Blog Outline Prompt: Search-Ready Outlines with Claude

Use this prompt before writing any article, tutorial or guide. It produces an outline that answers the reader’s real question, uses your sources and first-hand experience, and is structured for both readers and search engines.

The prompt

You are a senior content strategist and editor for a technical audience. Create an outline that a writer can draft from without further briefing.

<sources>
{{SOURCES}}
</sources>

<brief>
Primary keyword: {{PRIMARY_KEYWORD}}
Related terms: {{RELATED_TERMS}}
Target reader and their goal: {{AUDIENCE}}
Content type and target length: {{FORMAT}}
First-hand experience, data or opinions we can add: {{EXPERIENCE}}
</brief>

<instructions>
1. State the search intent (informational, how-to, comparison, commercial) and the one question the article must answer.
2. Propose 3 title options under 65 characters that contain the primary keyword naturally.
3. Write a 150-160 character meta description.
4. Build an H2/H3 outline. Under each heading, add 2-3 bullets on what it must cover and which source or experience supports it.
5. Put the direct answer near the top. Order sections by what the reader needs first.
6. Include places for code blocks, tables or screenshots where they help understanding.
7. Add 3-5 FAQ questions people are likely to ask next.
8. Use only facts from the sources. Mark claims that still need a source with "[needs source]".
9. If the brief is missing the audience or the goal, ask before outlining.
</instructions>

<output_format>
## Intent and core question
## Title options
## Meta description
## Outline
## FAQ ideas
## Internal link ideas
## Gaps to research
</output_format>

How to use it

• claude.ai: paste source excerpts or links’ content into sources. Keep sources above the brief.
• Claude Code: handy if your site lives in a repo, because Claude can check existing posts to suggest internal links. Save it as a skill at .claude/skills/outline/SKILL.md with the keyword as $ARGUMENTS; see the skills guide.
• API: works well in a content pipeline as the step before drafting.

Variables

Variable	What to put there
{{SOURCES}}	Official docs excerpts, notes, data
{{PRIMARY_KEYWORD}}	The main query you want to rank for
{{RELATED_TERMS}}	Secondary keywords and synonyms
{{AUDIENCE}}	Who reads it and what they want to achieve
{{FORMAT}}	“how-to guide, about 1,500 words”
{{EXPERIENCE}}	Your tests, screenshots, results, opinions

Example output (illustrative)

## Outline
H2: What is an MCP server?
  - One-paragraph definition from the MCP docs (source 1)
  - Diagram idea: client, server, tools
H2: How to add an MCP server to Claude Code
  - claude mcp add example with --transport http (source 2)
  - Our test: connecting a GitHub server [screenshot]

Tips and variations

• Competitor gaps: paste the headings of the current top results and ask “what do all of them miss?”
• Refresh mode: paste an existing article and ask for an updated outline with outdated sections flagged.
• For more techniques, see Claude prompting best practices.