8 Notable Ways To Create The Best Blog Post Structure
When blogging, you need to layout the best blog post structure before you start writing. The structure of your blog post is the skeleton of your text and preparing it has many benefits.
First, it’s easier to write your ideas when your structure is already there. A clear blog post structure helps your audience to spot the important point and grasp the core message.
In fact, to succeed in content marketing without creating blog posts on a regular basis, it’s hard. All successful blogs build and grow on a solid foundation of content. But, it’s consistency that’s the real key to successful search engine rank.
When I first started blogging, I knew that the blog post structure mattered. I can’t write the content, use headings everywhere, and didn’t consider SEO for writing blog posts. Looking back, I wish I had taken the time to learn more about SEO. So I wouldn’t have to go back and edit all my old posts like recently I do!
The creation process is the same for any kind of blog post. No matter how long or short it is. It takes more time to write a 2,000+ word blog post than one that’s only 1,000+ words. But the longer post gets a better search engine rank.
So, first of all, what should you include in the introduction section of your blog post structure? How many times have you been going through a post which was not what they promised or not what you were looking for?
Here I am going to give you practical tips to help you create the best blog post structure! Read on!
Why Is Blog Post Structure Important?
Structuring your content improves readability and helps your audiences to understand your content better. If your audiences understand the information you give, it’s more likely they’ll find the answer to the question or problem they have and they will come back for more!
How To Set Up Your Blog Post Structure?
Before you start writing, set up a structure for your text is by following these steps:
- Create your list
Once you have done keyword research and gathered all the information you want to use in your article, you can start structuring by making a list of everything you want your article to cover.
- Order your list
When you’re done making a list, you should decide on the order of the topics in your article. Most bloggers decide to order thematically.
- Write down a few words for every topic
Write a summary of the article you’re about to write. You can write a short sentence or a few words for every paragraph you plan to write. Explaining the basics first and going on to more difficult subjects.
The Ultimate Guide To Create Best Blog Post Structure
Now you’ve got the summary of the content you’re about to write, so it’s time to start writing and following best practices to make sure your readers will easily flow through your well-crafted structure!
1. Have A Clear Introduction
A clear introduction is a must for every blog post structure. It maps out what your post is about.
Your unique intro is the place to make it clear why someone should keep reading your post. So, when you start writing, ask yourself what problem you’re trying to solve or help your reader.
Focus on that one problem. For instance, this post is about structuring a blog post. It doesn’t go into things like SEO optimization or blog traffic.
2. Create Paragraphs
When you have a clear introduction, now you can start to write your paragraphs. But, what makes a good paragraph?
Lots of creators or bloggers make mistakes while creating paragraphs. Some write text in random places for aesthetic purposes but don’t think about the structure of the text. These kinds of mistakes can mess up the structure of your articles.
First, the opening paragraphs should be around 3–5 sentences long. Don’t overwhelm your readers with a blog of text from the beginning. The shorter your paragraphs, the easier your readers are to skim read. And long paragraphs hinder readability, thus you need to limit paragraphs to a certain number of lines.
Your paragraphs can be short or long. The length is decided by the topic you are discussing. So it could be anywhere between three and fifteen sentences.
But, for writing on websites, I advise creating short paragraphs. Keep it to less than six or seven sentences since reading from a screen is hard. Longer paragraphs also look awful on mobile. If it looks bad, both it's mobile and desktop rankings will suffer.
To find sentences that are too long, run your articles through the Hemingway Editor.
When writing, start your paragraph with the most important sentences then elaborate on them. By reading the first sentences of your paragraphs, your readers will be able to catch the most important concepts from your article.
This is a good representation of the blog post structure, or anatomy, that I use for my content:
3. Use Headings
Headings are of great importance to your readers. Headings allow your readers to scan through your content and decide whether they want to read your content or not. Thus headings should be attractive and cover the content of the paragraphs.
What I learned about proper blog post structure is you need to take advantage of headings to break up the content of your blog.
You should put a heading above a series of paragraphs that contain similar topics and it should reflect the structure of your content. I advise you to use headings above very long paragraphs or shorter paragraphs that are similar.
In case you didn’t know, use the H1 header for the title of your blog post. In most cases, your blog already has this code into your theme. You should only use H1 headers once per blog post and once per page of your site.
Then, the first header on your blog post structure should be an H2 header and remember to include the keyword you’re targeting in the H2 header. Your first header doesn’t have to be a full sentence, instead, it should be direct and as simple as “Ultimate Guide To Create The Best Blog Post Structure”.
After using the H2 header, if you need to break down content within the H2 header, then you should use H3 headers. Once the section is done, you can use your second H2 heading and repeat the process.
Personally, I don’t use more than two headers (H2 and H3). I mostly use bullet points if I need to share certain things within an H3 header section. But, this is an option and entirely up to you, you have a few more headings you can play around (H4, H5, and H6)!
Headings also play a direct role to improve your SEO. Not only that, when your readers easily graph the message of your content, that surely helps your SEO as well.
4. Use Attractive Imagery
Attractive and gorgeous images catch someone’s eyes as they scroll through your post and give them a reason to pause. There are many trustable sites to find stock photos and make your blog stand out more.
5. Add A Table Of Contents
I always search for a table of contents when stumbling on someone’s blog. Without a table of contents, seeing a long piece of content might scare people away and most people don’t take time to read your entire post.
So, to help your readers check whether your article offers them what they are looking for, you can add a table of contents in the beginning. Especially, if you’re writing a complex post or page, a table of contents gives the readers a sense of control, and the possibility to scan which topics you discuss within a post.
6. Use Transition Words
Transition words give direction to your readers and you should use plenty of transition words to guide your readers.
Use transitions words when you’re about to move to the next point. They are a key part of your blog post structure and also establish a connection between you and your readers.
Here are some examples:
- But the problem is:
- But think about it this way…
- By now, you’re probably wondering
- This is where it gets interesting
- Here is something else to keep in mind:
- Here’s an example of what I’m talking about
7. Have A Conclusion
When you’ve reached the end at your post, close it with a conclusion to summing up your points, much like you would in an essay.
Don’t use this place to reference your sources or bring other new points. Readers use the conclusion to confirm that they grasped the main point of your article.
8. Have A Call To Action
You’ll soon notice that in every post you read, you’ll see some sort of ‘call to action’ at the end of the post. A call to action is one of the essential elements of a successful blog post. Be sure to include only one call to action at the end of your post and make it direct and clear.
Here are some CTAs you could use in your article:
- Ask your reader to give their suggestions
- Ask your reader to leave a comment
- Ask your reader to share the article
- Ask your reader to sign up to a mailing list
- Tell your readers any offers you have and how to get it, and so on.
Wrapping Up
As you’re writing, think carefully about the structure of your blog post. Blog writing is far more like writing essays than fiction. But that doesn’t mean it has to be boring, though. Taking your time to think about a clear structure before you start writing is worth your time.
Setting up a coherent structure for your blog post is an essential step of SEO copywriting and it will result in a better understanding of the message of your blog posts. It also helps to plan out what you’re going to write before you start.
PLUS, if your readers understand your message, they will be more likely to share your post on social media or purchase what you are selling.
So, according to you, what elements do you think a great blog post needs?
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