Steps to creating an outstanding content outline for Technical Writers

Our previous article on creating a content brief already set the foundation for developing compelling content by defining goals, conducting keyword research, identifying the target keyword and the target audience, and formulating engaging titles. While the brief sets the direction, a content outline is the detailed plan that guides you to your destination.

When you see content writing as problem-solving, a content outline is, therefore, a strategic plan that details how to address your audience’s needs and pain points. It builds on the content brief by providing a detailed structure, highlighting the unique angle, establishing a clear flow, and determining the best approach.

A well-crafted outline gives you a clear path from start to finish. Writing then becomes a matter of expanding the outline, enriching it with detailed information and engaging stories.

This guide will walk you through the content outline process for your next technical article. You’ll learn about key considerations to help you create outstanding and helpful content, such as the angle, writing framework, structuring your outline, and a content outline template.

Here are the steps to creating an outstanding content outline:

1. Review your content brief and absorb all the information.
2. Conduct in-depth research to fully grasp the problem scope and potential solutions.
3. Determine a unique perspective for your content.
4. Select a suitable writing framework.
5. Start outlining your headings and supporting texts logically.

What is a content outline?

A content outline is a structured overview of your final content, from main points to supporting details. It’s the skeleton that supports the whole body of your content.

The content outline answers questions like: What core ideas do you want to convey? How will these points be organized (e.g., chronological, problem-solution)? Which points are primary, and which are supporting details?

Using the previous example for our "CI/CD Pipeline Implementation" blog post, a content outline will detail the main steps of setting up a CI/CD pipeline:

• Configuring the repository, setting up build and test stages, and deploying to production.
• Key concepts to explain might include continuous integration, delivery, and deployment.
• Critical tools to highlight could be Jenkins, Docker, and Kubernetes.

By outlining your content, you create a clear foundation for your writing, making the actual writing process more efficient and effective.

Here’s a real example of a content outline:

Why do you need a content outline?

Creating a content outline isn’t that easy. You must thoroughly understand the topic, anticipate reader needs, and structure information effectively. This is why the process is often time-consuming and involves critical thinking, creativity, and attention to detail. Yet you might find the writing process difficult without concrete thoughts under each subheading.

Even worse, creating a poorly structured tutorial can result in misleading information, like incorrect steps or explanations, causing errors in implementation. Your audience wastes time troubleshooting, gets frustrated, loses trust, and ultimately avoids your content and product.

With a solid content outline, you will:

• Create more informative, engaging, and valuable content that aligns with your content strategy.
• Provide a well-structured plan that helps prevent misleading information and errors.
• Reduce the risk of your audience avoiding your content and product due to poorly structured or incorrect details.
• Save time and energy in the long run.
• Stay focused and prevent writer's block.
• Facilitate collaboration between content managers, editors, writers, and feedback gathering.
• Write content that meets SEO requirements, including optimizing for target keywords, creating a compelling meta description, and ensuring proper use of header tags.

Steps to creating content outlines

Follow these steps to create effective content outlines:

1. Review the brief and absorb all the required information.

To develop effective content outlines, thoroughly understand the content brief. Absorb key details like the content’s goal, target audience, and primary keywords. Pay attention to the desired outcomes, the audience's technical background, and specific pain points. Note any required structure, style guidelines, and internal or external linking opportunities.

This deep understanding will help you create a focused outline that covers all necessary information, aligns with SEO best practices, and addresses the audience’s needs. Carefully reviewing the brief will save time and effort in the later stages of the content creation process.

2. Investigate the problem and potential solution.

You've already laid the groundwork for keyword research using the SERP and keyword research tools. Now, it's time to go deeper into the heart of the matter. What specific challenges do users face when implementing a CI/CD pipeline? What are the pain points that your content can solve?

• Consume as much content as possible on the topic.
• Read blog posts and articles, watch videos, and participate in online forums.
• Collect quotes, statistics, and case studies to support your claims.
• Look for recurring themes, questions, and challenges mentioned by users.

By immersing yourself in various content, you'll develop a well-rounded understanding of the problem space. For instance, when researching "implementing a CI/CD pipeline," you might discover that many developers struggle with integrating testing into their pipelines or automating deployment to production environments.

These insights can help you tailor your content to address these pain points and provide valuable solutions. We have a more detailed guide on how to develop technical content ideas.

3. Define your angle and Unique Selling Proposition (USP).

An Angle is your perspective on a topic. It’s how you approach the subject matter. It's your unique viewpoint or slant. A USP, on the other hand, is the specific benefit or value proposition you offer. It’s your unique selling point - why someone should choose your content over others.

Although this is an extensive topic that requires its article, you can identify your angle and USP by asking yourself:

• What problem does my content solve?
• Who has this problem?
• What unique perspective do I bring to the table?
• What makes my content more valuable than others?

Moreover, an angle can help you refine your content title. For instance, while other articles were about 'how to create a content brief,' my angle was on 'how to create a content brief for TECHNICAL WRITERS.' The article is now sitting on the top of giants with a pretty featured snippet!

4. Choose a writing framework.

I’ll argue that all forms of content, whether technical or marketing, aim to convince someone to take action. Yeah, all content is sales materials (some are just subtle). Your presentation can distinguish between a stellar article that drives action or an uninspiring collection of instructions.

Understandably, most technical writers don’t have copywriting skills, yet you need these skills to be an effective communicator. A writing framework will help you structure your approach convincingly. Here are four common frameworks to adopt:

PAS (Problem, Agitate, Solution)

This is the most common and intuitive framework. It helps you identify the problem upfront, get specific, and present a solution. For a CI/CD implementation tutorial, you might identify the problem of manual deployments, highlight the inefficiencies and risks involved, and then demonstrate how automating the process with Jenkins solves these issues.

HTAS (Hook, Thesis, Antithesis, Synthesis)

This framework builds intrigue, presents an opinion, recognizes a barrier, and shares a way through. You could start with a compelling fact about CI/CD, argue the importance of continuous deployment, acknowledge the challenges of setting it up, and explain how using Jenkins simplifies the process.

SCQA (Situation, Complication, Question, Answer)

This framework sets the stage, pokes the pain point, builds intrigue, and dangles the solution. Summarize the current state of software deployment, discuss the complications of traditional methods, pose the question of improving, and provide a step-by-step guide to CI/CD implementation using Jenkins.

BLUF (Bottom Line Up Front)

This framework answers intent immediately, prevents the reader from bouncing, and maintains curiosity to learn more. Start with the key benefit of CI/CD: "Automate your deployments and reduce errors with CI/CD," then dive into the details.

Using these frameworks helps you create compelling, structured content that effectively communicates your message and drives action.

5. Start outlining your headings logically.

This is where the real work begins. Building a robust outline involves defining your content's structure, from overarching themes to granular subtopics. Your choice of headings and their arrangement will impact the overall quality of your piece.

Headings make your content easier to read by breaking down complex information into smaller sections. They also guide both you and your readers through the content. By carefully choosing your headings and organizing them clearly (H2, H3, H4, etc.), you create a solid structure for your content.

To do this, you need to:

1. Revisit the SERP page.

Take another look at top-ranking articles of the search engine results and how competitors structured their content for inspiration.

I noticed that the first article on "CI/CD Pipeline Implementation" covered several essential points that we should include:

• H2: Understanding CI/CD
• H2: Setting up a CI/CD Pipeline
• H3: Development
• H3: Build
• H3: Testing
• H3: Deploy

Another article discusses the benefits, key differences, setup processes, CI/CD pipeline components, best practices, and case studies.

2. Review the People Also Ask (PAA) and related searches.

We already conducted this research during the content brief phase, and this is the time to carefully select which questions and long tail keywords to incorporate into the final outline. For example, "What is CI/CD pipeline implementation?" and "What are the steps in a CI/CD pipeline?" directly align with my topic. I’ll definitely include this.

Additionally, exploring the related searches section revealed valuable questions like "CI/CD pipeline implementation example" and "How to create a CI/CD pipeline with Jenkins." I'll incorporate these into my outline as well.

Use these tips to choose your headings:

1. Align your headings with search intent.

Optimize your headings with relevant LSI keywords. LSI keywords are related terms or phrases that help search engines understand your content’s topic.

For our primary keyword of “CI/CD pipeline,” LSI keywords might include “continuous integration,” “continuous delivery,” “DevOps,” “automation,” “deployment pipeline,” and “agile development.” As discussed earlier, incorporate questions from platforms like Google's People Also Ask, Reddit, or Quora to address user queries directly.

2. Learn from competitors.

You can use a content optimization tool like Frase or Surfer to analyze competitor outlines. Identify their strongest points and incorporate them into your structure. Remember, you're aiming to create something better, not replicate. Here’s how I used Frase to scoop the competitor’s heading structure for this article.

3. Expand your outline by adding H3s and H4s.

Clearly define the key takeaways for each section. Ask yourself, "What specific knowledge or action do I want readers to gain from this part?" Competitor analysis can also provide insights into subtopic structure.

4. Summarize the main points under each heading.

Ensure your outline flows logically from one section to the next. If necessary, rearrange or restructure to improve coherence. Finally, add notes, relevant statistics, internal links, external links, or visuals to support your content.

5. Use a narrative-style subheading.

The best writers tell stories with their content, and subheadings are the opening act of that story. Instead of simply stating a topic, tell a mini-story that hints at the content. I usually capture the main points of the paragraph narratively. For instance, instead of going with ‘Benefits of CI/CD Pipeline,' I'll do something like 'These are ways CI/CD Pipeline benefits you.' (Not the perfect example, but you get? 😉)

This approach grabs the reader's attention, gets them involved, and sets the tone for the following content. It invites the reader to continue reading to discover the story behind the subheading.

Putting it all together: Sample content outline template

You’ve come this far. Congratulations! Now, let’s combine all these tips into a sample content outline template you can refer to.

Final thoughts

You need more than following Google's rules to stand out in search results. Understanding what people are searching for is important, but it shouldn't control how you write. The best content combines following search guidelines with fresh ideas. Look for parts of your topic that others haven't covered well. Try new ways to present your information. Ensure your content is both helpful and engaging to your audience. This is an effective way to break the cycle of uninteresting and shallow content that readers have unfortunately come to anticipate. If SEO is your goal, you want to hit the SEO-driven content sweet spot.

For more information on this topic, read our guide on creating differentiated SEO content.