Japanwith_Making Structure Guideline

What is an article structure?

In this case, structure means the composition of an article. It may be easier to understand if you think of it as the index of a book. Writers will write an article based on a designated structure. Thus, the structure decides what the writer will be writing about in their article.

Structure is needed to create the best article.

When someone (a reader) wants find out more information or they want to solve a problem, they'll probably do a Google search. We want to help these people with their problems by creating the best, most detailed article, and provide them with the information they need.

In order to do this, it is important that our articles do the following:

• Provide the information that people are searching for
• Provide more detailed information than already existing articles

An article with information that people are not looking for, is of no use. Also, it isn't necessary to create an article with less information than other pre-existing articles.

So, in order to create the absolute best article, it's important to remember the above 2 points when creating the best structure plan. 

What does a high quality structure look like?

A high quality structure will be one that answers all the questions or solves all the problems of someone searching for a particular piece of information.

Many people probably have had the experience of going back and forth from one website to another when searching for information.

• There was not enough information on the website (lack of comprehensiveness)
• The information was there, but it was superficial and not detailed enough (lack of specialization)

In order for readers not to have to experience the above, please create a structure that will satisfy them with just one article.

How to create the basic structure

Predict the intent of the reader

In order to create a structure that will satisfy the reader, it is important to understand what they're looking for. People who are searching for information have some kind of problem and are looking for information, using keywords, that will solve that problem. Your first task will be to understand what people are searching for when using certain keywords. 

【Example】10 days in japan

Open a Google search and search for the keyword "10 days in japan". 

Look at the top results (the first 10 articles on the first page) and check to see what kind of information readers are looking for.

Tools that come in handy when analyzing the top search results

Try using RAKKOTOOLS when analyzing the top results.

You can check the article titles and headings of the top results (that come up on the first page) all at once.

If you're unable to use RAKKOTOOLS, please use Headline Checker.

Thinking about people's outward needs and intrinsic needs

Close your eyes and try imagine you are the person who's searching for something using keywords.

• Why would you choose to conduct a search using those keywords?
• What are you going to do with the information you found?

If you misjudge the actual needs of the people conducting a search with the keywords, you'll end up with an article that is needed by readers.

It's important to think like your reader.

Decide on your target readers

By deciding your target, you'll be able to think like your reader and write an article for them. When deciding on your target, you can decide by looking up the keyword or imagining what kind of people would benefit from the article.

• Age
• Sex
• Mentality

Keeping the above 3 points in mind, try to imagine the readers' faces and read the readers' minds.

Target Reader (Example)

Young men/women thinking about traveling to Japan for the first time. They'll be staying in Japan for 10 days and want to see lots of sightseeing spots, so they want to know the most efficient plan to get around to those places. They want to go to the most recommended sightseeing spots and make it a fun trip.

Decide on the goal of the article

Decide what the goal of the article you're creating a structure for will be. If you have a clear goal for the reader after they have read the article (what you want them to do), it will be easier for the writer to write the article. 

In the above case, the goal is for the reader of the article to decide on a plan for a 10 day trip in Japan and actually spend a great 10 days in Japan.

Decide on aspects needed to satisfy people's needs

Think about the information needed to lead the reader to the goal. In order to provide comprehensive information and satisfy the readers' needs, write down the main headings from the top 10 websites that came up in your keyword search. Also, think about potentially helpful information for readers that are not on any other websites. 

01    |   Learn about things to do before coming to Japan  

02    |  Learn about where to go in Japan in 10 days

03    |  Learn about travel tips

Create instructions

Creating instructions will enable the writer to write an article that embodies the aspects that you have thought up. In the instructions, make sure to write down even things that may seem like something everybody knows or understands. 

Make sure your instructions include the target reader, the goal, the general image of the article, and any points you want the writer to accentuate or be careful of.

Instructions (Example)

The target is young men/women thinking about going on a trip to Japan. Become a trip planner for them and make sure that they can have a great 10 day trip in Japan. Include things that they will need during their trip in Japan or anything that they need to get ready in advance. 

The goal of the article is for the reader to learn where they want to go in Japan or what they should do, and actually be able to do that on their trip. Make sure to explain the highlights of each place or thing and why they should go there or why they should experience something. 

Example of a complete basic structure

Creating the article structure

Points to remember when creating an article structure

Create a detailed article structure. By keeping your basic structure in mind, think about what kind of information to introduce and how to introduce it in the article, in order to lead your reader to the goal. The important points to remember are below. 

• In what kind of order information should be introduced to make it easy to understand
• Will the writer be able to write about detailed information
• Will the writer be able to share the image of the article you have in mind
  

The writer will not be able to write anything that is not included in the structure instruction sheet, so the content of the structure sheet will decide the content of the article. Please create your structure with the aforementioned information comprehensiveness and specialization in mind.

Creating a title

When creating a title, there are 4 points that you need to adhere to.

【Example】The BEST Japan itinerary: How to Make Your 10 days in Japan Wonderful

The title and headings should be eye-catching

The title and headings are important as they will decide the number of people who will read the article. Please keep the following 3 points in mind when creating them.

Creating a heading

Please make sure to follow the 7 rules below when creating the headings.

 Creating the main heading(1)【Be aware of information comprehensiveness】

Create the main heading (h2) of the structure. When creating the main heading, please refer to the above aspects of satisfying the reader's needs (or getting reader to the goal). 

Create a subheading【Be aware of information specialization】

Create subheadings based on the main headings you created above. When doing this, please be conscious of information specialization. Create subheadings in order for the writer to be able to write more detailed information about the main heading. 

Whe creating subheadings, try taking all the headings from the top 10 websites of your keyword search and reorder them. Then rewrite them into something more eye-catching.

Points to pay attention to when creating headings

The main heading(h2)and the subheading(h3) should be correlated

In the bad example on the left, the subheading does not have anything to do with the reason for the query asked in the main heading, so it is not appropriate.

Heading should be precise so the writer knows what to write about

The bad example on the left does not say what to do with music, so it's not precise enough. Make sure that writers can understand what you'd like them to write about.

Add originality

The article structure you have created using the instructions up until now is comprehensive information-wise. Now create some main headings or subheadings that would be useful to the reader. Keep in mind the readers' needs and the goal of the article.

Information from the top 10 websites + originality = A higher quality structure than other articles

Write instructions for each heading

After creating the main headings and the subheadings of the article structure, write instructions for each heading.

It is not necessary to write instructions for each heading. In order for the writer to write what you would like them to, write instructions on what you want written or any points the writer needs to be aware of.

Decide on the number of images

Finally, decide how many images should be used in the article.

*If you are designating several images for one heading, be precise about where the image should go.

(Example)Under the heading insert 1 image and the content about Japanese fashion in the 90's. Then insert 2 images, one of a man and the other of a woman, in 90's fashion.

Frequent mistakes (points to be careful of)

Articles will someday become old

Even if the content is new when the article is put online, it will become old in the future. For example, if you write "The newest single is ..." as a heading, in a few months this heading and the content will need to be edited. If it's not absolutely necessary, do not write it in this way.

Also, the meaning of words like "newest" or "last month" will change according to when the article is read and will lead to misunderstandings, so you need to be careful of this when creating the article.