Content Outlines for Websites – All You Need to Know

Ankit Thakkar is a Group Head here, at Infidigit. He is associated with us for the last 4.5 years. He takes care of more than 15 client deliveries, manages a team of more than 40 people and also takes care for product delivery at Infidigit. With his SEO strategies, he has won more than 7 awards in the SEO space. Ankit has always loved taking up new challenges and is focused on managing tasks efficiently and effectively. Helpful and Hardworking are a few of his skills that we love. When not working, he loves reading books, listening to music and watching series. In

Content Outlines for Websites – All You Need to Know

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    Designing a well-designed website is arduous. Apart from the obvious parameters like a good design and layout, it has to have a solid architecture. It also has to be user-friendly. Above all, it has to have good content. The content on a website has to be of different types, has to perform different functions, and should be designed for specific purposes. This process is defined as content outlining. Let’s find out what it is and how it impacts the performance of your website.

    What Is a Content Outline?

    You can think of a content outline as a detailed and insightful version of your website’s sitemap. A sitemap is a visual representation of what your website looks like, and where the content lives on the website. A content outline takes things further, and lists the various types of content on each of the pages, its functionality, and the intent behind the content.

    A content outline is also a blueprint for how your content looks on each page. This blueprint can include various elements like images, headings, call to action (CTA) elements, statistics, and more. It makes for a great starting point to organize and develop your content. You can use it to structure the flow of the article, organize relevant research, and create a polished and ready-to-publish final draft.

    Why Are Content Outlines Important?

    Content outlines help a website’s content-first approach for driving better conversion, engagement, and user satisfaction.

    Content outlines help websites take a content-first approach. This ultimately helps with conversions, better user engagement, and user satisfaction.

    A content outline can help content developers create impeccable brand messaging and compelling content, following which users might go through with the CTA.

    Content is instrumental to the success of a website. Hence, it is crucial to consider this process early in the website development. 

    A Content Outline’s Objective

    A content marketing strategy has multiple points to focus on. While a marketing strategy focuses on driving organic traffic to your website, a content outline strategy helps in writing a product post or a blog post in a streamlined manner.  If you are creating a product or service content, it is necessary to make sure that you don’t just dive in to produce blog posts on a given keyword when creating web content. Start with a content outline to increase your chances of ranking highly on Google’s search results. 

    What is a content outline? – A content outline serves as a roadmap for your blog post. It improves your writing efficiency and content flow. Besides, it ensures that you include all the vital things for search engine optimization. 

    Outlining your content can improve your readability and engagement with the audience. It includes the headings and subheadings of the article and the kind of content and tonality that the consumer is looking for. It also helps in evaluating the competitors’ content ,the long-tail keywords to include, etc.

    One way to do this is to create the article’s skeleton and then start writing it. This helps in creating better content that is more organized, informative, and understandable.

    6 Easy Steps to Outline Your Content

     1. Define the purpose of the content

    The standard process to write a content piece entails researching the internet on a topic, and producing a blog post. But you need to start with a goal. You need to determine why you’re creating the content piece. What message do you want to convey to the users? What should readers learn to do or feel after reading what’s written? 

    A piece of content can be written for various goals, including:

    Remember to have specific and measurable goals. They must also be achievable and relevant to your business. For instance, keeping time-bound goals helps. A definite goal for a blog post would be to give the readers an idea about what the blog is about within 30 minutes or less. This can be done by creating SEO content outline, which in turn makes writing more efficient and effective.

    2. Select the target keyword

    Next, identify the target keyword you want to write about. Many writers skip the keyword research process and write on a topic they believe the target audience wants to read about. But be careful because you might not have the proper judgment.

    Performing keyword research is crucial even if you don’t intend to write an article for search engine ranking. It is a good habit to incorporate SEO in every article you write. 

    Keyword research lets you know which topics are in demand amongst your target audience. If you aren’t making an effort to learn what content your audience wants, you’re being unkind to them. 

    Suppose you’re writing a blog on the “best makeup brands” to get backlinks from popular blogs. Search for relevant keywords in the industry. Target a keyword with high search volume, like “best makeup brands in the USA,” and rank for them on Google to attract more traffic.

    3. Examine the article pitch and keyword’s search intent

    Search intent is one of the most vital ranking factors. It understands the why behind a specific search query. Why is the user interested in this keyword? What is it that they want to read about? If you don’t get the search intent right, you will never have a higher search engine ranking for your article for the desired keyword. 

    Search intent helps you decide the type of content you should write for a particular keyword. Based on search intent, your article’s pitch is another vital aspect to include in the content outline. Find out what it is about the topic that your competitors are covering.  Search for the keyword and see the results on SERP’s first page. 

    Let’s assume you search for “home decoration ideas.” The search may produce results like listicles with images and resources. Writing an article on “how to apply home decoration ideas” will not help you rank high for the keyword.

    4. Determine the Unique Selling Point (USP) and Title

    Think about how your content stands out from the competitors. Is there a USP to attract users? The title of the content outline is a highly vital because it can influence the users to click on the article. Display the USP in the title. 

    Start by searching for the keyword on Google. Many titles you see as top search results highlight exactly what you will get when you read the article. Some examples for “blueberry cheesecake” article titles include:

    • Easy blueberry cheesecake
    • Blueberry cheesecake – no bake, no freeze
    • Perfect blueberry cheesecake in three simple steps

    The third title highlights the USP the best. It makes two promises in the title – perfect and simple, both that can attract the target audience. 

    Look into the different titles you see in SERPs. Explore the “People Also Ask” box  to understand what the users are looking for before deciding on a title.

     5. Include headings and subheadings in your articles

    Once you’ve identified the goal, search intent, title, and target keyword, it is time to format the SEO content outline. Choose the headings and subheadings and their related order. Determine what you will explain under each section. 

    Ensure that you relate each section to a major search term associated with the main keyword. You can include some headings or subheadings from the “People Also Ask” section in SERPs. 

    For example, if you’re writing an article around “blueberry cheesecake,” here are some major points you should cover:

    • The ingredients you need to make blueberry cheesecake
    • The steps to follow
    • Tips to make the perfect cheesecake
    • Recipe card

    The H1 headline is associated with the main search term. All other sections come under an H2 header. If there are subsections for the H2 content, use H3 headers. You will need an H4 if there are subsections of H3 headers.

     6. Create links and Find statistics

    An effective content outline has internal and external link recommendations. Ensure every content piece you produce is linked to another page on your website. For instance, in your “blueberry cheesecake” article, you’d want to include links to other articles on your blog that cover cake recipes, facts about ingredients, measuring instructions, etc. This step helps build topical authority and let Google know you are a subject matter expert. 

    Additionally, include insightful resources and CTAs from external sources. These let the readers know that you’ve spent time researching the topic and wish to provide the best to them. 

    Statistics are another crucial element in your content. You can prove your point with strong statistics but don’t use statistics from more than two years old. Old and irrelevant data in your article is of no benefit to the readers. Always mention the statistic and add a link to the source underneath it as a bullet point. 

    Start Creating Your Content Outline

    Content outlines help content creators to write content that is effective and informative. A good content outline can result in a better ranking for your content on SERPs. Now that you know the importance of a content outline and how you should approach creating one, it is time to start using this practice that can help your website’s SEO.

     

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    Content Outlines for Websites – All You Need to Know