A business blog post template is a fill-in-the-blanks outline: the customer's question as the title, the answer in the first two or three sentences, then only the sections that kind of question needs, and one link to what the reader should do next. The part most generic templates skip is that a "how much does it cost" post and a "should I pick A or B" post need different sections. So pick the template by the question a customer actually asked you, copy it below, and fill in the brackets.
There are four here, covering most of what a small business ends up writing: answering one question, explaining a price, comparing two options, and telling the story of one job. Further down is one template filled in, and the fields that sit outside the post body, which decide what people see in search results.
Start from the question, not the template
Look at the last few questions customers asked by email or on the phone. The way the question is phrased tells you which template fits.
| If the customer asks... | Use | What ranks for searches like it |
|---|---|---|
| "How long...", "How often...", "Do I need...", "Can I..." | 1. One-question answer | Median of 678 to 1,028 words |
| "How much does ... cost?", "Is ... worth the price?" | 2. Cost post | Median of 1,806 to 2,156 words |
| "A or B?", "Should I...", "What's the difference between..." | 3. Comparison post | Median of 1,751 words (one search measured) |
| "Have you done this before?", "What would this look like for us?" | 4. Project story | Not measured |
Word counts are the medians of Google's top 10 US results for similar small-business searches, from 57 pages I measured on 3 November 2026. Treat them as a sense of scale, not a target.
Every template puts the answer at the top. Someone who searched "how far ahead should I order a wedding cake" wants a number of weeks, not the history of wedding cakes. Google's own advice on helpful content asks whether a reader leaves "feeling they've learned enough about a topic to help achieve their goal." The top of the post is where most readers decide whether they're getting that.
To use a template, paste it into a new draft. Turn each HEADING line into a real heading in your editor, replace every bracket, and delete the labels. If a section has nothing true to put in it, delete the section rather than padding it.
Template 1: The one-question answer
This is the post most small businesses should write first, because the questions already exist. Your inbox has them. Keep it short. The pages ranking for single-answer questions in my sample mostly stayed under about 1,000 words.
TITLE: [The question, in the words your customer used]
FIRST LINES (2-3 sentences):
[The direct answer.] [The one condition that changes it most.]
HEADING: What changes the answer
[2-4 factors. For each one: what it is and which way it moves the answer.]
HEADING: What we see on real jobs
[One specific example from your own work: what happened, a number, a photo.]
HEADING: What to do next
[What the reader can do on their own, and the point where they should contact you.]
LINK: [One page: booking, price list, or a related post]
The "real jobs" section is the reason your post should exist when ten others already answer the question. It's something a generic article can't copy: your local prices, a photo of your own work, the mistake you see customers make every month.
Template 2: The cost post
People searching a price want a range and an idea of where they fit in it. Many businesses avoid price posts because every job is different. Give the range anyway, and use the rest of the post to explain what moves it. That explanation is what turns a reader into someone asking for a quote.
TITLE: How much does [service] cost in [your area]?
FIRST LINES:
[Most customers pay $X to $Y for (typical job).] [What sits at the low end and what pushes it to the high end.]
HEADING: Prices by [option / size / tier]
[Table: option | what's included | price range. Use your own prices or quotes from the past year.]
HEADING: What moves the price
[3-5 factors, each with the rough amount it adds or saves.]
HEADING: What a quote usually leaves out
[Permits, delivery, tax, follow-up visits: whatever surprises your customers.]
HEADING: How to get an exact price
[What you need from them, how long a quote takes, and the link.]
Put a date on the prices ("as of November 2026") and update the post when they change. A visible date on a price table makes the numbers easier to trust than an undated one, and it reminds you to revisit them.
Template 3: The comparison post
"LLC or sole proprietorship", "tile or vinyl", "monthly or annual plan." A reader comparing two options wants to know which one fits their situation, so the opening names who should pick which.
TITLE: [Option A] or [Option B]: which suits [customer]?
FIRST LINES:
[Pick A if (situation).] [Pick B if (situation).] [If you sell one of them, say so here.]
HEADING: Side by side
[Table with 4-6 rows: the things your customers actually decide on, such as price, time, upkeep, risk.]
HEADING: When [A] is the better fit
[2-3 situations, each with a reason.]
HEADING: When [B] is the better fit
[2-3 situations, each with a reason.]
HEADING: What we usually recommend
[Your default advice, and the one question you ask customers to settle it.]
If you sell one of the options, say so in the first lines. Readers find out anyway, and a stated stake reads as honest while a hidden one reads as an ad.
Template 4: The project story
Usually called a case study, but most small businesses don't need the formal version. One job, told plainly, answers the question a prospect has before they contact you: has this business dealt with a problem like mine? Ask the customer before you name them or quote them.
TITLE: How we [result] for [type of customer]
FIRST LINES:
[The result, with one number: time, cost, size, or outcome.]
[Who the customer was, in a phrase.]
HEADING: The problem
[What the customer came to you with. In their words, if they agreed to be quoted.]
HEADING: What we decided, and why
[The options you considered and the reason you chose one.]
HEADING: What it took
[Time, a cost range, and anything that went wrong.]
HEADING: Would this work for you?
[The conditions that made it work, and who should do it differently.]
Keep the part about what went wrong. A story where everything goes to plan reads like marketing, and prospects learn more from how you handled a delay than from a list of results.
One template, filled in
Here is Template 1 completed for a made-up bakery. The business and its numbers are invented to show the shape of a finished post. Your version would use your own policy and your own calendar.
How far ahead should you order a custom cake?
Order a custom cake 3 to 4 weeks ahead, or 2 to 3 months ahead for a wedding. Between May and September, add a week, because that's when our weekend slots fill first.
Size matters less than detail
A three-tier cake with buttercream needs the same notice as a one-tier cake. Hand-made sugar flowers add a week, because we make them ahead and let them dry. Tastings for wedding cakes are booked separately and usually happen 6 to 8 weeks before the date.
What we see on real jobs
Most of our June wedding weekends are booked by February. Birthday cakes are the opposite: most orders come in two to three weeks before the party, and we can usually fit them in.
What to do next
If your date is less than two weeks away, call rather than using the order form. We keep a few short-notice slots each week for simpler designs. Otherwise, the order form asks for your date, servings and design ideas, and we reply within one working day.
It runs about 180 words, which is fine for a question with one clear answer. Two things to notice. The first sentence answers the question completely, so a reader who stops there still got what they came for. And there's no introduction about how special a celebration cake is. The template has no slot for that, which is the point.
The fields that sit outside the post body
A post has a few short fields besides the body, and they decide what appears in search results and link previews. Most platforms keep them in a settings panel next to the editor. Here they are for the cake post:
| Field | What it does | Cake example |
|---|---|---|
| Title | The headline at the top of the post | How Far Ahead Should You Order a Custom Cake? |
| SEO title | The headline Google may show. Leave it the same as the title unless the title is long or vague. | Same as the title |
| Description | The summary that can appear under the headline in search results. Put the answer first. | Order a custom cake 3 to 4 weeks ahead, or 2 to 3 months for a wedding. What changes the lead time, and what we can still do on short notice. |
| Slug | The end of the post's web address. Short, lowercase, words joined by hyphens. | order-custom-cake-lead-time |
| Featured image and alt text | The picture on your blog's front page and in social previews, plus a description of it for screen readers | A photo of a finished cake, described in a short sentence |
Before you publish, check how the title and description read together. The cake post's title is 45 characters and fits on both desktop and mobile. The description is 141 characters; on mobile it can cut off near the end. That cut doesn't matter here, because the lead time is in the first sentence. That's the habit to keep: put the answer at the start of the description, the same way the post puts it at the start of the body. Google can rewrite titles and descriptions, so treat any SERP preview as a check, not a promise.
When a template gets in the way
Templates fit posts that answer a question. Some posts don't.
- Announcements such as a new location, new hours or a price change. Say what changed, when, and what customers need to do. Three short paragraphs are enough.
- Opinion posts, where you argue for a way of doing things. They need an argument, not a list of sections. Start with your position and give your reasons in order.
- Questions too small for a post. If the honest answer is one sentence with nothing that changes it, put it on your FAQ page instead.
A template also starts to show after six posts in a row with identical headings. Keep the order (answer first, then what changes it, then what to do) and rename the headings so they say what each section contains. "What changes the answer" became "Size matters less than detail" in the example above for exactly that reason.
I run JustBlogged, a blog platform, and these are the outlines I hand founders when they ask what their first posts should look like.
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