Blog post production SOP template

Content programs die of undefined process, not lack of ideas: drafts stall in review limbo, publishing is a scramble, promotion is an afterthought. This template puts one owner and one deadline on each stage — brief, draft, review, publish, promote — so a post is either moving or visibly stuck, never ambient.

The brief

No draft without a brief

One short brief per post, approved before writing starts: working title, the reader (specific — “support lead at a 20-person SaaS”, not “businesses”), the one thing they should take away, the search intent or distribution reason the post exists, and 3–5 points it must cover. A brief takes twenty minutes and prevents the two-thousand-word draft that answers no one’s question.

Keep an idea backlog

Ideas go in a single list with a one-line pitch each. At planning (monthly is plenty), pick by two questions: does it serve a reader we want, and can we say something true that others can’t? Customer questions from support are the best source you own — mine them monthly. (If your support runs on a shared knowledgebase, the gaps in it are literally a content calendar.)

Drafting

One writer, one deadline

Each post has exactly one writer and a draft date a week out from the brief. The writer owns voice and structure inside the brief’s rails. Stuck for three days is a signal to shrink scope or swap topics — say so at standup, don’t sit on it.

Draft quality bar

Before requesting review: a title that makes a promise, an opening that names the reader’s problem, subheads that tell the story alone, one concrete example or number per major claim, and a closing that says what to do next. Spellcheck is the writer’s job, not the reviewer’s.

Review

One pass, 48 hours

One named reviewer, one consolidated pass, within two working days. The reviewer checks: is it true, is it clear, does it deliver the brief’s takeaway, is anything risky (claims, competitors, customer names)? Style nits beyond clarity are suggestions, not blockers. A second full review round exists only for accuracy problems — not for taste.

Publishing

The launch checklist

On publish day: final proof in the CMS preview; title and meta description set; images have alt text; links checked; category and tags right; author attributed; URL slug clean and permanent. Publish at your audience’s time, not yours.

Promotion and the loop

Every post gets a launch

Minimum kit per post: shared to your social channels (written for the channel, not pasted), included in the next newsletter, and — where genuinely relevant — sent to the customers or community members who asked the question it answers. That last one outperforms everything else per minute spent.

Review the numbers monthly

Once a month, look at the last quarter’s posts: traffic, signups or conversions influenced, search positions. Kill topics that never land, double down where readers convert, and update your two or three best-performing posts instead of always writing new ones — refreshes are the highest-ROI writing you’ll do.