You’ve finally carved out a moment to sit down, tea in hand, and bang out a business blog post. But as you fire up your laptop and glimpse that blank page staring back at you, your confidence plummets and procrastination whispers: “you can’t do this! Stop pretending you’re a writer and get back to Insta for a lovely little doomscroll.”
If you know this feeling, you need a business blog template showing you EXACTLY how to structure a blog with zero margin for procrastination.
I know how busy you are, so let’s maximise the time you’ve got and crack on with the task in hand before your tea goes cold!
What is a business blog?
Before we dive straight into your free blog template, let’s backtrack slightly and recap on what a business blog is and why you should defo be writing them.
After all, a little insight into why you’re doing this and what goes into writing the perfect blog will allow you to make the most of your blog template and set you up for success.
If you’re already clued up, jump to the next header.
If you’re still unsure, check out this blog for your crash course in business blogging to bring you up to speed.
All caught up? On we go.
How to structure a business blog
Structuring a blog may feel vague and confusing right now, but you’re about to take a shortcut to business blogging success by learning a foolproof formula you can use every time.
If you’ve done a little research into what to blog about (which is well worth doing for optimal results), you’ll have an idea of what your ideal customer is trying to find out about your product or service.
Tips to write a blog introduction
Firstly, let’s kick off with your blog introduction.
Summarise your chosen topic in a couple of paragraphs, ensuring you include your keyword in the first 150 words.
If you’re unfamiliar with the term ‘keyword’, don’t panic. This is a word or term you’re hoping your blog will show up on Google for when people search it, e.g. gifts for dog owners.
Be clear about what your blog is going to explain/show/teach your reader. There are plenty of blogs out there and you only have a few seconds to draw readers in, so make sure you break the topic down so well they know it’s exactly what they’re looking for.
Remember, you can always go back and polish your intro once you’ve fleshed out the rest of your blog. So, don’t overthink it – simply write a couple of sentences here to get some words on a page.
You may be wondering about your blog headline – and I have so much to say on this I’m going to dedicate a separate blog post to it, so sit tight and keep your eyes peeled!
Use your blog headers as section titles
Next, choose three to six questions around your chosen blog topic and use these as your headers.
A well-structured blog features multiple headers, with no more than 300 words under each one.
Think of your headers as section titles and formulate them as questions you’ll answer in the body copy underneath.
For example, if you’re writing a blog about life coaching to introduce your readers to the concept, your headers may be as follows:
- What is life coaching?
- Who is life coaching for?
- How can life coaching help me?
- How much does life coaching cost?
- Does life coaching actually work?
True story: it took me 30 seconds to find these questions on Answer The Public, which compiles real data from people browsing search engines like Google.
If you’re a life coach writing a blog on this subject, these should be simple questions you can answer neatly in under 300 words, as you would if someone approached you at a networking meeting to find out more about your job.
When I’m laying out a blog, I like to organise my headers first. Often, the literal act of typing them onto the page is my train out of the procrastination station. Words on paper are a powerful way to banish writer’s block, so getting your headers down is a smart move.
Writing your sections
Now you have some headers in place, you can begin filling in the gaps. You know your headers are questions to be answered, so let’s get answering.
Here are a few blog writing tips to make this part easier:
- Type how you speak (within reason)
- Use bullet points and numbered lists – great for skimmers and SEO
- Mix short and long sentences
- Focus on benefits, rather than features
- Include statistics to support your points
How to conclude a blog
Every good story needs an ending, and your blog is no exception.
Your conclusion will round up the points you’ve made and summarise the main message of your blog. We know 43% of people skim read blogs (a stat I actually find surprisingly low!), so we incorporate formats like bullet points and plentiful headers to allow for hot takes.
Naturally, skimmers will skip to the end of your blog, picking out bits of interest along the way, so finishing with a bang is critical.
One simple sentence can give your reader all they need to know, and it’s a good exercise in summarising and drilling down into what’s important.
Check the final two paragraphs of this blog to see my conclusion.
Add a call to action
Your call to action is crucial. Wondering: “what is a call to action?”? Allow me to explain.
A call to action is a marketing term for an instruction we give to a reader telling them what to do next. You’ll use them at the end of every blog, and also in social captions, emails, landing pages, and more.
A call to action, also known as a CTA, doesn’t have to be salesy, so don’t panic if your blog is purely informative and you’re paranoid about launching into a sales spiel and turning readers off.
If your blog’s purpose to inform and educate your reader at an earlier stage in the buying process, use your CTA to nudge them along in their journey.
Unsalesy call to action examples include:
- Read another blog next
- Follow our social accounts
- Subscribe to our newsletter
- Download your free blog template
What’s critical to remember is this. Your reader is on your website, reading what you have to say. They’re buying into you and unless you make it clear what you want them to do next, they’re unlikely to stick around.
So, make your CTA count by keeping that connection going and giving them even more value to push them further towards that purchase.
Download your free blog template
Here comes my conclusion 😉 >>>
Now you know a well-structured blog features a short intro detailing what you’ll cover, several headers as section titles, a clear conclusion summarising your points, and a call to action telling your reader what to do next.
Use this as your blueprint for every future blog to save time and stay on track. Need a little more help? Download your free blog template to set yourself up for ultimate business blogging success.