Imagine you had a magic formula you could tap into whenever you wanted to write a blog post.
Fortunately, content frameworks are just that: ready to use formats that make it easier to write engaging blog posts.
Content frameworks offer benefits to you and your readers. These simple formats keep your focus on the goal of your content. They’re versatile; use a content framework for a blog post or social media update.
Best of all, they’re designed to provide practical value for your audience.
In this post, we’ll look at some of the most popular blog post frameworks to help you write compelling content in a snap.
Three easy blog post frameworks
Once you know about content frameworks, you’ll start seeing them everywhere.
I first learned about these ideas during a blogging course from Smartblogger. And then I spotted them in action on serious news sites, clickbait sites, and personal blogs. Different publishers were using these formats with varying degrees of success.
In this post, we’ll look at three content frameworks:
- The why post
- The how-to post
- The list post
BuzzSumo studied 100 million headlines and these three headline types emerged as the most shared.
Content frameworks work because they’re based on the most popular online content, the blog posts that get read and shared by readers across the web.
The thing about frameworks is that you don’t need to follow them blindly. What I like about formats is they give the focus you need to articulate your ideas and write fast. Use them only where they make sense and help you convey your point.
Let’s dig into the best content frameworks.
1. Why post
You’ve probably seen the Why post.
Here’s an example of popular Why post from Medium:
Why You Don’t Need To Read Those Productivity Guides
Your why post might discuss an idea and why, or maybe why not, you support the notion. In the example, the writer argues against an accepted opinion (you need to read productivity guide) to offer a fresh take on the subject.
Here’s an opportunity to express your views and share your thinking around topics of interest in your industry.
2. List post
There’s a reason list posts have endured as one of the most popular blog post formats.
List posts are packed full of action points for the reader. Not only that, but list posts make for easy reading; it’s designed for quick scanning.
So, as you can imagine, these kinds of posts are especially useful in the age of information overload.
Think about it:
Your audience is constantly being bombarded by content. List posts distil key information into a simple format that’s easy to scan, even if you’re speed reading.
This NPR post examined our love for lists:
“People are attracted to lists because we live in an era of overstimulation, especially in terms of information… lists help us in organizing what is otherwise overwhelming.” said David Wallechinsky, a co-author of the fabulous Book of Lists.
And the Book of Lists was published in 1977. Today, readers will only spend 15 seconds reading a blog post, according to Chartbeat.
List posts are great when you’re on a tight deadline. Typically, they require less research, especially when you’re writing about a familiar topic.
Here’s tips for crafting the perfect list post from Copyblogger:
- Write the post first and decide on the number points afterwards, writes Sonia Simone. By writing the content first, you avoid trying to come up with points to live up the number you already decided. The result? Less filler and more useful content.
- Understand what reader problem you’re solving. What’s their concerns? What are they yearning for? To be of true value, your list post needs to touch on those points.
3. How-to
The benefit of how-to articles is two-fold: your readers get helpful content and you establish your credibility in your niche.
When you write a how to post, you’re providing an easy guide for something you audience wants to do.
Maybe they want to do more of something, e.g., How to Win More Customers
Perhaps, they want to stop doing something, e.g., How to Quit Bad Habits
Here’s an example of a How to outline:
- Opening: identifying with the problem. This is your opportunity to show you understand your reader and the problem they’re facing.
- List the steps they need to follow to achieve the desired outcome:
- Step 1
- Step 2
- Step 3
- Closing: what do you want your reader to do once they’ve finished reading?
How-to posts solve read problems. Raise your hand if you’ve ever used a how-to post to achieve anything, from gardening to home-remedies to quick tech fixes. To bring real value, include specific and detailed advice.
The BuzzSumo study revealed the following popular how-to headlines:
- How to get
- How to make
It doesn’t matter what industry you’re in, you can likely identify things your readers would like to achieve. A how-to post is an ideal way to get help them get the job done.
That’s it. Now you have three formats you can use the next time you write content. Start with your reader and set out to solve one of their problems.
