Perhaps when you read the top, you wonder what I mean by ‘how to blog better lists.’ People love to read the top 5 of something to see if it is relevant – to them if they might be on that list, for information that could be provided, or if their friends might be listed. These type of blog entries are indentified with phrases like ‘top 10’ or even ‘5 best.’
There are a lot of lists with wonderful buzzwords attached to them. However, I have noticed when viewing these lists that they are quite long! It gets a bit boring looking through 20 or more things. It is great that you took the time to make such a list, but was it really necessary to include that many? What ever happened to the KISS method (Keep It Simple, Stupid)? It is not about the quantity, but the quality of the post. That is not the first time I have said that, but it does very much pertain to making lists.
Here are ways to improve your blog lists.
- Aim to blog between 300 to 1000 words rather than elaborate for your list.
- Shorten your lists and break it up. Use the KISS method. For example, you do not have to list (example) ’50 Designers on Twitter to follow’. You can break those posts up. A lot of designers specialize in certain areas. Instead of sliding all of them in the same general genre, make several lists. If you have WordPress, your entry might call up those related lists if you have the proper plugins installed (like Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.)
- Make sure your list is honest and thorough. If your friend really is not all that awesome, do not include them. You are providing a list of people you recommend to people. This is important if your blog also ties in with your professional life. If you recommend someone who isn’t up to your own standards, you are not providing your best list.
- WordPress has the ability to break a post into its own pages. You might want to consider utilizing this feature. It also works great for conversion. Howeer, in using this feature, your WordPress theme must have a list pages feature so it works for your readers.
- Research keywords and any information pertaining to your list to make yours more unique than the next 20 sites trying to put together the same roundup.
These are just a few suggestions to consider in how to blog a better list, and they are very basic. What other things do you recommend to bloggers to consider when making their top 10 or similar type lists?
This article is very useful… you should advertise it on Twitter.
I am a fan of top 10 list and I shoot one out once every other month. I seem to get a lot of comments from them!
I have been trying to press it. You would be surprised, but this is kind of a peeve of mine when reading lists….lol
Hi,
I agree keeping things short and more to the point. Making several post with short list on the same topic, but subdivided, makes a lot of sense.
It decouples your content and creates higher cohesion of your posts. That way it is easier to point to them from other posts from you or bloggers that want to link to it from their perspective.
Thanks for the inspiration.
if i found a title that has 20 or more numbers in title
i just wont read it
it must be long
so i think the best is under 10 list