate went from 22% to 44% in two cycles. Do you think less frequent but higher quality content is always better for keeping people interested?

Why does nobody talk about the time your content calendar just disappears?

I was in a coffee shop in Portland last Tuesday, finalizing our Q3 plan in Airtable. I clicked 'save' and the whole board went blank. The backup from Monday was missing two weeks of planned posts. I spent the next four hours rebuilding it from old Slack messages and email threads. Has anyone else had a tool just eat their calendar, and what do you do for a backup now?

PSA: I keep seeing people skip the content audit step and it's killing their plans...

They jump straight into making new stuff without looking at what they already have. I just watched a team waste a month on a video series that basically repeated a blog post from 2022. How do you convince people this step isn't optional?

Shoutout to my friend who told me to stop posting so much

My buddy Mark, who runs a small marketing agency in Phoenix, looked at my blog last year and said, 'You're posting three times a week, but it's all fluff. Pick one topic and go deep once a month.' I thought he was crazy and ignored him, focusing on volume. Six months later, my traffic was flat and my bounce rate was over 80%. I finally tried his advice in January, spending a whole month on one big guide about email list building. That single post got more shares and backlinks than my previous twenty combined. Now I'm reworking my whole calendar. Has anyone else made a big switch from quantity to depth and seen it pay off?

A workshop in Austin made me rethink my content calendar

I was at a small marketing meetup in Austin last month, and the speaker asked us to write down our biggest content problem. I put 'keeping the calendar full.' She then said something that stuck with me: 'Your calendar isn't a to-do list, it's a promise to your audience.' She made us map one piece of content to a specific user question we'd seen in the last week. I realized I was just filling slots with topics I thought were important, not what people actually needed. Now, I start every planning session by looking at support tickets and forum comments from the past 30 days. It's slower, but the content actually gets used. How do you decide what goes on your calendar?

I paid $300 for a content audit and it showed me a big blind spot

I hired someone to look over my site's old blog posts, about 200 of them. The report came back showing that over half of my content was just talking about my own company news, not solving problems for readers. I was spending all my time on new stuff and ignoring the older pages that could still bring in traffic. It cost me $300, but seeing that number really made me change my plan. Now I'm going back to update those old posts instead of just writing new ones. Has anyone else found a good way to decide which old posts to fix first?

A talk with my friend who runs a small bakery changed how I see content calendars

She said she just posts when she has something good to show, like a new cake, and her followers love it. I was so stuck on posting three times a week no matter what, but her real results made me drop my rigid schedule. Anyone else move away from a strict calendar for something more flexible?

Can we talk about how long it takes to fix a broken content audit process?

I tried to update our old blog audit spreadsheet from 2022, thinking it would be a quick two-day job. It ended up taking three full weeks because our tagging system was a mess and half the old URLs were dead. How do you even start to fix something like that without losing your mind?

Showerthought: I tried a 30-day video push for our local bakery and the results were backwards

Honestly, I manage content for a small family bakery in Springfield. Last month, I decided to go all in on short, polished recipe videos for Instagram, thinking that would drive the most traffic to our site. I spent about 15 hours a week filming and editing, way more than usual. After 30 days, our website traffic from Instagram actually dropped by 20%, but our in-store foot traffic from people who saw the videos went up by almost 40%. It taught me that for a local business, polished content might not be the goal if it doesn't get people in the door. Has anyone else seen their content goals get flipped like that, where the metric you focused on was the wrong one?

Stumbled upon a whiteboard trick for my garden channel content plan

I jot down each video idea with its planned date on the board. Having it all in one place helps me keep a steady flow of topics.

From posting nonstop to picking my spots: a content lesson

I used to think blasting out content daily was the only way to keep an audience. After a flat period, I switched to fewer, more thoughtful pieces and saw better results. Now I'm stuck between the old 'more is more' idea and the new 'less but better' approach. Where do you stand on this for your own plans?

Just realized my content audit wasted months

I spent forever tracking old posts without a clear goal. When I showed it to the boss, he asked what the point was. Feeling pretty dumb now.

Why does nobody talk about the boost from a clean content inventory?

Ngl, finally sorting my old posts made planning new ones easy.

My cooking Instagram hit a wall after six months of steady posts

I've been posting family recipes three times a week, but now likes and comments are WAY down. It feels like I'm just putting stuff out without a real plan. I want to keep people interested without burning out. Any tips on planning better content or trying new formats? This slump is KILLING my motivation.

Shoutout to local coffee shop chats for shifting my content approach

I used to stick to formal brand voice, but hearing real talks there (about our industry, actually) made me see how casual stories connect better.

How to rank YouTube videos without being an SEO expert?

I make good content but my SEO skills are terrible. Is there an app or tool that can just do it for me?