How to Write a Blog Post Outline in 8 Easy Steps

by Thierry Bertrand | Guides

As it's about to write a blog post who not only attracts new readers, but also captures their imagination and makes them want to keep going, you need to start by writing the outline of a blog post to organize your ideas, decide what's essential to include, and make sure you don't miss any opportunities.

I firmly believe that I should always start my writing process with a solid blog post plan to get the process started.

How to Write a Blog Post Outline in 8 Easy Steps

Why should you create a blog post outline before you start writing?

Allow me to paint an all-too-familiar scene... You're sitting at your computer, you've just start your blog and you are eager to write an article on a topic that is close to your heart.

The only problem is that the more you think about it, the more your ideas get confused, because one idea inspires another and you start to lose track of the last point you were exploring.

At some point, you don't really know where to start – and maybe you even forgot a point or two that you wanted to cover at the start. I experienced this frustration before I started writing an article outline.

You know you want your content to be engaging, useful, and relevant to your readers. But how do you make sure your message gets through?

There are two big mistakes that many bloggers tend to make when it comes to writing:

  1. Content lacks direction and is difficult to follow. Many bloggers don't write easy-to-follow headlines, they have trouble getting to the point, they jump in too many directions, or they lose their readers' attention by taking too long to get to the heart of the article. .
  2. The writing lacks substance. While many bloggers have a strong belief about the topic they're covering, many don't really impart useful information or teach their readers a beneficial new skill (like building their blogging skills).

Learning how to write an outline for a blog post can solve both of these problems.

Your blog posts must be logical and coherent if you want to meet the needs of your target audience. A blog post outline can help you avoid meandering or rambling writing, and will help organize your ideas and make them easier for readers to digest.

The other benefit of a plan is to help you determine the true value of your blog post. Instead of sitting down and staring at a blank screen to start write your blog post, you'll take the time to research and create something unique that you know will be useful to your future readers. It will also show you what can be easily omitted from that particular post (or better left for another day).

We will now follow my 8 step process to write a blog post, using a real working blog post to illustrate exactly how to do it.

1. Determine the key takeaways for your readers

Determine the key takeaways for your readers

When you have a idea for a blog post, the first step is to determine what readers need to remember.

What do you want your readers to learn or remember after they've finished reading?

Now is also the time to think about what type of blog post you are best suited to write.

The variety of blog post types you can use to achieve your goal is quite vast today – and each of these blog post formats has slightly different functions.

Here are the most common types of blog posts:

While there are arguably many other types of blog post formats you can use, these are the most popular.

Choosing the format of your article will help you better define what you want to retain.

For example, if you write a review article, you tell your readers whether a product or service is worth their time and money.

Readers who read reviews are often ready (or about to) spend money and they want your honest opinion, so they can make an informed decision.

On the other hand, a how-to guide should present a step-by-step process that a reader can easily follow.

At the end of your article, he should have an idea of ​​how he can accomplish something on his own.

Let's say I'm writing an article about the benefits of blogging for business.

The key message I want to convey to readers is: Blogging is good for business and here's how to do it.

The format I would choose to create this article would be a long-winded how-to guide, complete with some expert advice.

Now that I have determined the key message of the article, I will use the entire article to build a pitch and support it.

We'll look at this idea at every step of the outline process, so you can see how this article turns into a complete blog post outline that can fuel the rest of your writing process.

2. Write a clever title

Write a smart title

Once you have determined the gist of your post and the content format that will best communicate it, the next step in the blog post writing process is to write a title that will entice readers to read your article.

The title tells readers what your blog post is about, and it's the first thing they'll see in a Google search result.

Headlines can make a big difference in whether or not someone clicks on your blog post. And just as there are different types of blog posts, there are also a wide variety of titles you can use.

Here are some of the most popular types of blog titles:

  • The ultimate title: This is the type of title that claims to be the best resource on the internet. Example: The Ultimate Fly Fishing Guide
  • The title of the list: This is an extremely common title because people respond well to it. Example: 45 Blogging Statistics You Need to Know (on Blog Smarter)
  • The predictive title: This title is often used in technological or commercial fields. Example: The Future of Side Hustle: Why You Need It Today
  • The Clickbait Title: This is the type of title that can be a little shocking, strange or controversial in order to increase the click-through rate. It can also be downright silly if that's your goal. Example: You Won't Believe What Happened To This Grandma At The Grocery Store
  • The title backed by science: A science-backed title establishes authority from the start. Example: Why Scientists Say Playing Video Games Can Inspire Learning
  • The best title: These are often blog posts that bring together all the best products, services, tips, or people in a particular field. Examples: 30 best blogging tools for better marketing, a SEO, writing and growth
  • The Secret Headline: This is the kind of headline that makes it clear that you're letting your readers into something little known, exclusive, or secret. Example: 5 Things Nobody Tells You About Traveling Abroad
  • The practical title: The title How to do is instructive in nature. It is generally used to communicate that you are teaching readers how to create or do something specific. Example: How to start a food blog this year
  • The title Learning what I did wrong: You can use this title when helping other people skip the trial and error you had to go through yourself. Example: 10 mistakes I made while learning to surf and how to avoid them

The possibilities for headlines are nearly endless, but this is a great starting point for focusing your description.

And to tell you the truth, I often revise my article titles several times before publishing them, so you don't need to be obsessed with your title at this stage.

If you want to write a catchy, clever and interesting title, you should also keep in mind that it must be suitable for the SEO.

Personally, I don't like using clickbait titles for my blog content.

For one, they lead to a higher bounce rate (when readers come in and are quickly disappointed or feel cheated), which is bad for your site's organic ranking in Google.

Another reason I don't use clickbait titles is that they often don't contain your main target keyword.

This is a missed opportunity when it comes to SEO and attract readers to your blog from search engines.

It goes without saying that before writing a complete article, you must perform keyword research so you know what keyword phrase you hope your content will rank for. If you haven't done so yet, now is the time.

In my clickbait example above, my title was… You won't believe what happened to that grandma at the grocery store.

This headline may get a few clicks on social media, but someone is unlikely to google it.

Instead of choosing a title that people will click on, you should also choose a title that includes phrases that people are actively searching for online – which greatly increases the potential target audience you can reach.

For the example blog post we are using on blogging for business, the post title could be:

  • Blogging for Business: 5 Incredible Benefits of Business Blogging
  • How a blog can drive more sales for your business
  • 5 Proven Ways To Generate More Sales With A Blog For Your Business
  • The Ultimate Guide to Blogging for Small Businesses in 2023
  • 25 Blogging Experts Share Their Top Tips for Small Business Blogging

Choosing one of these will largely depend on the exact keyword phrase I decide to use and a final look at the form of the article.

Assuming my main target keyword is “blog for business”, I would probably choose the first title.

3. Write down all the questions you need to answer

The next step in the process of creating your blog post outline (after defining your main idea and title) is to write down all the questions you think you can answer that relate to your main idea.

Write down all the questions you need to answer - How to write a blog post outline in 8 steps

Keep in mind that you don't necessarily need to have all of these answers already, but getting your most important (original) thoughts onto the screen right away is an important step to learn to write faster (and better) content for your blog.

While you should focus on creating blog content that you have unique expertise to teach your readers, it's only natural that you should also do some of your own research or brush up on some aspect of an issue or problem. a particular subject.

Plus, spending time reading regularly in your field is the only way to keep improving over time.

Now, let's see how to tactically translate all of this into actionable results when writing a blog post.

Using the example we are going to follow for this blog post overview, I think my readers will ask themselves some questions (related to blogging for business):

  • How does a blog benefit a business?
  • Are blogs practical for businesses?
  • How can a blog help a business rank higher in a search engine result?
  • How can blogging help the brand?
  • How can a business use a blog to boost sales?
  • Why is a blog beneficial for potential customers?
  • How can a blog build a network?
  • How can a blog improve communication with customers?
  • How much could a blog cost a business?
  • Are we going to make more money blogging?

Once you've gathered your list of questions, start prioritizing the most important questions — and work to narrow the list down to the most important questions that absolutely need to be addressed in your article.

Don't leave the rest of these questions aside though – you should save them for future content topics to address.

And even if you don't use all the questions you wrote down, don't worry about limiting this activity.

The goal is to find all the questions a reader might have on the subject in question.

4. Organize the main themes and sections of your blog post outline.

Organize the main themes and sections of your blog post outline.

Your content should have a natural progression that flows logically from point to point and educates along the way.

This is one of the main reasons for writing a blog post outline. Without this step, it's easy for your writing to go off the rails or lack the level of cohesion your readers are looking for in a well-constructed article.

Consider the basic structure of an essay that most of us learned in school: you have an introduction, supporting paragraphs, and a conclusion.

Write a blog post who defends a point of view successfully, it is much the same thing.

It's not terribly complicated, but it takes time to fully organize, and the next step in the process of writing an outline is crucial.

Sticking with our business blog example, here's how I would start organizing my blog post outline based on prioritizing and filtering the questions I've determined we need to answer in This article :

Blogging for Business: 5 Incredible Benefits

  1. Blogging helps your business website rank higher in search engine results
    • Organic traffic is important (being present where customers are looking for)
    • Long, quality content = higher search engine rankings
  2. Blogging helps your business connect with customers
    • Blogs allow potential customers to contact you and learn about your brand
    • You can offer them something valuable in the form of educational and informative content
  3. Blogging help with branding and brand recognition
    • Great branding opportunity
    • Your customers and potential customers know your business better
    • Show what is important to your business and how you are differentiated from competitors
  4. Blogging is good for lead generation
    • You can use your blog to get email subscribers
    • Then you can provide information to your email subscribers about your business
    • Send upcoming sale information to customers
  5. sales blogging
    • When you show up in Google search rankings, customers can find you more easily
    • People grow to trust you through valuable content and they love businesses they can trust
    • Your brand image will set you apart from competitors and lead to more sales

At this point, I now have a well-organized and structured blog post plan to follow going forward.

More importantly, with a blog post plan like this, I guarantee that no important question will go unanswered for my readers.

5. Ask more questions (research, research, research)

At this point in your blog post project, your main questions, themes, and general sections are already well established, but now you need to go back and do some additional research to (1) back up your main points and (2) add relevant subsections that will make your content more useful than what others have already written.

Ask More Questions (Research, Research, Research) - How to Write a Blog Post Outline in 8 Steps

Now is the time to challenge your assumptions and arguments – with the goal of making your arguments stronger.

In my sample blog post on blogging for business, here's how my thought process goes:

  • I may be convinced that blogging is good for business, but is that really the case? How can I know?
  • What are other websites and companies saying about this finding?
  • Can I find concrete research or studies that support my claims and beliefs?
  • Do I have a personal experience I can share to help illustrate the benefits?
  • What kinds of hard numbers can I present to support my arguments?

Asking these kinds of questions can give the impression of questioning your deepest convictions... and that's precisely the point!

You need to work hard and be diligent in your research, to make sure you're not giving the wrong information to your readers. Additionally, by researching further and asking these difficult questions, you will also discover useful subsections to cover in your article.

Here are some easy ways to research your topic while fine-tuning your blog post outline:

  • Search on Google: This is the most common way to do research for a blog post.
  • Google Scholar : This engine is specially designed to search scientific literature and academic documents such as peer-reviewed articles, theses, research, studies, technical reports and legal opinions.
  • National Institutes of Health : A great resource for verified information on all health-related topics.
  • physical books : Although the majority of blogs come from online research, there is still a wealth of information to be found in physical books. Many books can be downloaded to an e-reader if you want a digital copy to make it easier to search and find specific topics.
  • Take a look at the competition : Look at other bloggers in your niche who have covered similar topics and evaluate the sources they cited to write their own articles. This could allow you to discover even more interesting information than that of your competitors.
  • First-hand information : In most fields, nothing beats the impact of simply reaching out to an expert in the industry you're writing about, to pick up a real-world quote or submit certain assumptions for their verification. This is a great way to not only build legitimacy for your content, but also build a network and increase the promotional impact of your article once published.

Alright, now that you've taken the time to do a little more research before you jump into writing your blog post, let's keep moving forward.

Going back to the outline of my blog post above, I now have a few things to add to the post – and some to refine and delete, based on the results of my further research.

This is what my blog post outline now looks like (new sections are highlighted below):

Blogging for Business: 6 Incredible Benefits

  1. Blogging helps your business site rank higher in search engine results.
    • Organic traffic is important
    • Content = higher search engine rankings
    • Add a subtitle for how to get a better ranking
    • Content must have value
    • Long content ranks higher
    • Update content regularly
    • Use keywords
  2. Blogging gives people content they can share
    • Blog posts can be shared on social media
    • People like to share relevant blog posts
    • More opportunities for backlinks
  3. Blogging allows your business to connect with its customers
    • Blogs give people a way to contact you
    • You offer them something valuable
  4. Blogging contributes to brand image and brand recognition
    • Excellent branding opportunity
    • Your customers and potential customers get to know your business better.
    • Show what's important to your business
  5. Blogging is good for lead generation
    • You can use your blog to get email subscribers
    • Add a subtitle: What is the benefit of lead generation?
    • Target people who are already interested in your business.
    • Low cost advertising
    • Send subscribers information about your business
    • Sending information about upcoming sales to customers
    • Sales increase
  6. Blogging boosts sales
    • When you appear in Google searches, people can find you.
    • People are starting to trust you through your content and they like trusted people.
    • Your brand image will set you apart and drive sales.

After doing some final research, I decided to add a few crucial points to my blog post's outline, largely because I recognized a handful of important considerations that other posts touched on on this topic (and that I had forgotten in my first plan).

For clarity, the new points that were just added to my blog post outline (after some research on the competition) are highlighted above.

Even as I continue to refine my plan and embark on the writing process, some points may not seem as relevant to me anymore – or new points appear – but I can manage this during the revision phase. or as needed.

6. Insert relevant additional studies, data and sources

Insert relevant studies, data and additional sources - How to write a blog post outline in 8 steps

It is essential to add as much authority as possible to your content. Especially if you are at the start of your career.

Readers want to know that you are using real research to back up the points you are presenting to them.

If I go back to my example… I can say that a blog is beneficial for any business owner, but without proof people will (rightly) wonder if my information is accurate. And even if my arguments are believed to be accurate, they will wonder if these same truths also apply to their unique situation.

As you do your research, paste the links to the key documents you refer to, so that you cite them correctly in each subsection of your blog post as you write it.

Here's an example of what it looks like in the outline of my own blog post:

Blogging for Business: 6 Incredible Benefits

  1. Blogging helps your business site rank higher in search engine results.
  2. Blogging gives people content they can share
  3. Blogging allows your business to connect with its customers
    • Blogs give people a way to contact you
    • You offer them something valuable
  4. Blogging contributes to brand image and brand recognition
    • Excellent branding opportunity (include link — why brand building is important)
    • Your customers and potential customers get to know your business better.
    • Show what's important to your business
  5. Blogging is good for lead generation
    • You can use your blog to get email subscribers
    • Add a subtitle: What is the benefit of lead generation?
    • Target people who are already interested in your business.
    • Low cost advertising  (include link — the cost of blogging versus paid advertising)
    • Send subscribers information about your business
    • Sending information about upcoming sales to customers
    • Sales increase (include link — how targeted lead generation drives sales)
  6. Blogging boosts sales
    • When you appear in Google searches, people can find you.
    • People are starting to trust you through your content and they like trusted people.
    • Your brand image will set you apart and drive sales. (include link — why the brand can make you win more sales)

Even though the outline of this blog post is for a hypothetical article that I haven't written yet, it's important to seek out as many credible studies, publications, and research as possible.

My goal is to show you how this article is already on its way to having more impact, simply because we've fleshed it out with solid data and sources.

When you write the outline of your own blog post following this format, you can add links during your research phase when you find essential elements to back up your assertions.

How do you know when to seek additional research and sources?

Think of it this way…when the knowledge you're addressing goes beyond common sense, it's a good idea to include additional material to back up the arguments you're presenting to your readers.

This lends real authority to your blog post and lets people know that your work is well-researched and verifiable.

Of course, some will always (always) disagree with a particular point – or even the general message – of an article you write, but what matters most is that you have done your own research to arrive to the conclusions you have drawn.

7. Revise, prune and clean up your blog post outline.

Revise, prune and clean up your blog post outline. - How to Write a Blog Post Outline in 8 Steps

This is the last step in the process of writing a blog post outline, before moving on to writing the post – time for some final editing and some light clean-up work.

No matter how much research you've done so far, some of your ideas may not mesh perfectly and others may not fit into a cohesive storyline.

This is an opportunity to correct any glaring problems with your blog post outline, before entering the actual writing phase (and when major revisions take longer).

Let's take my blog post outline example one last time to illustrate the final editing process.

Blogging for Business: 6 Incredible Benefits

  1. Blogging helps your business site rank higher in search engine results.
  2. Blogging gives people content they can share
  3. Blogging allows your business to connect with its customers
    • Blogs give people a way to contact you
    • You offer them something valuable

I chose to delete this section because I didn't think it was the strongest point to make, and there wasn't much to say. Instead, I inserted a section on establishing your authority, as I felt it added more value to my target readers.

And that's all!

We now have an awesome blog post plan that we can start to complete the pieces of to create a masterpiece.

8. Write your blog post

Now comes the part you've been waiting for... it's finally time write your blog post.

Writing Your Blog Post - How to Write a Blog Post Outline in 8 Steps

Once you've established your blog post outline, you'll have a clear map to follow when kicking off your writing process, which should save you a lot of time.

I also recommend that you wait until you have defined the outline of your article to write the introduction and the conclusion. To be honest, I sometimes write the introduction and the conclusion last (after the main content is already written).

Either way, I find it much easier to write those two summary sections once you've written the outline for your blog post and can map out the narrative.

Do You Really Need a Blogging Plan?

Coming up with a blog post outline before you even start writing can seem like a lot of work.

For some, it is even an additional obstacle that prevents them from publishing their content.

And personally, I will not contradict you (in all situations).

Sometimes it really is easier to start writing without a clear plan of action – or without a blog post plan to guide you – if the topic you're writing about doesn't have to follow a particular structure, including further research, or if you write only from your own thoughts and experiences.

There is definitely a place for this type of blog in the world. But it is aimed more at amateur bloggers.

When it comes to growing a blog that can actually earn money and make a profit…you'll want the consistent structure, professionalism, and authority that comes with a well-researched article.

And the best way to ensure that is to start with a blog post outline to guide you on your way.

I tend to think of writing an outline for my blog posts as a time saver.

It is true that it takes a little longer to write a canvas, but I find that I always save a lot of time in potential revisions and rewrites that I could have avoided by thinking critically about a canvas first .

When you have a blog post outline, you just fill in the missing information as you write.

You won't have to spend so much time editing and rearranging your content if you plan first.

Additionally, writing an outline gives you time to reflect on your points and assess their value as you write.

By using this process to write an outline for your blog posts, you will be able to tell whether your content is solid or not, and whether it will actually be useful to your readers (before you start writing the article itself). same).

And as you know…useful content is the backbone of creating a successful blog.

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