How to Outline a Blog Post or Article
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Whether you’re a new writer or an experienced blogger, knowing how to outline a blog post or article is an essential skill.
A clear outline can help you write much more efficiently. By organizing your ideas and deciding on the direction of your writing from the outset, you can save yourself the headache of hours of revising and rewriting. As a freelancer, time is money – so the less time spent on avoidable tasks, the better!
In this blog post, we’ll explore why writing an outline is important and provide you with a step-by-step guide on how to do it.
Why Is It Important to Outline Your Blog Post?
Have you ever just started writing, brimming with ideas, and then realized halfway through that your words aren’t conveying the message they’re supposed to?
How often have you stared at a blank page waiting for the inspiration to kick in?
How many times did you have to edit a blog post because your client was expecting something different than what you submitted?
An outline saves you time and effort for all of the above. It guides your writing along the desired path, helps you get started writing quickly, and minimizes the amount of editing needed on your drafts.
How to Write an Outline
Designing an outline means jotting down key words and phrases about the points you want to make as signposts to lead the text forward. Follow these steps to create an effective outline for your next blog post:
- Decide on a topic.
- Find the right keyword.
- Choose the best format.
- Determine your angle.
- Research the topic.
- Decide on your main points.
- Expand your points with subpoints.
- Write your introduction and conclusion.
1. Decide on a Topic
There’s something out there that the world needs to know about, and you’re just the person to break the news.
Use a simple Google search to help with brainstorming, or use search tools like Ahrefs Keywords Explorer and Semrush – these are not only useful for keyword generation (as explained in the next step), but also for finding out potential topics to write about.
2. Find the Right Keyword
Finding the right keyword(s) for your blog post is critical for search engine optimization. Keywords are words and phrases that indicate the content of your writing to the search engine. The better the search engine understands your content, the more likely it is to rank it highly on search engine results pages – and the more likely it is that your desired audience will see it.
You can use these free keyword search tools to get ideas for keywords as well as their ranking data (e.g., how many times is the keyword searched per month) in search engine result pages.
3. Choose the Best Format
Ok, you’ve got a topic and the best keywords for it. Now you need to decide how to present them in your post or article. The format of your writing will ultimately depend on the content of your topic, as illustrated in the following examples:
- Do you have a list of items to go through? The listicle format is commonly used for a list post.
- Do you want to explain a step-by-step process? The how-to format would be the best choice to illustrate the details.
- Do you want to offer a solution to a problem? The “problem solved” template demonstrates how to structure your blog post accordingly.
4. Determine Your Angle
The angle of your blog post or article should reflect your unique perspective about the topic. Ask yourself the following:
- Is there personal experience you could share to make your topic distinctive?
- Do you have any particular qualifications that will make your perspective stand out from other writers about the topic?
- Do you have a point of view with supporting data that perhaps goes against the mainstream to make it worthy of attention?
It’s also important to keep your target audience in mind. What information are they likely to be looking for?
5. Research the Topic
Now it’s time to gather information about your topic to add weight to what you want to say. Do a Google search and look at the top five results to see what others have said about the topic. Perhaps you’re an expert on the subject and can add relevant insight. You can also interview experts to obtain qualified data and unique opinions on the topic. And then there are good old-fashioned books from authors who can provide credibility as sources of information.
Make sure you keep track of your references as you go. Much like creating an outline, keeping track of your references is a huge time-saver! Plus, it can help you avoid issues such as plagiarism.
6. Decide on Your Main Points
You need to come up with the main points of your outline to highlight your angle from step four and lay out your ideas in a roadmap for your writing to follow. You can start using the blog outline template below to define the main points, put them in the appropriate order, and avoid veering off-topic with irrelevant information.
And don’t forget to incorporate your keywords from step two in the headings and subheadings. This will help Google understand what your blog post is about (making it more likely to rank) and help your reader easily scan for the information they are looking for.
7. Expand Your Points With Subpoints
If the main points make up the skeleton that is your outline, then the subpoints are the meat on the bones. Here you can add details to your arguments, provide examples to help explain the points further, and include citations from experts and data to back up any claims.
8. Write Your Introduction and Conclusion
You’ll want to draft the introduction and conclusion of your blog post as the last step once you have structured the outline and have written the main body of text covering the topic. In the introduction, you can home in on a particular example, an anecdote, or an interesting factoid from your research as a “hook” to draw your readers in.
Blog Outline Template
Here is a straightforward template for an outline to provide focus on what you want to write about and organize your ideas for clarity.
- Introduction (what’s the angle of this post?)
- Main point 1
- Subpoint 1
- Subpoint 2
- Subpoint 3
- Main point 2
- Subpoint 1
- Subpoint 2
- Subpoint 3
- Main point 3
- Subpoint 1
- Subpoint 2
- Subpoint 3
- Conclusion
- Optional CTA (call to action)
Becoming A Freelance Writer
You now know how to outline a blog post or article. The next step is getting your feet wet writing one – why not learn how to do that with our Becoming A Freelance Writer course? You’ll not only learn the skills to become a successful freelance writer, but you can also get published if you receive a distinction score. Try it for free today!
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