How-to blog post template
The how-to guide answers 'how do I…' with a procedure the reader can execute. Search engines favour guides whose steps are explicit and ordered, and readers favour guides that warn them where they will get stuck.
What it is best for
Procedural queries: setting something up, migrating, fixing, evaluating, applying.
The structure, section by section
Title with the verb and the outcome
State the action and its result: 'How to X so that Y'. The outcome is what makes the reader click.
Prerequisites before step one
Everything the reader needs first: accounts, access, versions, budget. Nothing in the steps should surprise them.
Numbered steps, one action each
Each step is one H2 doing one thing, with the command or the exact click, then why it is done that way.
The likely stuck points
After the steps, the two or three places readers actually fail, with the fix for each.
How to know it worked
A check the reader can run to confirm the result — the verification step most guides omit.
Three things that make it work
- Write the steps in the order you would actually do them, then renumber.
- If a step has a sub-list, it is probably two steps.
- A guide with a verifiable outcome is more linkable than one that trails off.