{"id":91517,"date":"2017-10-04T00:00:44","date_gmt":"2017-10-03T13:00:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/problogger.com\/?p=91517"},"modified":"2017-10-03T21:11:23","modified_gmt":"2017-10-03T10:11:23","slug":"plan-blog-post-start-finish","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/problogger.com\/plan-blog-post-start-finish\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Plan Your Blog Post from Start to Finish"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"PlanThis is a post by ProBlogger expert Ali Luke<\/em><\/p>\n

Do you plan your blog posts? Or do you dive straight into the writing?<\/p>\n

A lot of bloggers barely plan their posts (if they plan them at all). They\u2019re either too eager to get started, or feel rushed and see planning as a waste of time.<\/p>\n

But taking just five minutes to plan your posts can make a huge difference to your blogging.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s why.<\/p>\n

Five Great Reasons to Plan Your Posts Before You Start Writing<\/h2>\n

#1: More Planning = Less Editing<\/h3>\n

By spending five minutes planning, you can often save yourself 15 or 30 minutes of editing. If it\u2019s clear at the planning stage that a post isn\u2019t quite going to work, you can easily change it before you start writing, which will save a lot of time and effort.<\/p>\n

#2: A Good Plan Makes it Easier to Write<\/h3>\n

While some bloggers feel that planning kills their spontaneity, I find a plan liberating. It\u2019s much easier to write when you\u2019re not trying to keep everything in your head and constantly worrying you\u2019ll forget the next three points you want to make.<\/p>\n

#3: Well-Planned Posts are More Engaging for Your Readers<\/h3>\n

If your post wanders off the point and doesn\u2019t deliver on what you promised in the headline or introduction, readers will understandably get fed up. They may not finish reading it. And they certainly won\u2019t be eagerly subscribing to your blog for more.<\/p>\n

#4: Planning Can Help You Come Up with More Ideas<\/h3>\n

The process of writing down your ideas and getting them into a structure can often spark off new ideas. Some may help you deepen the post you\u2019re planning, while others may give you the seed for a whole new post. If you find it hard to come up with new post ideas, plan more.<\/p>\n

#5: You May Have to Plan if You\u2019re Working With an Editor<\/h3>\n

Chances are that at some point in your blogging career you\u2019ll have to write a plan. If you pitch a guest post or a freelance piece, you\u2019ll often be asked for an outline. If you\u2019ve never planned your own posts, writing a plan for someone else to read may feel very daunting. So get some practice in now.<\/p>\n

Before I run through how to create a plan for your next blog post, let\u2019s take a quick look at what a plan might actually look like.<\/p>\n

The Plan for One of My ProBlogger Posts<\/h2>\n

Initial idea:<\/em> \u201cShould You Stop Taking Comments on Your Blog?\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve been blogging for so long my ideas often take the form of potential titles, as this one did. In the end the title became \u201cShould You Disable Comments on Your Blog?<\/a>\u201d (which is far more succinct), but it was good enough for the planning phase.<\/p>\n

The Plan<\/h3>\n

This is the brief version of my plan for the post:<\/p>\n

Introduction \u2013 why close comments?<\/em><\/p>\n

Prominent bloggers who removed comments \u2013 Steve Pavlina, Seth Godin, Copyblogger (brought them back), Michael Hyatt (brought them back).<\/em><\/p>\n

Carol Tice (Make a Living Writing) \u2013 always answered comments but clearly not sustainable.<\/em><\/p>\n

Deciding what to do about comments<\/em><\/p>\n

Close them or not? Link to Charlie Gilkey\u2019s post<\/em><\/p>\n

Other options:<\/em><\/p>\n

– Anti-spam plugin<\/em><\/p>\n

– Close comments on old posts<\/em><\/p>\n

– Use Disqus \/ FB comments<\/em><\/p>\n

Conclusion \u2013 comments are valuable but you don\u2019t NEED to have them on your blog<\/em><\/p>\n

Now this is a very bare-bones plan. This might be enough for some bloggers, but I tend to flesh out each section with a few more notes before I start writing. (I\u2019ll be recommending it as part of your own planning system in a moment.)<\/p>\n

You may also have noticed that my plan has \u201cIntroduction\u201d at the start and \u201cConclusion\u201d at the end. Every plan I write includes these sections, and making sure I have those in place helps to give my posts a solid structure.<\/p>\n

Using a Standard Template for Your Blog Posts<\/h2>\n

At its most basic, a good blog post template looks like this:<\/p>\n