As an information marketer you realize the worth of content. Good content can improve search engine results, thus driving more traffic to your web site. Content that provides value to your visitor keeps them on your site longer, thus increasing your chances of them clicking through to your product page. Content also connects you to people in a personal way, building a relationship that will hopefully be long-lasting.

Hence it stands to reason you want to not merely produce content, but you should also write great articles so as to inspire and motivate action. One of many keys to creating great content isn’t in taking a journalism or creative non-fiction writing course; but rather to outline your content prior to writing it. A predefined article plan can turn a muddled article into an easy to comprehend, benefit-driven masterpiece.

Obviously, when people hear the word “article plan” shivers run up their back as they envision their school teacher standing over them forcing structure upon them. If the word “plan” makes you squirm, then label it a blueprint or map. Whether you name it an article plan, map, outline or other, the key is to create one!

So what’s included in an article plan?

In the beginning you’ll want to start out with the topic of the article. What exactly is it going to be about? You’ll also want to think about the purpose of your article. If you’re creating an article on the subject of hiking, for example, is the purpose gonna be to motivate someone to learn how to hike or are you going to actually tell them how to do it?

Keep the purpose simple for your article. You’re just looking for one main idea; you’re not creating a book. However if you get inspired to write a book, then that’s cool also.

So now you’ve got your topic and your article’s purpose, right?

Let’s say you’re going to tell someone how to hike. This is a “how to” article, then. How to articles ordinarily involve a series of steps. The first step, locate a good pair of hiking shoes. Step two, find a local hiking path that’s easy and so on.

If you are writing a tips article, then that will have a different structure and so too will an article that lists things. If you are writing an article to motivate or inspire, then you’ll want to support your topic with a minimum of three main points. This brings us into the third stage of your article plan…

The Point in Your Article Plan

In this step you’ll start creating the skeleton of the article, or the bones. It is possible to mind map your article at this point, you can simply list the points you want to cover, the tips, the steps and so forth or you can write out a sentence or two describing each point.

Before you start pulling all of it together, you’ll want to go back to the beginning and plan your initial paragraph. This paragraph is possibly the most important paragraph of your article because if it does not motivate readers to continue reading, well…

Your first paragraph need only be a few sentences and it should essentially tell your readers what you are gonna tell them. Continuing with the how to hike example, your first paragraph may read something like this:

“Hiking isn’t just for soldiers and scouts anymore. Today there are thousands of hiking clubs nationwide with people from all walks of life (no pun intended) enjoying this fun way to get and stay in shape. Whether you are hiking alone or in groups the steps to learn to hike are the same.“

Okay, at this time you have your article’s topic (hiking), its purpose (get in shape), your points (hiking shoes, hiking paths, etc.) plus your first paragraph outlined, oops, planned. Now what?

Well, now you’ve got a few options. You could put it aside to write later. This is good if you would like some time to ponder some areas of your article. On the other hand, you can write your article, or you could write your headline. At times it’s easier to write a compelling headline after the article is written and sometimes you’ll have your headline right away, once you’ve created your topic and purpose.

When you’re prepared to write, simply write your content without editing yourself (save the editing for the end). Don’t include your keywords just yet. Don’t correct yourself for spelling and grammar; simply write using the plan you’ve created.

Finally, edit your content, insert your keywords where they feel natural and you’re done. Congratulations, you have just written a fantastic article! And the best part is that with practice, your planning and writing process will get faster! Now, take the first step and start creating your article plan now!

Be good to yourself,

James