If you want better blog posts, you need to create a blog post outline for exactly how you want the post written. Use this guide for building the ultimate blog brief and guide the writing process for better outcomes.
What is a Blog Post Outline?
A blog post outline is a document that outlines the main points you want to cover in a blog post. It provides an orderly way to plan out your thoughts and makes it easier for you to stay on track while writing.
Blog post outlines are essential when outsourcing the blog post writing process. Even a basic outline can go a long way to assisting a writer in better understanding what you are trying to accomplish with a post.
A comprehensive outline keeps a blog post from going off track and can serve as a “how to guide” or roadmap for the blog post's creation.
Blog Post Outline Infographic
Here are the 10 essential elements to outline for your next blog post brief. We've also provided these in an infographic, which can be embedded using the code beneath.
<a href="https://webtoolsadvisor.com/blogging/blog-post-outline/"><img style="width:100%;" src="https://webtoolsadvisor.com/wp-content/uploads/wta-blog-post-outline-essentials-2023-1024x724.jpg"></a><br>Infographic by: <a href="https://webtoolsadvisor.com">Web Tools Advisor</a>How do I Build a Blog Post Outline?
You can use many tools to build a blog post outline. Some are AI-powered and will create sections of a blog post based on competitive research and the content format of others.
Sometimes this is helpful, especially for search engine optimization and writing longer posts. Still, you can start with a Google doc, which has great version control and can share with any assigned writer without emailing a doc.
Using a Google doc will also allow you to collaborate with your writer on the outlining process or the first draft once complete.
If you want to try out an AI-powered tool for building blog post outlines, we recommend looking at Scalenut and SurferSEO.
Working Blog Post Title
Working titles are a great way to help editors and others quickly identify the topic of your article. They should be short, catchy, and descriptive.
A good working title can help guide the writer on the overall goal of the post. It also gives them a better idea of what words to use in the blog post text so that it is both informative and engaging.
When choosing a working title, think about how well it describes the main points of your article. Is it relatable? will readers understand what you're trying to say without reading further?
Blog Post Outline Requirements:
Provide the post title for the writer to work from. Include the focus keyword in the title.
Word Count
The word count must be kept in mind when writing a blog post. Too often, people write long articles without fact-checking or editing them thoroughly.
This can lead to sloppy prose and careless language. Today, blog posts come in all shapes and sizes. The nomenclature for blog post labeling typically follows as short-form and long-form content.
Ideally, a short-form blog post should be between 500 and 1,500 words long. Anything longer than that is likely unnecessary and could cause reader fatigue. Shorter posts are easier to read on mobile devices and social media platforms than lengthy ones.
Long-form posts can range from 2,000 to 20,000. Yes, 20,000 words! Long-form content is getting rewarded more by search engines as being more authoritative. This may change, but the statistics show longer content performs and ranks better.
According to a 2021 study conducted by HubSpot and reported by SEJ, the ideal blog post length for SEO should be 2,100-2,400 words. This was in 2021, and that length has likely increased in the past two years to closer to 3,000 words.
Blog Post Outline Requirements:
The writer will need to know your expectations for the article's length. Decide whether it will be short- or long-form and the word count range.
Identify Your Target Audience
Identifying your target audience is one of the most important steps in writing a blog post. Without knowing who you're trying to reach, it's difficult to write relevant and appealing content.
Your target audience may differ from what you think it is – often, people are more interested in specific topics than they initially realize. So, before anything else, ensure you have identified your ideal reader(s). Try answering the following five questions.
- Who are they?
- What do you know about them?
- What do they want?
- How can you appeal to them specifically?
- What are the problems they need to solve?
Blog Post Outline Requirements:
Provide your writer with clues on the target audience for the post based on what you currently understand.
Article Context
Article context is one of the most important factors when writing a blog post. The purpose of an article is to provide information or directions that will help readers solve a problem, fulfill a need, or undertake some action.
If your goal is to sell something, for example, you'll want to make sure your content falls within the confines of what people searching for related information are likely interested in.
To create effective and engaging content, always research the topic you're discussing before starting work on your post. This will allow you to identify relevant trends and suggestions that might help develop your idea into an informative piece.
Remember: No matter how good your ideas may seem at first glance – they won't amount to anything if they don't fit within the context of other articles on similar subjects found throughout Google search results pages (and elsewhere online).
Blog Post Outline Requirements:
Provide a brief statement that defines the approach for the content and details for the website it will be published to.
Article Objectives
Understanding the article objective will help your writer to write a clear, concise, and well-organized blog post. When they know what your post is supposed to accomplish, it makes writing much easier.
The first step in understanding an article's objectives is determining its target audience. Readers may seek advice on a specific topic, information about a new trend, or inspiration for their projects. Once you have identified your audience's needs, consider how best to address them.
Next, take stock of the content that already exists on the subject matter at hand. Are there any key points you want to make more explicit? Are there gaps in knowledge that need to be filled?
Blog Post Outline Requirements:
Establish what you hope to achieve with the article. Will it inform, educate, describe, or convince?
Content Outline
Creating a content outline is an important step in writing any blog post. It helps you guide the writer by suggesting the main points you want to be covered and allows you to organize your thoughts more clearly.
Without an outline, knowing where to start writing can be difficult. By outlining your posts before handing them off, your writer can produce higher-quality content that meets your objectives.
Blog Post Outline Requirements:
Provide headers and subheaders for the content flow. (use H2, H3, & H4 tags)
Keywords
Keywords are an important part of any blog post. Without keywords, search engines or other users will not find your content.
The best way to choose the right keywords is to brainstorm a list of topics relevant to your audience and research related terms. When you have a list of targeted words, instruct the writer on how you want them used throughout the article.
There are several ways to choose good keywords for a blog post. You can use Google AdWords Keyword Planner (or any other keyword research tool) to identify which words people are already searching for on Google.
Look at what topics are being discussed online and use those terms as your focus.
Blog Post Outline Requirements:
Define the article's primary, secondary, and additional keywords to focus on and use in the content.
Competitors
Providing links to competitors who have written on the same topic as you are important when handing off a blog brief to someone who might need to research the subject further.
It also allows the writer to read other articles that cover the same subject and provides context for how the subject should be covered.
Many leave this critical area out of a brief, but we feel is necessary to ensure the article comes back written as you intended.
Blog Post Outline Requirements:
Provide links to 2-3 competitor articles so the writer can research how others have written on the topic.
Location (Conditional)
Blogging is all about providing valuable and interesting content for your readers. However, your blog post will not be very useful if you only write about topics relevant to you or your industry.
Providing a location focus can help ensure that a blog post is of value to someone in the real world. Focusing on specific places and events can create helpful resources for people who live there or plan to visit.
It's important to note that this element is only important when location-specific topics will be the focus.
Blog Post Outline Requirements:
Determine if the post should be written with any specific geographic target in mind (country, state, region, city).
Distribution (Optional)
Providing details on how a blog post might be distributed is important for creating a blog outline. Knowing how you intend to distribute a post, a writer can provide snippets ready to go and written specifically to work on that channel.
For example, if you're planning to publish an article using Twitter as one of its distribution methods. A writer might provide information about how someone might take the next step or contact you for more information.
If you have established a great relationship with a writer who understands distribution, you can save time by having them produce the bite-sized content chunks your marketing distribution effort needs.
Blog Post Outline Requirements:
Determine how this post will be distributed beyond its initial publication. Will it be used in social media? Email marketing? Paid ads?
Building the Ultimate Blog Post Outline Wrap-up
A great blog post is one of the best ways to build authority, earn search rankings, and build backlinks for your website. We all have the ability to write a blog post, but to write a blog post that has value, the writing process should be guided.
A detailed outline will save time and money when outsourcing your content writing. You want the final post to be purposeful and rewarding for the readers. Before you or your writers start writing, use a blog post outline or brief to help deliver a great post.
