A template sounds like the enemy of good writing. In practice it removes the decisions that were never interesting: where to put the context, how many examples, whether to end with a summary. What remains is the part that needs thought.

The structure below suits how-to articles, explainers, and anything that answers a question a customer might type into a search box. It is not a formula for every post. It is a default you can trust on a busy Tuesday.

Start with the promise

One sentence that states what the reader will be able to do by the end. Not what the post covers, but what changes. By the end you will have a brief a designer can work from without a follow-up call.

Put it in the first paragraph, in plain words. Then add one line on who it is for and one on what it assumes. Readers who are in the wrong place leave early, which is good for everyone.

Give the context in three sentences

Why does this problem exist? What do people usually get wrong? What is at stake if they get it wrong? Three sentences, no history of the industry, no definition of a term everybody knows.

If a definition is genuinely needed, put it in a sentence and move on. Long definitional openings are the most common reason a useful post loses its reader in the first hundred words.

Use one heading per idea

Each section should carry a single point that could be summarised in a sentence. If a heading needs two clauses, it is probably two sections.

Write the headings before the body. The headings alone should read like an outline a colleague could follow, and if they do, the draft will be easy to write and easy to skim.

Put an example under every claim

Advice is forgettable. An example is not. After each recommendation, add a short illustration: a sentence from a real page, a before-and-after, a specific situation where the rule applies.

  • Claim: avoid vague headlines
  • Example: Improve your onboarding versus The three onboarding emails that stop cancellations
  • Why it works: the second names a number and a moment

Do not invent statistics to make a point land. If you do not have a number, use a described situation. Readers can tell the difference, and invented figures eventually get quoted back at you.

Handle the obvious objection

Somewhere in the middle, answer the thought that stops people acting: this takes too long, our team is too small, we already tried something like this. One section, plainly headed, without defensiveness.

This is also where you can say when the advice does not apply. A post that admits its limits is more useful than one that claims universal application, and it is more likely to be shared by people who know the subject.

A template earns its keep at the objection, not at the introduction. That is the section writers skip and readers need.

End with the next action

Not a summary of what you just said. Readers were there. Give them one thing to do: draft the brief, audit three pages, send the questionnaire to one customer. Add a link to the related template or the deeper guide.

Two or three sentences is enough. A long conclusion usually means the post did not end where it should have.

Vary the shape, not the standard. The template has variants. A how-to follows the steps in order. An explainer moves from problem to mechanism to implication. A comparison sets criteria, then applies them. An opinion states the claim, gives the reasoning, and addresses the counterargument.

Keep the same discipline across all four: one promise, one idea per section, examples under claims, an objection handled, a next action. The reader learns the rhythm without noticing it.

Do the pass that templates cannot do

Read the draft aloud. Cut any sentence that only announces what comes next. Check that the first sentence of each section could stand alone in a search result. Look for paragraphs longer than four lines and split them.

Then check the thing templates quietly encourage: repetition. A fixed structure makes it easy to say the same thing in the introduction, the middle, and the ending. Delete the duplicates and the post will feel shorter and stronger.

  • Promise in the first paragraph
  • Audience and assumptions stated
  • Headings written before the draft
  • One idea per section
  • Example under every claim
  • Objection answered in the middle
  • One next action at the end
  • No invented numbers
  • Read aloud before publishing

Keep the template in the same place as the brief and the style guide. When a new writer joins, the template does the explaining, and the first draft arrives closer to finished.