How to Write an Ultimate How-To Guide

Ultimate guides are a great way to draw traffic, links, and social shares.

The goal of every ultimate guide should be to provide better and more in-depth information than all other posts about that topic. This is what makes this type of content so valuable.

This type of content is what Brian Dean from Backlinko used to drive over 9000 visitors in the first 3 weeks after publishing his ultimate guide.

Are you willing to give it a try?

I'm going to show you how to create your ultimate how-to guide.

Step #1 Choose a topic

But not just any topic. It has to be a topic that other bloggers in your niche are constantly sharing and linking out to.

Also, you want to choose a topic that can be divided into 7-10 subtopics, which is a sweet spot. Anything more or less than that is too broad or too narrow, so stick with that optimal length for your ultimate guide.

Step #2 Write down your subtopics

These subtopics will be titles for your guide so make sure to pick the best ones.

Step #3 Transform your sub-topics into beneficial titles

You have to show people that your content is useful, and when you make benefits clear, it will upgrade the perceived value of your content.

For example, let's say you are creating a guide on making coffee and you have a sub-topic Filter coffee.

So instead of using just that you transform it into something like How to make filter coffee that will make your taste buds go wild.

Is that sound more valuable to you?

Don't worry if you can't transform every subtopic into a beneficial title. Just do as much as possible.

Step #4 Set up your ultimate guide

When you're done with your topic and subtopics it's time to move on to the content creation for your guide.

Here's how to do it.

First of all, you need a title. And since you are creating an ultimate guide, make sure to put that into your title. For example, something like "The Ultimate Guide to Coffee Grinding" will work well.

Then you need a custom graphic that will divide your title and introduction, which also can be used as a featured image. You can create the graphics with a free tool called Canva.

Step #6 Write the introduction

You want an intro that will hook your readers and make them want to read more.

But how to do it?

Here's the intro formula you can use:

Shortly summarize the importance of your topic
Refer to a common challenge
Pitch your post

Step #7 Create content around your chapters

Consider each chapter like a mini-post. So you need an introduction and a quick explanation of the 3-5 most important things about that chapter. These things can be pieces of information, strategies, or a list of tips.

Step #8 Write a conclusion

The conclusion is used to get the readers to comment on your post. Simply ask if they have a question or is there something they think is missing in your guide.

And that's it. Your ultimate guide is ready and you're all set.