When trying to build a puzzle, most people start by laying down the border. It’s easier to get going once you have clarity of the limits and arrangement of those building blocks. Same thing goes for creating a blog post. Putting together an outline will allow you to set a foundation to make the writing process seamless.
But first things first! Creating an outline means planning and structuring a blog post before the writing starts. It’s about deciding the ideas you want to touch on and putting them in order. As such, it has a slew of benefits:
- It helps you organize ideas to ensure your post flows naturally
- It makes you stay on topic and support your main points effectively
- It lets you add, move around, and edit more easily and quickly
- It reduces the time of writing the post
- It alleviates the stress of staring at a blank page and giving in to writer’s block
- It assists with SEO, as it helps you plan and insert keywords
- It produces more coherent and engaging posts
Basically, if you do a good enough outline, all that will be left is filling in the blanks when it’s time to write to have an awesome result.
Considering all these points, why wouldn’t you create a blog post outline? If you want to but are unsure how to create an outline, we’re here to assist you. Below, you’ll find the top tips for creating a blog outline.
To Consider Before Starting Your Blog Post Outline
Before we move on to the tips and tricks of how to create an outline, there are some things to consider:
Think About your Audience
As you’re putting together your outline, have your target audience in mind. A post’s structure and content are heavily influenced by the reader. If you want to keep your audience captivated by your writing, you need to cater to them, even through your outline.
Be Flexible
Outlines aren’t set in stone. Don’t be afraid to question your outline and your ideas. The whole point is being able to shake things up to build a coherent, engaging, and strong blog post. Adapt and perfect your outline as you go.
Keep It Simple
This is not the time to complicate things. Don’t expand on your ideas too much, and create a convoluted outline that will only end up confusing you. The outline is a guideline, not the final product.
Focus, Focus, Focus
As you’re writing your ideas down, notice and avoid tangents or distractions. Stay on topic and focus on clarity and readability to construct a helpful outline. Once again, keep things simple to have a well-thought-out outline.
The Basics of Putting Together a Blog Outline
You can’t build a house without knowing what brick and mortar are! This is why we’ll look over some of the basic elements and tools that you’ll use so you can learn how to create an outline. You can use them to add hierarchy, visual elements, and more to your outline. They will give you a better idea of a post’s structure at a glance so you won’t struggle with it later.
Headings
These will be the primary labels that introduce the main ideas. For example, the post’s title, introduction and conclusion are the headings you’ll see on most outlines.
Subheadings
These will introduce the secondary ideas. They will break down your post into chunks to make it less complicated and overwhelming. Of course, subheadings should all be in service of the main idea. For example, in this post, the subheadings would be “To Consider,” “The Basics,” and “The Steps.”
Bullet Points
Under each subheading, you should use bullet points to set down the details supporting the subheading. Instead of writing complete sentences and paragraphs in your blog post outline, use bullet points to note the different ideas you want to go over.
Tools
As a last basic, use the tools at your disposal to have an even smoother process. As you’re working on your outline look for AI tools that focus on outline creation (e.g., Chat GPT). Nowadays, there are many options that will see you through it, so give a few of them a try.
The Steps for Creating an Outline
Step 1: Have an Idea
This is probably the most challenging part of creating an outline or writing. After all, you can’t even structure a blog post outline if you have nothing to say.
Whether you’re writing something creative for a personal project, a school paper, or in a professional setting, you need to start with inspiration.
To get inspired, you can read, watch movies, talk to others, do SEO research for keywords, or even turn to an AI like Chat GPT for topic suggestions. In any case, consider who the reader will be or the main purpose of your text to know what to write. Do whatever you need to spark your creativity!
Step 2: Research
Learning more about the subject you want to write about will allow you to produce well-rounded content. Read and start taking notes. Don’t forget to search for reputable sources and include them in your notes, so you can reference them later.
Step 3: Brainstorm
Once you’ve gathered the information, it’s time to brainstorm. You know a lot about the subject, so start assembling the ideas that come to your head. During this part of the process, you shouldn’t be too concerned with refining your ideas. Jot down everything as it comes to you.
Step 4: Identify Main Points
You’ve laid down a bunch of ideas on the floor. Now, it’s time to start organizing them. To that end, you must look at what you have and identify the main points you want to make. These will be the ones that carry the most weight, and under which you can set the other ideas you have. They are the headings and subheadings on your blog outline.
Step 5: Organize
Finding the main ideas is an essential key to starting your outline. After you’ve set that foundation, it’s a matter of taking the other ideas in your arsenal and organizing them under each subheading. Remember to organize them with bullet points or on lists to scan them easily.
Step 6: Add, Edit, Delete
This is one of the most important steps in the process and the one that will take you the most time. It’s all about playing around with the ideas you want to include in your outline. You can add new ideas, edit the ones you already have, rearrange them to help the flow of the post or delete them if you feel they’re not serving the piece as intended.
Don’t be afraid to do whatever you want with your blog outline, as long as it makes sense in the end.
Step 7: Choose Images
As you’re preparing your blog post outline, you may want to choose the images you’re going to use. Images break down the text and add visual interest to your post, and picking them now will save you time later on. Make sure you opt for high-quality images that are royalty-free and that represent the topic you’re discussing.
Step 8: Refine
You’re basically done! All that’s left to do now is refine, refine, refine. Go over your blog post outline a few times to notice areas you could improve. Continue tweaking until you find a structure that flows well and works for what you’re trying to accomplish.
Keep in mind that you can continue working on your post’s structure even as you write, so don’t get too fixated on having an absolutely perfect blog post outline.
That’s It! You Know How to Create an Outline!
If you’re a writer, you’re aware that producing content that makes sense and has an easy-to-follow structure is crucial. You also know that staring at a blank page can lead to confusion, writer’s block, and stress. This is why creating an outline is one of the best things you can do to kickstart your writing process and have a more efficient result.
Now that you know how to create an outline, use this method as the first step eah time you write. With practice, you’ll see how easy it is, and you’ll rely on it for any future pieces you produce.
Remember to come back to this post to follow the process properly! Happy writing!
