Have you started your Q4 plan yet? I know it’s only summer, but quarter 4 always sneaks up on us. In this episode, we’ll chat about getting started on your Q4 plan and creating amazing content for the end of the year. It’s never too early to start planning and preparing for the holiday season, so let’s dive in!


I love talking about the topic of planning. However, this episode was hard for me to stop procrastinating and actually record. Probably because I can’t believe it is already July! It is crazy that it is already time to get started with your quarter 4 plan! In today’s episode we are going to get ourselves motivated to create our Q4 plan!
Why You Need to Have a Q4 Plan
- Q4 Sneaks Up Quickly. It is already halfway through this year. That means that the back to school season is right around the corner and then after that we go right into the holidays. Before you know it, it’ll be January 1st. So having a plan is going to help you get ahead.
- Getting Ahead Helps You Take Time Off for the Holidays. A Q4 plan will help make sure you have time during the holidays. Getting ahead on planning content will give you more time to spend away from your business.
- Getting Ahead Will Help You Create BETTER Content. Rushing through content creation often results in compromised quality. Having a plan will help you create higher quality content that truly serves your audience.
- Advertisers’ spending limits are generally higher in Q4 which means if you have ads running on your site you are going to see higher RPMs. You might also see an increase in traffic as people have more reasons to look for recipes to cook for loved ones during the holidays. It is really important to have a good plan for Q4 – it’s kind of like the super bowl for food bloggers!
Mini Audit of Holiday Content
First thing, review your content you already have right now. Depending on how your website and categories are set up, you might be able to look at a holiday recipe category and see the posts that exist there. If your website is not set up with holiday categories, you can look at published posts during previous Q4s to see which posts were relevant. However you want to do this, it is important to look at what you already have before you start to create for the future. Once you know what content you have, you might start to see gaps in content and the kind of content you want to create. Using the information from this holiday content audit, jot down ideas of blog posts you could add.
Finding Low Hanging Fruit to Update
Do you have blog posts that are older and need some zhuzhing up? Consider adding new images, optimizing posts for RPMs, or updating time-sensitive information. A few minutes updating can have a big impact on your rankings. Are there any popular posts that need a companion post? For example let’s say you have an apple pie recipe that has done really well and in that post you talk about making a homemade pie crust. This is a great opportunity to make a different blog post on how to make a homemade pie crust and now you have the potential to rank for both posts. These complementary articles will enhance the value for your audience and encourage them to explore more of your content.
Creating Content to Fill Your Gaps
Once you know what you have, you are able to easily see what types of content or blog posts you need to fill in the gaps. Look for quick wins, such as SEO how-to posts or content that repurposes photos from other posts. Make the most of the resources you already have!
Get Started on the Content ASAP
Start focusing on your Q4 content as soon as you can! Be strategic with how you are planning your photoshoot days, recipe testing sessions, or batch writing sessions. Look at your calendar and figure out ways you can work ahead by pairing recipes you are working on now with recipes planned in the future. Check out our episode on creating more content for additional tips and tricks to boost your productivity.
I hope these 4 steps for starting your Q4 plan are helpful. Even if you don’t start creating that Q4 content next week, just getting started on your plan and figuring out when you will do tasks will be so beneficial. Being intentional about getting ahead and focusing your time is really going to help you to make the best decisions to get ahead so you can enjoy your Q4 and time with family over the holidays!
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