Listicles are the most popular blog post format among business blogs. (Responsive Inbound Marketing, 2019)
The most popular blog post format among business blogs.
I might’ve thought that they were the most written form of business blogs, but it still doesn’t surprise me that they’re the most popular with readers.
People love lists.
To-do lists, tables of contents, the 10 blue links on a Google search, the top 10 films on Netflix…
We love lists for just about any kind of content. They’re scannable. They’re easy to bounce back and forth and digest in our way. They provide a form of organization and ranking priority.
Lists are a great thing and will continue to be.
As with most things, though, there are good lists and there are not-so-good lists.
I’m a big proponent that writing a lot of blog posts leads to better skill. So if you write a lot of list posts you’ll become really good at it over time. But obviously everybody wants every post to be amazing.
So here are a few tips to help you write the best lists possible right now…
1. Titles then Items then Details
Over the last 10+ years I’ve written a lot of list blog posts. I wouldn’t say there is one right way to write them, but after that much time you figure out some things that work and some that don’t.
I’ve learned that a good progression for writing list posts is to brainstorm the title first. Then when you sit down to write the post you want to come up with the items first. Then once you have the items you can go in and fill in the detail.
The bigger the list, the more important it typically is to separate these out. If you try to do them all at once you’re going to run into some writers block. That leads to frustration, which leads to fewer posts getting published and eventually the entire blogging effort gets scrapped.
I used to have a personal website in the country music niche. One of the types of posts I would write were these “best of” lists for country songs. They would typically be at least 50 items long and sometimes 100 or even 200 and longer.
So they would take a long time. First you would brainstorm ideas for lists. Then I’d sit down to come up with the items for the list. That takes a good amount of time and research. Then I would schedule another time to sit and write the details.
Without a process like that or similar, you’re going to struggle.
2. Numbers Are Good
Numbered lists are cliché, but there is a reason for that. People love them. They make it easier to digest.
Many lists will start with a number in the title. That obviously leads to the items being numbered. But one thing I’ve tried to do and encourage over the years is also including numbered items in non-list posts. Like a how-to post that has numbered steps or this post that you’re ready with numbered sections.
I don’t know what the thing is with humans, but we like numbered things.
Go read a post without numbers. Just with sections. It will seem a little awkward.
Try reading a book with just chapter names and no numbers. It’s weird. You actually probably won’t find a book that doesn’t have numbered chapters. It’s weird and it’s been that way for centuries.
3. Appropriate Length
Do your best to determine the count. There is a reason weekly radio shows did Top 30 and Top 40 countdowns instead of Top 100 countdowns. Every medium has an appropriate length. You want to follow the rules often and break them occasionally to test.
Look at just about field of content. Once it becomes somewhat mature there will be a standard length. Most songs on the radio are about 3 minutes. Most books are about 300 pages. Most movies are about 2 hours. This happens to just about every single field.
But every once in awhile a certain rebel content creator will shake things up. Dances With Wolves clocked in four hours. November Rain clocked in at 9 minutes. There are definitely exceptions, but it’s difficult to totally change the field into a new accepted length.
Follow the “rules” for the most part. The market has determined them. But experiment once in awhile. It’s a good way to shake things up a bit and get some attention. And it keeps your creative juices flowing a bit.
4. Most Things Are Subjective
There aren’t many things in life that are truly objective. If you’re going to create a list for a business blog post, it’s almost always going to be subjective.
That means it will be open to criticism.
So you have to be willing to accept that. You will create some lists that you might look back on and regret. Maybe just a little. Maybe you missed something that should have been on the list. Maybe a different order was better.
Here’s the thing, that’s all fine. You can go back and adjust. You can make new lists. You will rarely create the perfect list. But that shouldn’t deter you from creating them. Some people, and sometimes many people, will love your lists, agree with them and find them entertaining and educational.
5. Follow-up Lists
With that country music site I often created follow-up lists. I’d create lists that had 100 or more songs. Then I’d realize after a few years that I left a few songs out. So I’d go back and add another 20 or 50 or even 100. These lists would work out really well. I’d link them all together. I’d repurpose them into playlists on Spotify. You can do all kinds of things with lists.
They also spark feedback. That’s good. You can take the feedback and use it to create those follow-up lists.
Many lists are also timely. You can do a list for one year and redo it the next. Then again the next. Especially if the theme of the post has proven popular.
6. Conclusions Are Good
Many lists will still end with a conclusion. Book chapters have numbers, but the conclusion usually doesn’t have a number. There is something about a resolution or final world that ties a nice little bow around the whole piece. So I would suggest that you don’t end your blog posts with the last item on your list.
Make sure to include a conclusion or “final thoughts” or whatever you want to resolve the post. It’s a nice way to wrap things up and leave people with a great business blog post.
Conclusion
Lists posts are great for business blogs. They can be used for all kinds of posts. Not just for titles with numbers in them. People like reading lists. They like to scan and work their way through them in a variety of ways. You definitely want to use a good number of list posts for your blogging strategy.
Hopefully the tips here will provide a little guidance on how to write great list posts that your readers will love.