# Editorial calendar An editorial calendar is the schedule of what a site will publish and refresh. You use it to turn search research into weekly work. This page shows what to put in it, how big it should be for a small product, and how to keep it on track. Updated 2026-09-14 · Source: https://porteur.ai/glossary/editorial-calendar ## What it is and what it holds An editorial calendar lists each page, its target query, its author, its date, and its status. It covers both new pages and refreshes of existing ones. For a small product, keep it lean. Plan a few pages a month, each with one chosen query from your research. Schedule a quarterly refresh for pages that lost clicks. A row could read: /guides/getting-started, query "how to use YourProduct", author A. Patel, due 12 Oct, status drafting. A refresh row could read: /pricing, query "YourProduct pricing", owner you, due 5 Nov, status refresh after click drop. ## Why it matters for search It turns strategy into work you can ship each week. It also blocks two failure modes: writing whatever comes to mind, and never refreshing what already ranks. Each entry forces a decision on search intent and avoids duplicate topics. A clear target query per page reduces keyword cannibalisation and scattered drafts. Refresh slots keep winning pages in the results. A planned revisit often beats a brand new idea for impact on your signups and demos. ## How big should yours be Start with two to four new pages a month. Add one refresh slot for every three or four live pages that bring search clicks. Keep one buffer slot for quick wins. - Core pages: product, pricing, features. Refresh these when they lose clicks or fall in average position. - Evergreen guides: plan one or two a month with clear queries like "YourProduct alternatives" or "how to do X with YourProduct". - Comparisons or alternatives: ship when search demand and intent fit your offer. - Updates: schedule quarterly refreshes for posts with content decay or a drop in clicks. > Rule: if you cannot ship it this month, it does not sit in this month’s calendar. Put it in the backlog with its query and a one line brief. ## How to set it up and run it 1. **Pick slots and dates** Choose your monthly cadence, for example four slots. Fix publish days. Add one refresh slot per quarter for each key page. 2. **Choose target queries** From your research, assign one query per page. Example: /blog/compare-abc-vs-you, query "abc vs YourProduct". 3. **Write the brief** Add intent, outline, internal links to and from related pages, primary URL, and owner. Keep briefs to one screen. 4. **Track status** Use simple states: idea, drafting, editing, scheduled, live, refresh due. Keep one column for blockers. 5. **Review and roll** Each month, move shipped rows to an archive. Pull the next items from the backlog. Keep the calendar short and current. A fixed page looks like this when shipped: title set for the query, headers map to subtopics, internal links added, and the publish date set. The refresh keeps the same URL. ## How to read and measure it Use Search Console’s Performance report to judge if the calendar is paying off. Look at clicks by page and query for the last 28 days and compare to the prior 28 days. - Coverage: how many planned queries now have a live page. - Time to ship: idea to live in days. Shorter beats perfect. - Hit rate: shipped pages with any clicks after 28 days. - Refresh impact: clicks before vs after on refreshed URLs. - Striking distance: count pages now in positions 11 to 20 to line up next refreshes. If a row does not move, change the plan. Swap in a lower difficulty query, improve internal links, or bring a refresh forward. ## Common traps to avoid - Too many rows. A calendar stuffed with 30 ideas will slip. Keep the backlog separate. - Vague targets. "Write about security" is not a plan. "YourProduct security" for /features/security is. - No refreshes. Pages decay. Schedule quarterly checks on pages that lost clicks. - Split sources of truth. One sheet, not a mix of docs, tickets and chat. - Idea chasing. If a topic does not map to search intent, it goes to social, not the calendar. ## Questions ### What does an editorial calendar do? It lists what you will publish and refresh, who owns it, and when it ships. For search it keeps you focused on pages with clear target queries and regular refreshes, not random posts. ### What is the difference between an editorial calendar and a content calendar? Many teams use the terms the same way. If you split them, the editorial calendar holds topics, queries, owners and dates. A content calendar can include channels beyond the site, such as email or social. ### How do I create an editorial calendar for a small site? Pick a monthly cadence you can keep, choose one query per planned page from your research, and add a quarterly refresh for pages that lost clicks. Track simple states from idea to live and review results every 28 days in Search Console. ### Do I need a template, or will any calendar app do? Any tool works if it holds page URL, target query, owner, date and status in one place. A spreadsheet or a board view is often enough for a small product. ### How often should I update the calendar? Update it weekly as statuses change and monthly when you plan the next set. Add refresh tasks each quarter for pages that lost clicks or slipped in average position. ### What should a refresh entry include? The URL, the query it ranks for, the issues to fix, and a date. Example: /blog/how-to-export, query "export data from YourProduct", fix outdated screenshots and add an FAQ block. ## Read next - [How to refresh a page that lost its traffic](https://porteur.ai/guides/content-refresh): Find why a page lost clicks, refresh what searchers want now, and measure the result. Keep the same URL, update facts, sections, links and date. - [A content audit for a small site: one table, one decision a row](https://porteur.ai/guides/content-audit): Build a one-table content audit you can finish in a day. See what to keep, refresh, merge, redirect or remove, and what to fix first next quarter. - [How to find declining pages in Search Console before the traffic is gone](https://porteur.ai/guides/find-declining-pages-in-search-console): Use Search Console to compare periods, sort by click loss, read queries, and act before a page’s traffic is gone. Works for SaaS and small shops. - [Striking distance keywords: the searches one page from the light](https://porteur.ai/guides/striking-distance-keywords): Find queries you already rank for at positions 11 to 20, fix the one page that’s close, and add links. Faster wins than writing a new page. - [Search intent: what the results page tells you to build](https://porteur.ai/guides/search-intent): Learn the four intents, read intent from the results page, and fix pages that will never rank by changing their kind, not just the words. - [Content decay](https://porteur.ai/glossary/content-decay): Content decay is when a once-performing page loses traffic over time. See the causes, how to measure it in Search Console, and how to fix it. - [Content brief](https://porteur.ai/glossary/content-brief): A content brief defined, what to include, how to write one in minutes, how to measure it in Search Console, and common traps to avoid. Want queries to fill your calendar, not guesses? Paste your URL into the free check. In about thirty seconds it reads your site and nearby searches, compares rivals, and shows three findings you can ship. Free check: https://porteur.ai/