How to outline your blog post the right way

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Blog posts can have a staggering amount of content, both for the reader and the writer (you!). Outlining not only lets you write faster, but also makes your content more readable.

I often use my initial outline to think through my subject – it helps me figure out what I need to research. And, my outline provides the context for my research.

“If you do enough planning before you start to write, there’s no way you can have writer’s block. I do a complete chapter by chapter outline.”
– R.L. Stine

When I’m finished researching, my outline also provides the direction for my writing. The point that I jot down for an outline end up becoming the sections of my post. By having a structure to follow, it’s easier to figure out what to say next, because it know I have to move on to my next point.

Start with a purpose in mind.

There should always be a reason for a blog post. Are you trying to persuade your reader to do something? Or, are you educating your reader on a subject?

If you begin with a purpose in mind, the outline of your blog post should come naturally.

Choose an outline style according to your purpose.

There are four main outline styles: Chronological, Priority, Expansive, and Mix & Match:

Chronological

The Chronological style is one of the most obvious ways to outline your post. It means arranging your content in the order that something happens, or in the order that one thought leads to another.

If you’re telling a story, giving step-by-step directions, teaching a new way of thinking, or ranting about a hot topic, you provably need to outline your post chronologically.

Let’s say I wanted to share my experience at a marketing conference. I could outline my post as follows:

  1. Morning arrival
  2. Morning speakers I found interesting
  3. Afternoon speakers I found interesting
  4. Evening vendors I met after the event
  5. Overall rating of the conference

Or, if I wanted to persuade you about why this was the best marketing conference I ever attended:

  1. What happens at most conferences
  2. What happened at this conference
  3. What made this conference the best conference
  4. How you can also have the best conference

Priority

The Priority style is fundamental to professional journalists. It means conveying your ideas in order of importance to your reader. If you’re writing about new, you should outline your post in the Priority style:

  1. Most newsworthy information (answer the “Five Ws” and How)
  2. Important details – providing additional information for better understanding
  3. Minor and general details – providing background information and extra context

If I was reporting on the marketing conference, I could outline my post as follows:

  1. Famous speakers at the conference
  2. Lessons learned from the speakers
  3. Other marketing conferences coming up

In my experience, most of your B2B content will not be in Priority style, but it’s a nice tool to have in your kit.

Expansive

Expansive style has made Buzzfeed famous. Following the Expansive style means selecting an idea and writing about each part of that idea.

If you’re providing a list or explaining a set of terms, you probably need an expansive outline for your post. Unlike the Chronological style, order of ideas is not important. However, it may make sense to number each part of the idea.

Going back to the marketing conference example, if I wanted to write about why it was awesome, I could outline a post with a list of reasons:

    1. The speakers were interesting
    1. I learned a ton
    1. The food was fantastic
  1. A celebrity made a guest appearance

Mix & Match

There is no need to restrict your blog posts to one type of outline. Depending on the purpose, you could use different outline styles for different sections.

In this post, you learned how to build an outline step-by-step (Chronological) and how each outline differs from the other (Expansive).

Write faster by expanding your outline.

You can write content under each point or expand sub-points if it’s helpful. I usually put all my thoughts, notes, and research under each point, and then expand upon them when writing.

Outlining only takes a few minutes to do and saves you a lot of time. If you’ve never outlined your posts before writing them, I suggest you pick a style and try it. Happy writing!