CoSchedule Review

For the last little while I’ve been using CoSchedule. Like I mentioned on Friday, even though I’d heard about it from lots of other bloggers saying that they really liked using it, it took me awhile to try it myself. I’m glad I did though, because CoSchedule (affiliate link) makes sharing my posts so much easier!

Now that you know what CoSchedule can do in general, I’ll share some details with you. All of these screenshots are from my own blog, so you can see how I use it. I was surprised at how quick the editorial calendar fills up with posts, drafts, and social media shares.

Basically with CoSchedule you can keep track of posts, drafts, tasks, team members, and social media shares all in one place. First off, CoSchedule is an editorial calendar. I’ve mentioned before on the blog how much easier blogging is when I have drafts and posts scheduled and I know what I’m going to write about. There’s nothing worse than staring at an empty screen and having no idea what to write about.

Not only can you plan when to write posts, but you can also add tasks that have to be completed for each posts (research, making a graphic, taking photos, etc.). The tasks also have deadlines, and you get emails notifying you when the deadline is coming up. I think the tasks feature is a great one. I usually have more than one post in the works at a time, so I can keep track of exactly what I still need to get done for each post before it comes time to actually write it. Trying to remember if I’ve made a graphic for Thursday’s post is tough for me to remember, so having it on my editorial calendar helps me out a lot. In addition, if you have tasks that you use for more than one post, you can also create templates for those. That way it’s quicker and easier to add them to posts.

Another great feature of CoSchedule is being able to schedule social media shares for your post. Once you’ve added the CoSchedule plugin to your WordPress blog, it adds a section at the bottom of the post editing screen that allows you to schedule sharing links for your post. It has suggested days (the day of your post, the day after, a week after, and a month after), as well as times. You simply choose the social media channel, write a few words about your post, pick a day and time, and you’re done. I also like that it shows you exactly what your message will look like once it’s sent. I really like that this is at the bottom of your post editing page. It’s literally at your finger tips. It feels very natural to fill in the social media sharing after you’ve finished writing your post.

One thing I was never very good at was remembering to share my posts on social media after they were published. I’d usually share it the same day, but I’d get caught up with other things and forget to share it after that. I put a lot of work and effort into my posts, so it makes sense to get as much exposure as I can for each one. CoSchedule solves that problem, as I can do all my sharing at the same time as writing my post. There’s nothing left for me to forget to do.

Another thing I really like about CoSchedule is that if you decide to move a post to another day, you simply drag and drop it in the editorial calendar from one day to another. In addition, all the social media shares that you’ve scheduled to go with that post move as well. There’s no more editing tweets and Facebook posts when you’ve changed the date of your post.

The only thing I wish CoSchedule would do is sync with Windows Live Writer. I usually use Live Writer to write my posts, but since I’ve been using CoSchedule I’ve been using the post editing in WordPress. I would love to connect the two tools, but as of right now it’s not possible.

All in all I’ve really liked using CoSchedule (affiliate link). I know it’s helped me spread the word more efficiently and effectively for each post I publish. While I’m still using the 2 week free trial as I’m writing this, by the time this post publishes I’ll have upgraded to the paid version. At only $10 per month, or $9 per month if you sign up for a year, I think it’s a great deal. It keeps me organized as well as helps me to share my blog content better.

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