In-House Marketer Content Strategy Checklist

Your Diagnostic Results

Maturity Score: [PERSONALIZED SCORE]

Maturity Level: [SCATTERED / EMERGING / ESTABLISHED / AUTHORITY]

You're at the [LEVEL] stage. You have good people and decent content, but your team is probably working in silos. Your boss is asking for ROI proof. This checklist is designed to give you the framework that shows results AND keeps your team sane.

Strategy Alignment: Get Everyone on the Same Page

✓ Start here—foundation for everything else

Priority 1: Document Your Content Strategy (2 hours)

[ ] Answer: What are the 5–8 keywords your company wants to own?
[ ] Map content pillars (main topics) and spokes (related subtopics)
[ ] Create a one-page strategy document
[ ] Share with your team and leadership—get alignment

Why: Your team can't execute a strategy they don't understand. Written beats verbal.

Priority 2: Create an Editorial Calendar (1 hour)

[ ] Build a 6-month content calendar (Google Sheet is fine)
[ ] Include: Topic | Keywords | Writer | Due Date | Publish Date
[ ] Assign ownership (who writes what)
[ ] Share it openly—everyone sees the full picture

Why: Prevents duplicated work, clarifies expectations, keeps team coordinated.

Priority 3: Define Your Approval Workflow (30 minutes)

[ ] Create a simple approval matrix: Who writes? Who reviews? Who approves?
[ ] Set turnaround times (e.g., "24 hours to review")
[ ] Define what "approved" looks like (brand voice, keywords, structure)
[ ] Document it and share

Example: Writer → Team Lead Review (24h) → Brand Review (24h) → Publish

Why: Clear process prevents bottlenecks and scope creep.

Production: Scale Without Chaos

Priority 4: Create Content Templates (2 hours)

[ ] Build a "blog post template" with structure your team follows
[ ] Include: H2 headers, keyword placement, CTA placement, length targets
[ ] Create a "brand voice guide" (tone, examples, what to avoid)
[ ] Share templates with all writers—use them for every piece

Why: Templates ensure consistency and speed up writing. New writers get up to speed faster.

Priority 5: Set Keyword Research Standards (1 hour)

[ ] Define how writers research keywords (tool, depth, documentation)
[ ] Create a keyword brief template (keyword | intent | competition | opportunity)
[ ] Require writers to complete this before writing
[ ] Review for quality (are they choosing winnable keywords?)

Why: Consistent research = consistent ranking opportunity. Prevents wasted content.

Priority 6: Establish a Refresh Cadence (30 minutes)

[ ] Set a schedule: Quarterly? Monthly? By performance?
[ ] Assign a person to manage refreshes
[ ] Track which pieces are updated and when
[ ] Measure traffic/ranking improvement post-refresh

Why: Fresh content gets SEO credit. Old content underperforms. Refresh the winners.

Measurement: Prove ROI to Leadership

Priority 7: Set Up Conversion Tracking (1–2 hours)

[ ] Define what "conversion" means for your business (demo, signup, purchase)
[ ] Add tracking code to your CMS for each conversion type
[ ] Set UTM parameters (source=blog, medium=organic, campaign=[topic])
[ ] Test that tracking works before publishing

Why: You can't prove ROI if you're not tracking conversions. UTM tags let you attribute credit to specific content.

Priority 8: Build Your ROI Dashboard (1 hour)

[ ] Create a monthly report template: Traffic | Conversions | Revenue | Cost
[ ] Calculate cost per piece (writer time + tools)
[ ] Calculate cost per conversion (total content spend ÷ total conversions)
[ ] Compare to other channels (paid ads, email, etc.)

Example: 500 pieces published, 100 conversions, $50K spent = $500 cost per conversion (then compare to your CAC target)

Why: Your boss speaks ROI language. This gives you the receipts.

Priority 9: Create a Monthly Content Report (30 minutes)

[ ] Build a simple template: top performers, new content, opportunities, next month plan
[ ] Share with leadership monthly
[ ] Lead with ROI metrics (revenue influenced, customer acquisition cost vs. target)
[ ] Show trends (is content performing better over time?)

Why: Visibility = budget justification. Regular reporting keeps your work top-of-mind.

Competition: Know Your Position

Priority 10: Run a Competitive SERP Audit (2 hours/quarter)

[ ] Pick 10 key keywords you target
[ ] Search them. Document the top 3 competitors.
[ ] Analyze: What are they doing that you're not? What's your angle?
[ ] Identify content gaps (what they're missing)

Why: You can't win if you don't know who you're competing against.

Your Next Move

You now have the framework. Your team needs clarity, your boss needs ROI proof, and your writers need systems. This checklist gives you all three.

If it's: "I need help building this system"

Book a free discovery call. I'll show you how to get your team aligned without adding more chaos.

Book a Discovery Call →

If it's: "I need a structured framework to implement myself"

Get the In-House Editorial Toolkit ($39). It's a complete step-by-step framework for building team systems, plus templates and workflows you can use immediately.

Get the Toolkit →

If it's: "I want a partner to build this system with me"

Let's talk about a 90-day content operations intensive. I'll work with you and your team to build the system that scales.

Schedule a Strategy Call →

Last thought: The best in-house teams don't have more writers or bigger budgets. They have better systems. You're about to build one.

—Jacob