{"id":142709,"date":"2022-06-03T02:52:58","date_gmt":"2022-06-03T07:52:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/?p=142709"},"modified":"2023-08-15T04:52:20","modified_gmt":"2023-08-15T09:52:20","slug":"content-outline","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/content-outline\/","title":{"rendered":"Content Outlines: How to Write Better Content Faster"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"intro-txt\">What&nbsp;if I told you that you could write faster, better, and in a way that increases your odds of ranking highly on Google\u2019s search results?<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Well, you can\u2014with content outlines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Outlining your content can improve your writing efficiency and content flow, as well as ensure you include the required bits for SEO in every article.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I\u2019ve personally outlined thousands of articles over the last 10 years, and it\u2019s been the key to keeping up with the constantly changing pace and need for ever-more and ever-better content.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In this guide, you will learn the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"#1-what-is-a-content-outline\">What&nbsp;a content outline is<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#2-why-you-should-outline-your-content\">Why you should always outline your content<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#3-download-our-content-outline-template\">Our content outline template<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#4-how-to-outline-your-content-in-five-steps\">How to outline your content in five simple steps&nbsp;<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"post-nav-link clearfix\" id=\"section1\"><a class=\"subhead-anchor\" data-tip=\"tooltip__copielink\" rel=\"#section1\"><svg width=\"19\" height=\"19\" viewBox=\"0 0 14 14\" style><g fill=\"none\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\"><path d=\"M0 0h14v14H0z\" \/><path d=\"M7.45 9.887l-1.62 1.621c-.92.92-2.418.92-3.338 0a2.364 2.364 0 0 1 0-3.339l1.62-1.62-1.273-1.272-1.62 1.62a4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.885 5.884l1.62-1.62L7.45 9.886zM5.527 5.135L7.17 3.492c.92-.92 2.418-.92 3.339 0 .92.92.92 2.418 0 3.339L8.866 8.473l1.272 1.273 1.644-1.643A4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.897 2.22L4.254 3.863l1.272 1.272zm-.66 3.998a.749.749 0 0 1 0-1.06l2.208-2.206a.749.749 0 1 1 1.06 1.06L5.928 9.133a.75.75 0 0 1-1.061 0z\" style \/><\/g><\/svg><\/a><div class=\"link-text\" data-anchor=\"What is a content outline?\" data-section=\"1-what-is-a-content-outline\">\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h.2ppxx52dbnhi\">What is a content outline?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>A content outline is a detailed overview of what your article will include.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>My outlines always include the headings and subheadings of the article (H2s, H3s, etc.). The outlines also include a look at the competing content in Google and important questions to address or long-tail keywords to be included.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>They also include things like the goal of the article, the approach angle, the unique selling proposition, and more. We\u2019ll look at these in more detail later in the section discussing how&nbsp;to outline your content. But&nbsp;first\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"post-nav-link clearfix\" id=\"section1\"><a class=\"subhead-anchor\" data-tip=\"tooltip__copielink\" rel=\"#section1\"><svg width=\"19\" height=\"19\" viewBox=\"0 0 14 14\" style><g fill=\"none\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\"><path d=\"M0 0h14v14H0z\" \/><path d=\"M7.45 9.887l-1.62 1.621c-.92.92-2.418.92-3.338 0a2.364 2.364 0 0 1 0-3.339l1.62-1.62-1.273-1.272-1.62 1.62a4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.885 5.884l1.62-1.62L7.45 9.886zM5.527 5.135L7.17 3.492c.92-.92 2.418-.92 3.339 0 .92.92.92 2.418 0 3.339L8.866 8.473l1.272 1.273 1.644-1.643A4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.897 2.22L4.254 3.863l1.272 1.272zm-.66 3.998a.749.749 0 0 1 0-1.06l2.208-2.206a.749.749 0 1 1 1.06 1.06L5.928 9.133a.75.75 0 0 1-1.061 0z\" style \/><\/g><\/svg><\/a><div class=\"link-text\" data-anchor=\"Why you should always outline your content\" data-section=\"2-why-you-should-outline-your-content\">\n\n\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h.gzpvzkm0hwe9\">Why you should always outline your content<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>I <em>always<\/em>&nbsp;draft an outline before I start writing an article. This is for several reasons:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>An outline guarantees you include important things <\/strong><strong>for <\/strong><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/what-is-seo\/\">search engine optimization (SEO)<\/a><\/strong>&nbsp;\u2013&nbsp;These include having the right keywords and satisfying the searchers\u2019 intent by addressing their most common questions.<\/li>\n<li><strong>An outline helps you improve the flow of your article before you start writing<\/strong>&nbsp;\u2013 If you just dive into the writing, your ideas can be all over the place and you may have to spend a lot of time reorganizing the information to be more logical\u2026 and this process can be a <em>nightmare<\/em>&nbsp;without an outline.<\/li>\n<li><strong>You can more easily outsource content at scale with proper outlines <\/strong>\u2013 With a great outline, even a mediocre writer can produce great content. If you want to scale up your content production with any level of quality control, good outlines are a necessity.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>So how do you write a great content outline?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"post-nav-link clearfix\" id=\"section1\"><a class=\"subhead-anchor\" data-tip=\"tooltip__copielink\" rel=\"#section1\"><svg width=\"19\" height=\"19\" viewBox=\"0 0 14 14\" style><g fill=\"none\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\"><path d=\"M0 0h14v14H0z\" \/><path d=\"M7.45 9.887l-1.62 1.621c-.92.92-2.418.92-3.338 0a2.364 2.364 0 0 1 0-3.339l1.62-1.62-1.273-1.272-1.62 1.62a4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.885 5.884l1.62-1.62L7.45 9.886zM5.527 5.135L7.17 3.492c.92-.92 2.418-.92 3.339 0 .92.92.92 2.418 0 3.339L8.866 8.473l1.272 1.273 1.644-1.643A4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.897 2.22L4.254 3.863l1.272 1.272zm-.66 3.998a.749.749 0 0 1 0-1.06l2.208-2.206a.749.749 0 1 1 1.06 1.06L5.928 9.133a.75.75 0 0 1-1.061 0z\" style \/><\/g><\/svg><\/a><div class=\"link-text\" data-anchor=\"Download our content outline template\" data-section=\"3-download-our-content-outline-template\">\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h.fnwg9o8e6v97\">Download our content outline template<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/docs.google.com\/document\/u\/4\/d\/1Vg9qJMZJyVCOmAAyuQysTmHmNUUEDTN9wg_NR2KnyHc\/copy\">Click here to make a copy<\/a> of our content outline template.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This template includes everything you need to properly outline your blog articles, including the:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Target keyword.<\/li>\n<li>Search intent of your target keyword.<\/li>\n<li>Approach angle.<\/li>\n<li>Goal of your content.<\/li>\n<li>Unique selling proposition (USP).<\/li>\n<li>Title of the article.<\/li>\n<li>Headings and subheadings of your content.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Don\u2019t worry if any of the above confuses you. I\u2019ll break down what each means in the next section.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"post-nav-link clearfix\" id=\"section1\"><a class=\"subhead-anchor\" data-tip=\"tooltip__copielink\" rel=\"#section1\"><svg width=\"19\" height=\"19\" viewBox=\"0 0 14 14\" style><g fill=\"none\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\"><path d=\"M0 0h14v14H0z\" \/><path d=\"M7.45 9.887l-1.62 1.621c-.92.92-2.418.92-3.338 0a2.364 2.364 0 0 1 0-3.339l1.62-1.62-1.273-1.272-1.62 1.62a4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.885 5.884l1.62-1.62L7.45 9.886zM5.527 5.135L7.17 3.492c.92-.92 2.418-.92 3.339 0 .92.92.92 2.418 0 3.339L8.866 8.473l1.272 1.273 1.644-1.643A4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.897 2.22L4.254 3.863l1.272 1.272zm-.66 3.998a.749.749 0 0 1 0-1.06l2.208-2.206a.749.749 0 1 1 1.06 1.06L5.928 9.133a.75.75 0 0 1-1.061 0z\" style \/><\/g><\/svg><\/a><div class=\"link-text\" data-anchor=\"How to outline your content in five steps\" data-section=\"4-how-to-outline-your-content-in-five-steps\">\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h.8how99tpq74\">How to outline your content in five&nbsp;steps<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Luckily, outlining content is fairly easy once you learn the process. I break down each section of our template outline below:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h.ejd10dnlm55b\">1. Decide on the goal of your article<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Before you do any research or put down any words, the first step is to decide why you\u2019re even creating this piece of content to begin&nbsp;with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Your content can have many goals, such&nbsp;as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Increasing brand awareness.<\/li>\n<li>Explaining use cases for your product(s).<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/what-are-backlinks\/\">Building backlinks<\/a>&nbsp;for SEO.<\/li>\n<li>Growing your email&nbsp;list.<\/li>\n<li>Ranking for keywords on Google to grow traffic.<\/li>\n<li>Etc.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Throughout this guide, I\u2019ll be using ramen noodles as an example.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So let\u2019s say I want to write an article about how to make amazing ramen noodles. My goal is to promote my fake company\u2019s amazing hoisin sauce and build brand awareness. So I put that in under my \u201cgoal\u201d section:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"is-style-default aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/1-goal-section.png\" alt=\"&quot;Goal&quot; section in content outline\"><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h.slu699b2fvna\">2. Pick your target keyword<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>I never write an article without doing some <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/keyword-research\/\">basic keyword research<\/a>&nbsp;first. Even if the intention of your article isn\u2019t to rank for keywords on search engines, having SEO built into&nbsp;every article you write is still good practice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Why?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Because it guarantees you build good habits. You may even be surprised at how much extra traffic you can gain\u2014even from keywords that get almost no searches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For example, I wrote an article about the best places to travel,&nbsp;and its goal was to get links from well-known travel blogs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While outlining, I targeted the keyword \u201cbest places to travel in the world,\u201d which gets about 1,500 searches per month. That article is now ranking for over 200 keywords and gets Google traffic even though SEO wasn\u2019t the&nbsp;goal.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-142712 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/2-site-explorer-overview-wandering-rv.png\" alt=\"Site Explorer overview for The Wandering RV's article\" width=\"1999\" height=\"885\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/2-site-explorer-overview-wandering-rv.png 1999w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/2-site-explorer-overview-wandering-rv-680x301.png 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/2-site-explorer-overview-wandering-rv-768x340.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/2-site-explorer-overview-wandering-rv-1536x680.png 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<p>You can easily perform simple keyword research like this by putting keywords related to what you want to write about into Ahrefs\u2019 <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/keywords-explorer\">Keywords Explorer<\/a>&nbsp;and browsing the results.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For our article about how to make the best bowl of ramen noodles, I start by searching for \u201cramen noodles\u201d in <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/keywords-explorer\">Keywords Explorer<\/a>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"is-style-default aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/3-keywords-explorer-overview.jpg\" alt=\"Keywords Explorer overview for &quot;ramen noodles&quot;\"><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>You can see it gets a whopping 143,000 searches per month. That\u2019s awesome\u2014however, we need to see if our article idea can actually rank for this keyword.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Scroll down, and you\u2019ll see that the search results in the <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/serps\/\">SERP<\/a>&nbsp;overview consist of two product pages (Maruchan and Amazon). Those are followed by some extremely authoritative websites:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"is-style-default aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/4-serp-overview-ramen-noodles.jpg\" alt=\"SERP overview for &quot;ramen noodles&quot;\"><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>In other words, unless you already have a strong website, ranking for this keyword with a guide on how to make ramen noodles will be difficult.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Next, scroll back up and look at the <strong>Keyword ideas<\/strong>&nbsp;panel. Here, you\u2019ll see other ideas for potential keywords to target, such as \u201chow to make ramen noodles.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"is-style-default aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/5-keyword-ideas.png\" alt=\"List of keywords and suggested questions\"><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>If we look at the Overview page for \u201chow to make ramen noodles,\u201d we can see it may be a bit easier to rank highly on Google for this keyword because the competitors aren\u2019t as strong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In fact, the <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/featured-snippets\/\" data-ahr=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/find-featured-snippets\/\">featured snippet<\/a>&nbsp;website has a <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/domain-rating\/#:~:text=What%20is%20Domain%20Rating%3F,Sidenote.\">Domain Rating (DR) score<\/a>&nbsp;of just 20, which signals that even a newer website with fewer backlinks can likely rank for this keyword.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"is-style-default aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/6-serp-overview-how-to-make-ramen-noodles.png\" alt=\"SERP overview for &quot;how to make ramen noodles&quot;\"><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>And that\u2019s how you do basic keyword research! Put your target keyword into your outline, and let\u2019s look at search intent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h.ecwwhcg24j8s\">3. Research your keyword\u2019s search intent and article angle<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Search intent is the <em>why<\/em>&nbsp;behind a search query. Why did the user search for this keyword? What are they looking for?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Search intent is important because it determines the kind of content you should create for a given keyword. There are four primary <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/types-of-search\/\">types of search intent<\/a>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Informational<\/li>\n<li>Navigational<\/li>\n<li>Transactional<\/li>\n<li>Commercial investigation<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>Refer to <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/search-intent\/\">our guide to search intent<\/a>&nbsp;for more information on each of these. For now, let\u2019s continue with the example we used above on \u201chow to make ramen noodles.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This is an <strong>informational<\/strong>&nbsp;keyword. The searcher is looking for information on how to do something.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Most of the articles you will write are going to either have informational intent (what, how, when, etc.) or commercial investigation intent (like \u201cbest X\u201d or \u201cX vs Y\u201d). Navigational intent and transactional intent are for other pages on your site, not blog articles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But search intent goes beyond simply writing \u201cinformational\u201d in a section and calling it a day. That\u2019s where the <em>angle<\/em>&nbsp;of your content comes&nbsp;in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What is the angle your competitors are&nbsp;using?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For example, if we look at \u201chow to make ramen noodles,\u201d we see that the top result talks about how to make ramen noodles <em>from scratch<\/em>. Other results talk about <em>homemade<\/em>&nbsp;ramen noodles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"is-style-default aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/7-serp-overview-how-to-make-ramen-noodles-2.jpg\" alt=\"SERP overview for &quot;how to make ramen noodles&quot;\"><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>The two angles here are making the actual noodles yourself or using prepackaged noodles but making them better with other ingredients. The former is ranking higher on Google, but either angle can&nbsp;work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As long as you use one of these two approaches, you increase your odds of ranking on page #1 of the search results.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Now research the SERPs and use the \u201csearch intent and content angle\u201d section to indicate what kinds of content are currently ranking and what angle YOU want to take with this article.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here\u2019s how mine&nbsp;looks:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"is-style-default aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/8-search-intent-and-content-angle.png\" alt=\"&quot;Search intent and content angle&quot; section in content outline\"><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h.ev77vz2fmakz\">4. Decide on a USP and&nbsp;title<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Your USP is what makes your content different from your competitors (and, thus, makes your article worth clicking on over theirs).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Oftentimes, your USP is made obvious by your title, which is why these steps are mixed together. Let\u2019s look at the USPs of our competitors:<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-142704\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/9-competitor-usps.jpg\" alt=\"Results in SERP overview help us figure out competitors' USPs\" width=\"586\" height=\"546\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/9-competitor-usps.jpg 1172w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/9-competitor-usps-456x425.jpg 456w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/9-competitor-usps-768x716.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 586px) 100vw, 586px\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<p>Many of their titles show exactly what you\u2019ll get from them over everyone else, such as&nbsp;these:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><em>Easy<\/em>&nbsp;Ramen Noodles<\/li>\n<li>Ramen Noodles <em>in the Microwave<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>Perfect<\/em>&nbsp;and <em>Instant<\/em>&nbsp;Ramen Noodles<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>The one that displays its USP the best, however, is the featured snippet result: Ramen Noodles <em>From Scratch (the No-Knead Easy Way)<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This article makes two big promises in the title: The ramen is <em>easy<\/em>&nbsp;and <em>from scratch<\/em>\u2014both of which seem to be what searchers are looking for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Think about how you can make your article stand out among the crowd like these guys did. Dig into the SERPs and the \u201cPeople Also Ask\u201d boxes to try and determine what the searchers are going after. Read forum posts like those on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/\">Reddit<\/a>&nbsp;and try to find ways you can address problems people are having that your competitors aren\u2019t talking about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For my \u201cramen noodles\u201d post, my USP is that our ramen is both from scratch <em>and<\/em>&nbsp;can be improved with better ingredients (something searchers seem to care about). I can also try a slightly different angle and go for authenticity to stand out from the&nbsp;crowd.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Some title ideas can&nbsp;be:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>How to Make Ramen From Scratch (The Easier, Better Way)<\/li>\n<li>How to Make Authentic Japanese-Style Ramen Noodles<\/li>\n<li>This Is Exactly How to Make the Most Delicious Ramen Noodles<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>I always suggest brainstorming multiple title ideas. Then pick what you feel is the best one. This is because your title is so important for getting higher rankings and more traffic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Check out <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/blog-title-formulas\/\">this guide to writing the best blog titles<\/a>&nbsp;for more information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h.oxk7b2rl2x7f\">5. Outline your article with headings and subheadings<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Here\u2019s where the bulk of the outline work comes in. Choosing headings, ordering those headings, and explaining what should go in each section will determine the quality of the final result. It\u2019s also important for <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/on-page-seo\/\">on-page SEO<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This is where you dig into what needs to be covered and what order to cover it in. To do this, we go back to the SERPs once more and look at how competitors wrote their content for inspiration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For example, the top result covers a few major points that we should probably also&nbsp;cover:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>What ramen noodles are made out&nbsp;of<\/li>\n<li>The steps to making your own ramen noodles<\/li>\n<li>An \u201cingredients and instruction\u201d section for the recipe<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>After looking at some other search results, I found they all have some variations of these three points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Beyond looking at the competitors\u2019 content, you can also look at the \u201cPeople Also Ask\u201d box for questions people often search for when searching for the keyword you\u2019re targeting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"is-style-default aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/10-paa-box.png\" alt=\"Questions in PAA box\" width=\"1398\" height=\"430\"><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>If you open a question to expand it, Google will display additional questions. Keep doing that to get more&nbsp;ideas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"is-style-default aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/11-paa-box-2.jpg\" alt=\"Even more questions in PAA box\" width=\"1352\" height=\"824\"><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>Looks like I can add sections on \u201cwhat veggies go well in ramen,\u201d \u201chow to add egg to ramen,\u201d and even \u201cwhat else to eat with ramen\u201d to cover the topic in more detail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Finally, you can look at the related searches at the bottom of the SERPs for some extra&nbsp;ideas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"is-style-default aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/12-related-searches.jpg\" alt=\"Google SERP &quot;Related searches&quot; section \"><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>Based on this, we can add sections on \u201chow to make ramen noodles without a pasta machine,\u201d \u201chow to make ramen noodles better,\u201d etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Moving to our outline, I can create something like this based on my research:<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-142696\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/13-outline.jpg\" alt=\"Except of our content outline template\" width=\"678.5\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/13-outline.jpg 1357w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/13-outline-360x425.jpg 360w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/13-outline-768x906.jpg 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/13-outline-1303x1536.jpg 1303w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1357px) 100vw, 1357px\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<p>You can see I have H2s for all the main headings. Further down, I also have each step as an H3 (you can see that when you <a href=\"https:\/\/docs.google.com\/document\/u\/4\/d\/1Vg9qJMZJyVCOmAAyuQysTmHmNUUEDTN9wg_NR2KnyHc\/copy\">make a copy of the outline template<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Under each heading, I have at least one bullet point explaining what should go in that section so that the writer has more context. The more detailed you are about your expectations in these bullets, the higher the chances of you getting what you want from your writer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And you\u2019re done!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h.l3vt0yxjl64\">Final thoughts<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Having a content outline makes it easier to write content that\u2019s better, faster, and at scale. A great outline means a better chance at ranking on search engines and gives your writers a standard operating procedure to follow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you\u2019re not outlining your content, you\u2019re doing it&nbsp;wrong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Want to learn more? Check out these other helpful guides:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/blog-post-length\/\">How Long Should Blog Posts Be? The \u2018Truth\u2019 About Content Length<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/seo-writing\/\">What Is SEO Writing? How to Be a Better SEO Writer<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/how-to-write-great-content\/\">How to Create Great Content for Search<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Well, you can\u2014with content outlines. Outlining your content can improve your writing efficiency and content flow, as well as ensure you include the required bits for SEO in every article. I\u2019ve personally outlined thousands of articles over the last 10<span class=\"ellipsis\">\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"read-more\">Read more \u203a<\/div>\n<p><!-- end of .read-more --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":174,"featured_media":142732,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wp_typography_post_enhancements_disabled":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[],"coauthors":[434],"class_list":["post-142709","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-content-marketing","odd"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Content Outlines: How to Write Better Content Faster<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A content outline is a detailed overview of what will be in your article. 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