Organized Writing: 7 Simple Steps to Create a Blog Post Outline

Introduction

Blog posts are an essential part of digital marketing. They not only help to establish your online presence but also provide value to your audience. However, most bloggers struggle with creating an organized and coherent blog post. That’s where outlining comes into play. A blog post outline is a roadmap that helps you to organize your thoughts and ideas. In this post, we’ll be discussing seven simple steps to creating a blog post outline.

Step 1: Choose a topic

The first step to creating a blog post outline is choosing a topic. Your topic should be relevant to your audience and align with your brand. You can use tools like Google Trends or BuzzSumo to find popular topics in your niche. When choosing a topic, consider the following:

• What are the pain points of your audience?
• What questions are they asking?
• What challenges are they facing?

Once you’ve chosen your topic, you can move to the next step.

Step 2: Research your topic

The next step is researching your topic. Use a combination of online resources and offline sources like books, newspapers, and industry reports. You can use resources like Google Scholar, JSTOR, and ResearchGate to find relevant articles and studies. When researching, consider the following:

• What are the key points of your topic?
• What statistics or data can you use to support your points?
• What are the opposing viewpoints?

Step 3: Create a working title

After researching your topic, you should have a better understanding of what you want to write about. Use this knowledge to create a working title for your blog post. Your title should be catchy, informative, and attention-grabbing. Use tools like CoSchedule Headline Analyzer to create an effective title.

Step 4: Create an introduction

Your introduction should be attention-grabbing and set the tone for the rest of the blog post. Start with a hook that arouses curiosity or piques interest. You can use a question, a statistic, or a quote to achieve this. Your introduction should be concise and to the point, giving your readers an idea of what to expect.

Step 5: Create a body outline

The body of your blog post should provide valuable information to your audience. It should be organized into subheadings that allow your readers to scan and digest information easily. Your subheadings should be in a logical sequence that flows seamlessly from one to another.

For example, if you’re writing a blog post about “10 Ways to Save Money on Groceries”, your subheadings could be:

• Introduction
• Couponing
• Bulk buying
• Store brands
• Weekly meal planning
• Shop on sale days
• Buy in-season produce
• Avoid pre-packaged foods
• Buy online
• Conclusion

Step 6: Write your conclusion

Your conclusion should summarize your main points and provide a call-to-action. Your call-to-action could be to leave a comment, sign up for your newsletter or follow you on social media. It should inspire your readers to take action and engage with your brand.

Step 7: Edit and proofread

After completing your outline, it’s time to start writing your blog post. Once you’ve finished writing, take a break and come back to it later with fresh eyes. Edit and proofread your post for grammar, punctuation, and syntax errors. Use online tools like Grammarly and Hemingway to assist you.

Conclusion

Creating an organized blog post outline is the first step to writing an effective post. It helps you to organize your thoughts and ideas and provides a clear roadmap for your writing. Use the steps outlined in this post to create an outline for your next blog post, and you’ll be well on your way to creating high-quality content that resonates with your audience.