Do you find yourself struggling to know where to start when writing a blog post? To write consistent content, you need to have a reliable blog plan and a post structure on your side. Without these, you risk posting infrequently (or not at all), or creating content that your audience struggles to resonate with.
Having a blog post structure on your side will not only save you time when planning your posts, but it will also help you stay consistent in your content and make it easier for your audience to navigate through headings and sub-headings. Remember that blogs should be written for your audience first - they are the priority, whereas your business comes second in this case.
So how do you plan a blog post structure? Luckily I just so happen to have seven steps you can take to outline each blog post. These steps are flexible, as they revolve around the three core parts of a piece of content:
The introduction
The main body
The conclusion
Everything else in a blog post can be adapted to whatever type of blog post you are using (I'll get to that a bit later). So, before you continue reading, here are the steps:
Why Do You Need a Blog Post Structure?
It's hard to create anything without a plan. A plan helps you outline and write your blog post. It's difficult to write an effective blog post without knowing what you are going to write. That's where some new bloggers make their mistake - they believe that if they write publish a stream of consciousness, that is how they write a blog post (hint: not really).
Writing and recording your thoughts and ideas in a blog works for some blog genres. Some examples might be travel blogs, food and drink blogging, and personal stories. Streams of consciousness work here because these types of blogs are personal - they focus on you and your experiences.
But business blogs are different. You need to actively set out to prove that your business is:
Experienced in the industry
Worth buying from
Writing a random thought-filled post about what you did during your holiday won't work (unless your business centres around travel and holidays). People will read it and might think: what does this have to do with your business? Why should I buy from you?
My point? You need a plan. Blog posts are fairly flexible in their structure, but they all have the same basic outline:
Headline
Introduction
Main body
Conclusion
As long as you have these four things in that order, you can't fail. Before we dive into the key elements of this structure, let's talk a little bit about headings first.
Headings
In your blog post, you should split your content into headings. H1 (the title heading) should be at the very top, with sub-headings (H2) separating the content into sections and smaller H3 sub-headings dividing those sections up.
So, for example, this post is divided up into the following:
(H1) How To Craft A Perfect Blog Post Structure In 7 Steps
(H2) Why Do You Need a Blog Post Structure?
(H2) Headings
(H2) How to Structure a Blog Post
(H3) 1. Headline
(H3) 2. Introduction and lede
(H3) 3. Define the subject
Etc. etc.
(H2) Over To You
Why is this necessary? There are two reasons:
It helps your readers navigate through your post, and break it up into readable chunks
It benefits your SEO ranking
When you use headings, it makes the content easier to navigate for readers. Because of that, they are less likely to bounce from your site, which has the added benefit of improving your SEO ranking (source: Yoast). If a website has a high bounce rate, the lower its ranking will be, and likewise the lower the bounce rate, the higher its ranking will be.
With all that said, let's get into how to structure a blog post!
How to Structure a Blog Post
1. Headline
One of the first things you need to think about when planning a blog post is the headline. The headline should contain the primary keyword or phrase of your blog post and should answer a question the reader might have.
You also need to use powerful and emotive language to persuade the reader to read your post. Words such as "perfect", "outstanding", or "unique, for example. These words trigger an emotional response in the reader that encourages them to read on and find out more.
Finally, make sure that your headline isn't too short or too long. Aim for between 10 and 15 words, but don't worry if it's a bit longer or a bit shorter.
2. Introduction and lede
Every blog post must have an introduction and a lede. The introduction is your selling point for the post. If it's boring and doesn't engage the reader, they won't bother reading on to the important bits - they will leave the page.
Like the first page of a book, you need to grab the reader's attention, set the tone of the post, and create the right impression. Some bloggers start by asking a question, for example:
Do you struggle to motivate yourself?
Not generating enough leads for your business?
Questions such as these tell the reader immediately what the post entails (alongside the headline). They filter out those who aren't interested in reading more from those who are, thus helping you target your ideal audience. From there, you can launch into introducing your topic and the key question you want to answer, with a few primary keywords sprinkled in for good measure.
Introductions shouldn't be too lengthy, however. I usually aim to write around 200 words for my introductions so that I get to the point quicker. Introductions should:
Introduce the topic and briefly define the subject
Explain why the topic is important for the reader
Summarise what the post is about
The latter part of this is also known as a lede. A lede is the introductory part of a blog post or news article that summarises the important parts of the piece (source: Merriam-Webster). Its role in an article is to encourage the reader to continue reading, to "lead" them into the rest of the piece.
Finally, despite being the second point on this list, the introduction (and conclusion) should be among the last sections to write. This is because the introduction summarises the main content of the post, and it's better to do that once you have written that main content. Otherwise, you might find yourself talking about points in your introduction that have no mention in the main article (and vice versa).
3. Define the subject
In most blog posts, it's important to define the subject of the post, especially if the subject is a complex topic. For some topics, you may not need to do this because they are topics that everyone understands (e.g. blogs, banks, pets, etc.).
Defining the subject may seem like a waste of time, but remember that just because you understand the topic doesn't mean other people will. It's important to lay the foundation of your post by explaining what it is about and how the main content relates to it.
For"what is/are" posts, defining the subject is the main premise of your article and will take up the majority of the content. For those posts, this will be the equivalent of the main body, which I will cover in the next point.
4. The main body
Now you have defined the subject of the post, it's time to delve into the main body. This is the section that usually has a list of numbered points to help readers navigate the content.
List posts and how-to posts are the best examples of this, as both have a structure that leads from one point to the next (particularly how-to-posts). For other posts, such as reviews, data analysis, and case studies, you can use subheadings to divide up your main body into relevant sections.
Reviews and case studies, for example, might have a subheading for each positive or negative point you wish to address. Interviews can have subheadings that naturally fit the flow of the interview.
However you organise your content, and whichever type of blog post you use, you need those subheadings to break up the content. For more on what types of blog posts you can use in your blog, check out my blog post below.
5. Final tips (optional)
This section is optional, depending on the length of your blog post or the content in it. You can use a final tips section if:
There are points you need to unpack in more detail
You want to add some final tips or reminders for the reader
There are examples to demonstrate your points
If your post already covers what you need to say, then you don't need to add this section. Otherwise, for any other tips, examples, and reminders then this section is the perfect opportunity to cover your final points.
6. Conclusion
The final section of your blog post is the conclusion. This is your chance to highlight the main point of your post and summarise what you covered in the main body. The number one rule I follow for this section is this: never add new information to a conclusion.
Keep the section short and sweet, as your reader may be losing interest by this point. Wrap it up clearly and concisely, and highlight your main point(s) in a brief review.
As a bonus, you can also find different ways to title this section. In my opinion, using "conclusion" in every post makes it feel a bit academic and clinical (not that there's anything wrong with that style of writing!) So, I aim to shake it up a bit by using different words and phrases, such as:
Summary
Over to You
Next Steps
Wrapping Up
You get the idea. This is just a suggestion and is in no way gospel. But there is one final step to consider before finishing your conclusion ...
7. Call to action
The final section of your blog post structure is the smallest. The call to action (CTA), which I discussed in a different post (you can it read here), is a line of copy that persuades your audience to take action. In a blog post, this action can be:
Subscribing to a mailing list/newsletter
Downloading a free resource
Heading over to a product landing page
Most bloggers place their CTA in the conclusion of their blog posts because readers who make it this far tend to be more invested in what you have to say and, by extension, your business. However, you can also place your CTA elsewhere in the post, such as at the top or in a pop-up.
But don't go overboard with the CTA use. You don't want to harass and annoy your readers, because they are on your blog to learn something, not be sold to. The selling comes after they have read several of your posts and begun to trust you as a credible authority and business (which you are, of course).
Over To You
So, those were the seven steps you need to take to create the perfect blog post structure. They are:
Headline
Introduction and lede
Define the subject
Main body
Final tips (optional)
Conclusion
Call to action
You can recycle these in different types of blog posts, and chop and change any of the middle sections. Just remember that every post must have an introduction, the main body, and a conclusion, and above all, remember that headings are vital to separate your content into manageable chunks (great for readers and SEO!).