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Content calendar Gantt chart template

A quarterly content calendar should show how long each piece takes to make as well as when it goes out: writing and editing, video production, outreach, webinar prep. This template plans a quarter in just over ten weeks of bars (a planning phase, then a block for each month) and leaves the rest of a 13-week quarter as room for reactive posts and slippage.

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Opens in the NeoGantt editor in your browser.
Task
W1
W2
W3
W4
W5
W6
W7
W8
W9
W10
W11
  1. Planning
  2. Quarterly themes & goals
  3. Keyword & topic research
  4. Calendar locked
  5. Month 1
  6. Articles: write & edit
  7. Video production
  8. Newsletter
  9. Campaign goes live
  10. Month 2
  11. Articles: write & edit
  12. Guest posts & outreach
  13. Newsletter
  14. Month 3
  15. Articles: write & edit
  16. Webinar
  17. Quarter report
Content calendar: 11 tasks, 2 milestones, about 10 weeks milestone

This is the actual template. Durations count working days; weekends are skipped. Drag any bar to reshape it once it’s open.

When to use it

  • You’re planning next quarter and need writing, design and video time on the same page as publish dates.
  • Your team works to monthly themes and wants each month’s work grouped together.
  • A webinar, a newsletter and a blog series are meant to support the same campaign, and their timing has to line up.
  • Your manager wants to see what the content team is producing this quarter without opening a spreadsheet.

What’s in it

The template is split into phases. Here’s what each one covers and why it’s there.
  1. 01

    Planning

    Quarterly themes and goals, then keyword and topic research, ending at Calendar locked around day 10. The research tells you which topics deserve a full article and which belong in a newsletter or a short video instead.

  2. 02

    Month 1

    Two weeks of writing and editing articles, video production alongside, and the month’s newsletter. The Campaign goes live milestone marks the month’s main push; rename it to whatever you’re launching, or delete it if there isn’t one.

  3. 03

    Month 2

    Another round of articles, plus guest posts and outreach on the longest bar of the month, because they run on other editors’ reply times. Pitch in the first few days or the post lands next quarter. The newsletter goes out towards the end of the month.

  4. 04

    Month 3

    Articles, a webinar and the quarter report. There’s no newsletter bar this month, so add one if you send monthly. The report feeds straight into next quarter’s planning phase.

Adapting it to your project

Add publish dates as milestones

The bars show production. A milestone on each publish date shows how much buffer sits between the final edit and the piece going live, and where there’s none.

Work the webinar backwards

Its bar runs about two weeks because promotion, speaker prep and a rehearsal all happen before the live session, and most registrations come from that promotion. Confirm the speaker and date before Month 3 starts.

Colour by format

Articles share one colour across all three months and newsletters another. Keep that going as you add rows and each format’s rhythm is easy to follow.

Roll it forward each quarter

When the quarter ends, duplicate the chart, shift the timeline forward and swap in the new themes. Once it matches how your team works, save it as your own template.
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Questions

Can a Gantt chart be used as a content calendar?

Yes, if you want to see production time as well as publish dates. A traditional content calendar shows what goes out on which day; a Gantt chart shows how long each piece takes to make and where the work overlaps. Many teams use both: the Gantt chart to plan the quarter, a calendar or spreadsheet for the daily schedule.

What should a content calendar include?

At least the topic, format, channel, owner, due date and publish date for each piece. For quarterly planning, add themes, research time, production time for bigger pieces like video and webinars, and a point to review results. Target keywords can go in comments on each task.

How far ahead should you plan content?

Many teams set themes a quarter ahead and plan specific pieces a month ahead, leaving room for news and reactive posts. This template follows that pattern: one planning phase for the quarter, then monthly blocks you adjust as you go.

Related

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Start your content calendar plan

Open it, drag the bars onto your real dates and rename anything that doesn’t fit. Sign up when you want to keep it.

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