A Blog Post Framework That Works Every Time

Blogging and creating high-quality content can be hard, especially if you’re not a writer.

When we work with our clients on their social business strategy, we try to get their employees and teams to become more comfortable sharing and creating content on social media. Your employees are the life of your brand, and many of them are experts in what they do.

Some of your team members could even help develop thought leadership for the company by writing and creating content. But, your team needs training, resources, templates, and frameworks to make it easier to contribute.

Since I have a lot of experience in writing content, I decided to create a blog post framework for my colleagues. I use this every time I sit down and write. I tried a lot of different things and analyzed a lot of data to come up with this process.

So here it is! You can also access a PDF version [no download required] that you can print or send over to colleagues. Hope you enjoy! Let me know if you have any questions or feedback.

Blog Post Framework

Writing can be hard and time-consuming unless you have a valid framework to help. So you’re in luck! 🙂

When thinking about writing a blog post, go through the following steps to make it much easier to write.

Frame the main idea of your blog post, and write it as a working title. What do you want the blog post to be about?
Create a skeleton draft (shown below).
Come up with 2-5 strong points you want to touch on in the article. These will be the headings.
Come up with 3-5 bullets for practical tips you should include in towards the end of your article.
Come up with a closing argument (not a summary)
Fill out your skeleton draft with content.
Proofread, and make someone else go through it.
Re-work the title.
Send to the editor for publishing.

Now let’s go through the elements in more detail:

[Draft Title]

Start by writing down a draft title of your post. This will help frame the whole concept of the post.

[**Brief Intro**]

In this section, write a few sentences that will set the tone and direction for your post. For example, your draft intro could look something like this:

The way we communicate has changed. Now, conversations start around content.

Find Altimeter Group quote about Culture of Content

Find Social Media usage stats

By empowering employees to share content strategically, you’re investing in your employees, your brand, and consumer trust.

Add a few more thoughts…

Finish off the intro section with a question. This will help frame the next point.

[Header #1: First Point]

This is your first segway into the hard-hitting point of your blog. After prefacing the post with your intro, use this section to write an initial point that leads to the meat of the article.

For example, after writing an introduction centered around content strategy across the enterprise, a first point might be something like “Content Serves A Purpose.” You would then proceed to write a couple paragraphs about how and why content serves a purpose.

Your last sentence should lead into your next post. Sometimes it’s easier to finish a section with a thought-provoking question.

[Header #2-4: Body]

The next few headers should lead readers through your different arguments that support the statements you make in your intro and first header. For example, if we continue with the flow of the intro and header #1 of “Content Serves A Purpose,” the following could be headers that would lead readers through a story:

Data Is Your Knowledge Source For Content

Sharing Knowledge And Insights With Your Team

Proceed with the same as your first point, and fill out the sections with a few paragraphs.

[Next Header: Main Point/Hitting Point]

This is the section of your body where you hit the readers with the main idea behind your post. This section is usually where you would add a bit of a soft sales pitch, or add something highly controversial. You want readers to react at to this point (think of it as an AHA! moment).

An example heading could be “The Knowledge Library – A Tool Designed For Your Employees.” This would be the main selling point of the article, based on the intro and headings presented above.

At the end of this section, finish off with a statement that reinforces the readers that they now understand the value behind your idea, but how do they do it. E.g. “Now you understand the value content can bring to your organization and employees. But what features would a Knowledge Library need?”

[Heading: Actionable Tips]

After presenting the main ideas and theories for your post, it’s good to leave people with a few actionable tips. For stuff that’s a bit more proprietary, present tips in the form of questions.

To make this section easier to read, add one or two paragraphs at the start of the section, then present the tips in bullet points.

A few examples for headings in this section (following the headings presented previously) could be:

What Features Should A Knowledge Library Have?

What Content Should You Include In A Knowledge Library?

After presenting your bullets, finish off this section with a brief paragraph.

[Closing Thoughts]

This section should briefly recap the main ideas of your post, but it isn’t meant to be a summary. Adding a provocative statement, your own opinion on the topic, a couple of examples (or case studies), etc., will help close of your post and make you look like a thought leader.

[List of questions]

Always close of the post with 2-3 questions the readers should think about when they leave.

[CTA]

Add some sort of call to action. If it’s a post meant to generate leads, you might want to add a button or a link to request a demo. If the post is a bit more on the thought leadership side, you might want to encourage people to leave a comment or feedback and ask them to share with colleagues.

This framework should really help with shaping ideas for blog posts and getting through writing efficiently.

With practice, you’ll be able to write posts with 1,000+ words in less than 2 hours.

Here are a few tips to remember while writing your post:

Remember, we are in the social media and content marketing industry. The people we interact with are very friendly. This tone should be reflected in your post.
Don’t take yourself too seriously. Add your personality, and don’t be scared of using emojis or made up words. It’s fun. After all, we are selling employee personal brands. Showcase this through your post.
Don’t be too much of a stickler for grammar. Write in a conversational tone. When blogging, it’s OK to start a sentence with But, And, or So.
Connect with your editor to help brainstorm ideas. This will help, and make sure the content is aligned with our sales and marketing goals.
Always write from experience. It’s 10x harder to write about topics you’re not familiar with. Writing from experience will definitely speed up the process.

Here are a few posts that used this framework:

One last tip to finish off: Consider writing your skeleton draft, or your complete draft for that matter, with pen and paper. It limits the distractions and puts you in a writing frame of mind. You can polish off the post when you type up your draft. View Printable Version

Once you have a great published blog, it’s time to share it! Download our guide on what content should be posted on which social channel.

A Blog Post Framework That Works Every Time

Blog Post Framework