How To Use Structure To Write Better Blogs Faster

The two scariest words you can say to a blogger are “Writer’s Block.” Just typing it gives us the chills. Every writer knows the frustrating feeling of staring at a blank screen, willing the words to come out but not being able to muster up so much as a topic sentence.

While we can’t cure writer’s block, we can suggest a treatment: structure. Structure takes out the guesswork of writing a blog post, gives you a game plan and helps you break down a piece of writing into manageable parts.

There’s no way to avoid the fact that blogging can be time-consuming, but knowing how to structure a blog post correctly can save you time and result in a finished piece of content that’s stronger, more engaging and more likely to bring in potential clients and achieve business goals.

Craft an Engaging Title

The title is one of the most important parts of your blog post. Whether you put it on your site, send it out in an email or post it on social media, your blog post title and its quality can be the thing that brings people to your blog or sends them on to the next article in their feed. Most people, according to Copyblogger, don’t even make it past the headline. Kissmetrics suggests a few tips for writing a killer headline:

• Ask a question
• Surprise people
• Evoke curiosity
• Use numbers

Hook Them Fast or Not at All

Journalists start a quality article with a lead and a nut graph, or, graf. This is one way that you can structure your own blog posts. Use the lead to heighten the interest you gained from the headline, then write your nut graph, which according to the Poynter Institute, “justifies the story by telling readers why they should care.” 

Get to the Point(s)

The body of your article is where you can really get creative. There are a number of ways to structure the middle section of a blog post, but here are a few ideas from Search Engine Journal to get you started:

1. Reviews
2. List-style posts
3. Posts teaching how to do something
4. Round-ups of expert advice

Give Closure and Inspire Action

“Tell the audience what you’re going to say, say it; then tell them what you’ve said.” These words from Dale Carnegie guide business writers and presenters everywhere, and there’s truth to them. Repetition is the key to making people remember your blog post.

A solid conclusion also invites your reader to take an intended action. Whether it’s to comment, share, fill out a form or some other call to action, the final paragraph of your blog post shouldn’t leave the reader wondering what to do next. According to Dan Zarrella, a social media scientist for HubSpot, you should avoid adverbs and use action verbs for the best results in your CTA copy.

The longer you struggle with writer’s block, the harder it is to break through that mental barricade. Knowledge of solid blogging structure and elements that produce the biggest impact is the way to get your writing done in less time while still getting the comments and sign-ups you want. Are there other key elements of writing a blog post you think we missed? Let us know in the comments.