Blogging 101: Creating a Blog Outline

Writing blogs can be overwhelming, where do you even start? I started an entire blog and still feel the same way every time I start a new piece. Since it’s my job, I’ve obviously learned a few tricks along the way to make the process easier. In this blog, I will share my blogging process and how I use Headers and a Blog Outline to make consistent and easy to write content.

Table of Contents

• Do Your Research
• Choose a Topic and Title
• Create H2 Headers for the Main Points
• Writing Content

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Do Your Research: What Do you Want to Achieve

Before you start writing you need to choose a topic. While this topic will end up as a stand-alone blog, I can give some quick and dirty tips on getting started. Some questions you need to ask when creating a blog:

1. Who am I writing this for? (Buyer Persona)
2. What part of the Buyer Journey am I trying to target? (Awareness/Interest/Delight)
3. What is the purpose of this piece? (Promote a product/business line?)
4. What Keywords would I like to target?
5. What will my Call to Action be?
6. Where will I promote this piece? (E-Mail, Social Media, Paid Advertising?)

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Choose a Topic and Title

So keeping the research above in mind, it’s time to choose a topic and a Title. When choosing a topic I always aim for blogs to be 700-1000 words. This keeps the topic succinct and easy to read. Most people are reading on their phones on the go and don’t want to scroll for 10 minutes!

If the content ends up being too long consider turning the blog into a series of blogs. For example, consider a Bakery advertising a Cake Decorating Class. To promote it they could have a “How to Decorate a Cake” blog series:

• All the Best Tools for Decorating Cakes
• Different Types of Cake Toppings and How to Make them at Home
• Our Top Tricks for a Perfect Looking Cake

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Create H2 Headers for the Main Points

Finally, getting started for writing the blog. I love the formatting options in WordPress so I like to write directly in WordPress. If you are used to using Word you can use any writing program you like! If you do not have Microsoft Office (I don’t) Google Docs is a great free option.

Think of writing an Essay. Consider your topic and intro paragraph as your thesis. All of the H2 Headers are supporting arguments you are trying to explain. Sometimes at this point in the process, I realize the blog is either too long or too short.

Below is a screenshot of my first outline for the blog Small Business Website: Where to Start. What I love about this screenshot is if you visit the actual page you will notice I’ve added quite a few more H2s and H3s! Your outline is just to get you started, it’s more than ok to build on that outline as you go. Don’t get too hung up on being exact.

To give another example following our Bakery theme let’s go back to the previous blog ideas. Let’s create an outline for the blog “Different Types of Cake Toppings and How to Make them at Home”.

• Intro
• H2: Red Velvet
• H2: Buttercream
• H2: Chocolate Ganache
• H2: Cream Cheese Frosting
• Conclusion
• Call to Action

Add in H3 Headers to Break Content into Smaller Points

Sometimes you will need to break down content even further. This is where you will use H3 and H4 Headers. Let’s continue with Cake Toppings and how we could break down one of the H2’s even further!

• H2: Red Velvet
  • H3: Ingredients
  • H3: Tools
  • H3: Recipe

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Writing Content: Focus on One H2 Section at a Time

Once your outline is written it’s time to actually get writing. Focus on one H2 section at a time, it doesn’t even need to be in order. For this blog, I wanted to write the conclusion first, so I did. Like I mentioned earlier you will end up with more H2 and H3 headers along the way as you write.

The outline works by breaking up the writing into bite-sized pieces. Next thing you know your blog is finished and you’re adding the finishing touches!

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Finish Up with the Final Touches

And there you have it. You have written a blog! Once you have written the first draft it’s time for a review. Proofread your piece for technical and spelling errors. If you have difficulty proofreading your own stuff ask a friend for help! Finally, you must do a technical review of the blog to make sure it is optimized for SEO. I could write an entire piece on this topic but here are the basics:

• Have I Used Headers Effectively?
• Is this Blog Easy to Read?
• Have I Used Keywords Effectively?

Did this blog make it easier for you to get started writing blogs? Do you have your own tricks for creating blogs quickly? Let me know in the comments!

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