Every writer knows the symptom of staring for hours astatine a blank leafage and producing nothing.

But you don’t person to commencement your draught connected an bare Google Doc. It’s overmuch easier if you statesman with an outline. 

Creating a blog station outline volition help you:

• Overcome the dreaded “writer’s block.”
• Organize your thoughts earlier you enactment pen to paper.
• Ensure you’re not missing immoderate important points.
• Order your blog station successful a logical, easy-to-read structure.
• Get you and your editor, client, oregon manager (if you’re moving with one) connected the same page.

In this post, you’ll larn however to constitute a blog station outline. Let’s get started.

It’s intolerable to make a blog station outline without knowing what you privation to write about. 

So if you’ve not yet decided connected a topic, you request to take one now. 

Brainstorm a mates of topics you’d similar to cover. If you’re acquainted with the niche, determination should beryllium a fewer burning issues you privation to address. Write about them.

Otherwise, a bully mode to find topics is to usage Ahrefs’ Keywords Explorer. Enter a applicable word into the instrumentality and spell to the Matching presumption report. 

Switch the tab to Questions, and you’ll spot plentifulness of imaginable topics to cover.

Will your nonfiction beryllium a listicle oregon a how-to? Or possibly it’s an sentiment piece, a review, oregon you’re simply covering the latest news. 

Whatever it is, you’ll person to determine connected a format. 

Sometimes, the format is screaming astatine you successful plain sight. For example, if you’re covering the taxable “how to marque kefir astatine home,” past it’s astir apt going to beryllium a how-to guide. Or if you’re covering the taxable “blogging tips,” past it’s astir apt going to beryllium a list of tips. 

But sometimes, it’s not truthful straightforward. Is the taxable “best productivity app” a list of productivity apps, a review of a peculiar app, oregon an opinion nonfiction astir the “best app”?

The information is it tin beryllium immoderate of the above. You’re escaped to choose, and there’s nary 1 close answer. But if you truly cannot decide, past a bully mode to “settle” the statement is to simply look astatine what’s ranking for that taxable connected Google.

So searchers for “best productivity app” are really looking for “best productivity apps.” Google knows that and ranks lone listicles for that topic. If you’re stuck, creating a listicle could beryllium a bully mode forward. 

Recommended reading: 10 Types of Blog Posts & How to Use Them Effectively 

Mr. Bean falls to the ground. A spotlight shines connected him. The remainder of the thoroughfare has faded into the shadows, and your attraction focuses connected Rowan Atkinson’s character. 

The taxable you’re covering is the full street, and the space you take is the spotlight. It focuses connected 1 aspect, to the exclusion of others. If you’re penning astir “how to marque ramen astatine home,” are you teaching your readers how to:

• Make ramen fast?
• Make restaurant-quality ramen?
• Make tonkotsu ramen?
• Make vegan ramen?
• Make Sapporo-style ramen?
• Make Korean-style ramen (also known arsenic ramyeon)?

You can’t perchance screen everything. So you request to choose. In fact, it’s the space that makes your nonfiction unsocial and absorbing to readers, thereby making it stand out. 

Use these questions to spark ideas for your ain novel angle:

• Do you person idiosyncratic acquisition oregon expertise? For example, if you’ve managed successfully to infuse Singaporean flavors into ramen, past you tin stock your unsocial look with others.
• Can you interrogation experts? For example, you tin interrogation a celebrated ramen cook connected however newbies tin perchance marque restaurant-quality ramen at home.
• Can you crowdsource opinions and ideas? For example, you tin canvass members successful r/ramen for their champion at-home ramen recipes.
• Can you supply information oregon backmost your nonfiction with science? For example, you tin perchance amusement readers however to make the “perfect” ramen by looking astatine the sensory relationship betwixt antithetic acids and flavors.
• Can you beryllium contrarian? Don’t beryllium contrarian for the involvement of it. But if you person an sentiment that’s the other of everyone else’s—for example, however ramen is really ultra healthy—and you tin backmost it up with evidence, it tin beryllium an attention-grabbing angle. 

Recommendation

You tin besides look astatine the top-ranking pages connected Google to get inspiration connected what space you should cover. For example, if we hunt for “date ideas” connected Google, we spot angles like:

• Location-specific (“London”)
• Quirky
• Fun
• Cool
• Creative

And more.

Have you ever noticed that astir blog posts are structured rather similarly?

In fact, astir blog posts you work are variations of the aforesaid templates. So you don’t person to reinvent the instrumentality connected this front. Choose a template that fits your format and get started.

For example, we usage this template for astir each our step-by-step guides: 

Looking for much templates? Check retired the blog post below.

Recommended reading: 4 Simple Blog Post Templates (And When to Use Them) 

Your template has provided you with the skeleton. Now, you request to fig retired what you request to capable in, particularly your subheadings (the H2s, H3s, H4s, etc.).

Here are immoderate ideas connected however to find them:

A. Use your expertise and experience

The archetypal measurement is ever to look inward. If you cognize determination is a due mode to bash something, past usage that arsenic a ground for your outline. 

B. Run a contented spread analysis

We tin usage the existent top-ranking pages for your taxable arsenic inspiration too. After all, if astir of these pages are covering definite subtopics, past it’s apt they’re important to your readers.

Here’s however to find these subtopics:

• Paste a fewer top-ranking URLs for your main taxable into Ahrefs’ Content Gap tool
• Leave the bottommost conception blank
• Hit Show keywords
• Set the Intersection filter to 3 and 4 targets

We tin spot that these pages are ranking for specified subtopics:

• What is the keto diet
• What does keto mean
• Keto diet rules
• Is keto fare healthy
• What to devour connected keto diet

And more. 

If we’re covering the aforesaid topic—”keto diet” from a akin space (“beginner’s guide”)—then they’ll apt marque good H2s.

C. Look astatine People Also Ask boxes

Google thing these days, and you’ll see this:

These are known arsenic People Also Ask (PAA) boxes, and they reply questions related to your hunt query. Since these are apt fashionable questions, you whitethorn privation to reply them successful your contented too. 

To stitchery each of these questions, you tin either click connected them implicit and implicit oregon usage a instrumentality similar AlsoAsked. 

Alternatively, if you’re simply looking for questions related to your main taxable (and are not needfully PAA), effort this method: 

1. Go to Ahrefs’ Keywords Explorer
2. Enter your topic
3. Go to the Matching presumption report
4. Switch the tab to Questions
5. Click connected the hamburger paper beside the XX, XXX keywords
6. Switch the tab to Parent topics
7. Click connected your main taxable (e.g., “keto diet”)

Here, you’ll spot each the questions grouped nether the aforesaid Parent Topic—in this case, “keto diet.”

Look done the study and spot if determination are immoderate questions worthy answering successful your article.

You’ll privation to soma retired each conception truthful you (and your editor, client, etc.) tin recognize what you’re trying to accidental and wherever you’re coming from. 

But don’t marque the mistake of penning the afloat draught here. This is an outline, not the existent post. So conscionable permission ideas that’ll enactment and substantiate what you’re going to cover.

Here are immoderate examples of bullets you may add:

• Brief mentation of your argument
• Examples of however your peculiar item/step/tactic/etc., works
• Potential adept quotes (if you’re using them)
• Data you’ll beryllium citing

For example, here’s a caller outline of excavation for a post connected contented pillars:

I make slug points and simply bespeak the ideas I’ll stock nether each subheading. But not each outlines look the same. You tin take to not marque them truthful elaborate too. 

The world’s your oyster. Do what works for you and whomever you’re moving with.

The extremity of your intro is to “hook” the scholar into finishing your full article. So it’s a bully thought to program retired (at slightest an idea) what you privation to say here. 

Again, don’t autumn into the trap of fleshing the full happening out. Just a mates of bullets will do. 

To program your intro, a elemental look you tin travel is the Problem-Agitate-Solve (PAS) formula.

Here’s however it works:

• State the Problem
• Agitate the occupation by digging much into the symptom (felt by the reader)
• Offer a imaginable Solution

And here’s what it looks similar successful real life:

For your conclusion, I urge readying a one-line takeaway of your full article, providing links to further resources, oregon sharing a last information for your readers to think about.

Final thoughts

Before you statesman drafting, it’s a bully thought to nonstop your outline to idiosyncratic else—a colleague, editor, oregon friend. They’ll beryllium capable to springiness you feedback and constituent retired flaws, inaccuracies, oregon points you’ve missed. 

We bash this each the time. Every in-house writer has to nonstop their outlines to Josh, our caput of content, for review. 

Once your reviewer has fixed their feedback, you tin look done it and incorporated their ideas into your outline. Then, it’s yet clip to draft. 

If you request assistance penning a blog post, cheque retired this step-by-step usher connected however to constitute one. 

Any questions oregon comments? Let maine cognize on Twitter.