How to make twice as much impact with every blog post outline (Part 1)

In the past three years, I've written 692 blog posts (give or take). I've also helped my B2B and SaaS clients win rich snippet placements, rank #1, #2, and #3 for lucrative keywords, and I've seen sales go up by the hundreds from a single blog post.

My "secret"? Smart blog post outlining helped get me there.

Here's what I do squeeze the most juice out of each and every single one:

• Reverse engineer Google

Search intent is something I talk about often but it's honestly so important that it's worth bringing up again. I do my research in three stages that I call: auto-fill, search results, and nuggets.

First, I use Google's homepage and I begin typing in the keyword to see what related phrases the search engine suggests. These help me understand the context of searches and get ideas for headers. For B2B brands, make note of any competitor names that come up or other juicy BOFU topics that use words like "alternatives" and anything that has to do with actually using products like yours.

Next, I hit enter and do my best Veronica Mars impression. Here's where you want to sleuth out the difference between what you thought this post should be about and what answer people are actually looking for.

Check out PAA questions, SERP features, and the angle each top results takes for this topic. For my SaaS clients I typically make note if sites like G2 or other review sites come up since that might be a great opportunity to pull quotes from happy customers.

Finally, pan for gold through the related image search terms, topic cards, and "people also search for" phrases. Include whatever is relevant. Or use your findings to inspire additional sections, headers, and hot takes. In both B2B and SaaS, this means driving forward the idea that:

• you are a leader in the space,
• you have something fresh to add to the search engine conversation,
• and you can provide searchers with everything already on the first page AND MORE.

HINT: "More" can mean a lot of things. But a new angle, better research, and additional quotes are a great place to start.

Magnetize leads through a solid blog funnel

Want even more personalized advice on how to make $$$ on your established B2B or SaaS blog sales funnel? Sign up for a free 30-minute blog consultation where I'll give you my expert opinion on what is or isn't working followed by some actionable takeaways.

Up next, explore what "Last Week Tonight" taught me about B2B blog writing.