How to Structure a Blog Post

Learning how to structure a blog post is not like writing for a publication or a research paper in school. I notice my clients have a hard time writing blog posts because they aren’t sure what to include in their context and how to have it read in a structured manner. Having blog topics are great, but you’ll ramble if you don’t structure a blog post. Have you ever told a story and said, “I forget where I am going with this.” Don’t let your reader feel that way.

How to Structure a Blog Post

Plan It Out

The first step to structure a blog post is to plan the content strategy. You have to ask: Who is your audience? This should not be an overall topic like “pet lovers”. If you write blog posts about all different topics, you won’t be found because you won’t look like an “expert” in anything. Try to scale down (or niche down) to see if you can specify what it is you exactly want to provide information about.

Be the Guide

Then, guide the reader. You can do this in several ways. Start by making blog posts answering:

• – How to
• – Why
• – What you can do to…

Make sure you’re helping your reader, not trying to sell them on your product. For example, this post is about effective ways to structure a blog post. I sell packages to help business owners in their content strategy, blog management, and social media, but I also help them with this. I give it away though for people to do themselves.

Set Up Systems

Even though I wrote this blog post to help business owners write their content and structure a blog post, it doesn’t mean there isn’t a link in here for me to help you. You have to have a call to action for your reader. Think about what you want them to do next. The purpose of blogging is to grow your business. Ask yourself, what do you want your reader to do next?

• • – Sign up?

• • – Click on a link?

• • – Download something?

• – Share it?

Set up these systems to make sure they work correctly if someone clicks the link.

The Actual Structure

Headline

I like to do this last after I have the entire post was written and I know two things:

• • – What exactly I wrote

• – What problem I am solving

Add an image after your headline to start your content.

The Introduction

I usually write my Introduction second to last. It is essential to structure a blog post to help you introduce the entire post. A good introduction helps engage the reader and guides them to want to learn more from your content presented. What to include in an engaging introduction :

• • – Ask a question and make sure it’s relevant to the post

• – Tell a story

White Space

After the introduction and before the body of the article press enter twice. This helps your eyes take a break. You can add an image before the post as well.

The Body

Writing for the web is different than writing for magazines or newspapers. People want to read but really people want to skim. The body is composed of the main points of your article. To make it easy on the reader include things like:

• • – Lists

• • – Bullets

• – Social breaks “tweet this quote” etc.

When you write your body, try to think of a topic sentence and follow with evidence. Keep in mind though, only to make your paragraphs about six to seven sentences.

Before Conclusion

Before your conclusion, add another space for images, tweets to share or an email list sign up. It all depends though on how long your post is. Don’t add too many images or links because it can look spammy.

Conclusion

I write my conclusion third-to-last. The reader should be able to gather all they read in your article in two short paragraphs. When writing your conclusion take note to focus on:

• • – The benefits of how to use the content

• • – Let the reader know what’s coming up next

• • – Ask an engaging question

• – Challenge the reader to something

To structure a blog post, it also requires you to wrap it around your content strategy. Make sure you have a contact strategy and topics planned to engage the right audience at the right time.  At the end of your post, you can include more articles that are relevant to the content you presented. I hope my tips to structure a blog post will keep you on the right track. If you need more assistance in your content strategy or management of your blog, check out the services I offer related to content strategy, blog management, writing, and social media.

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