How to Write a Blog Post Outline for a Great Post That’s SEO-Friendly

Are you tired of spending hours writing blog posts that never seem to get any traffic? Do you want to learn how to write a blog post outline to produce a post that not only engages your audience but also ranks high on search engine results pages?

When I started my first business in 2006, that was exactly what I wanted to do. I knew blogging was important. I’d heard something about keywords someplace but didn’t really know what they were. So I made them up and just wrote and wrote and wrote. I didn’t know how to use the keywords. I didn’t know how to craft catchy titles or even meaningful ones. And I was marginal at organizing my thoughts in a way that readers could easily follow.

If you’re thinking I was a hot mess, you’re right, I was. I spent hours upon hours writing with no results. But I eventually channeled my enthusiasm and learned what to do.

In fact, it’s because I learned how to write blog post outlines that include SEO that I’m able to drive organic traffic to my websites today.

And yet, when you really stop to think about it, writing blog posts is an art. For most of us bloggers, we work out a solid outline before beginning to write.

I do this (and I imagine most bloggers do this) because a blog post outline makes it easier to move from one point to the next, stay on track, and ensure that all the necessary points are covered in the piece I’m writing.

The thing is in order for your blogs to be found in search, you need to do more than just create an outline that supports the message you want to share. You need to incorporate the necessary features to make your post SEO-friendly in your outline as well.

Now I’ll admit the last paragraph might be a bit intimidating, but I promise that the process I’m going to share will make creating your blog post outline easy. And when you’re done, you’ll have a roadmap for your post that ensures it’s not only readable but SEO friendly too.

1. Start with keyword research.

Before you begin writing your outline, you need to know what your ideal client is struggling with. What would they want to read?

After you have a few general ideas, it’s time to do some keyword research to understand how they’re searching for the topic you want to write about. My go-to tool for keyword research is SEMrush, but there are plenty of others out there.

(Here’s my affiliate link to SEMrush if you’re interested in checking it out.)

You’ll want to select a keyword for your blog post that gets a reasonable amount of traffic and isn’t impossible to rank for. You’ll also want to use the keyword throughout your outline to ensure you’ll use it throughout your post.

2. Identify your main points.

Now that you know your keyword, and have taken a peek at a few others before landing on this one, it’s time to do a little research. You want your post to stand out from your competitors’ posts on the same topic. Read what they’ve written so you can figure out what you have to say that’s more valuable than what they’ve written.

After you finish your research, you should have a pretty good idea of the main points you want to make. These main points should be what you want readers to remember from your post.

For example, you can see the main points I came up with for the outline I created for this blog post by looking at the headers.

3. Organize your main points.

I don’t know about you, but sometimes the way I think about things isn’t the most organized or easy for someone else to understand. That’s why I included this step.

It’s important for you to take the time to make sure your main points flow. There should be a nice logical sequence to the points you want to make so your reader can easily follow your thoughts or the instructions you’re providing.

4. Use headings and subheadings.

Sometimes when creating a blog post outline, I come up with really meaty main points. When that happens I know I need to add a few more details to each of my main points. After I add the appropriate points to support the main points, I start thinking about headings and subheadings for my blog post.

Usually, the headings and subheadings drop straight out of the outline, but sometimes they need a little polish. And, of course, the purpose of identifying the headings and subheadings at this point is to begin working on making the final piece SEO-friendly and easier to read.

5. Include supporting details.

Now it’s time to add a little more flesh to the outline. What additional details need to be added to illustrate or clarify your message?

When I reach this step, I start thinking about things to make the post more valuable to the reader, and also help SEO:

Which of my other blog posts should I link to from this post?

What statistics do I need?

Are there any quotes I want to include?

What type of illustrations would make this piece more engaging or help to get my point across?

6. Add a call to action.

The whole point of writing blogs is to influence people in some way. This is especially true when you’re blogging to promote your business. So you need to end your post with a call to action that encourages your readers to engage with you. You might ask them to share your post on social, answer a question in the comments, visit another page on your site, or click a link to join your list.

By following these tips, you set yourself up to write a blog post outline to guide you (or someone else) in writing a post that engages your audience and ranks well on search engine results pages. Remember, the key is to create content that is both informative and enjoyable to read. SEO just comes along for the ride because it shouldn’t be blatantly obvious to the reader. With a well-structured outline, you can achieve both of these goals and take your blog to the next level.

So, what are you waiting for? Start writing your next blog post outline today and see the difference it makes in your website’s traffic!

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