10 Reasons Why Lists Are a Blogging Mainstay

by Jack Humphrey on Mar 11

Do Lists Still Work?  Yes. Yes they do. And they always will.

  1. People love lists.  Mashable.com is all the proof you need of that.
  2. Lists get links from other bloggers.  You get more traffic.
  3. There are tons of ways to come up with lists for your niche.
  4. Lists of other blogs get you trackback links and comments from other popular bloggers in your niche.
  5. Lists are easy to write.  Fast content.
  6. Lists that take you more time to research and that are harder to do get more links!
  7. Lists can be videos, not just text.
  8. Lists can be podcasts, not just videos or text.
  9. You can come up with 25 list post ideas in 15 minutes, give them to a writer, and get them all done quick.  Schedule them to go out over 3 months or more.
  10. Lists that are different, contrarian, funny, or more creative get more links even if with a heavily covered topic.

Want more content development ideas?  Check out Remarkablogger’s “10 Ways To Crank Out Killer Posts In 10 Minutes Or Less“  (hey – it’s a list!  whadya know?).  Followed by 12 more from his readers.  Enjoy!

Tagged as: blogging tips, content development, list posts, resource posts

  • http://www.webstractions.com Webstractions

    Personally, I hate all of the lists that are being pounded out on a daily basis. A lot of them are no more than dupes of other lists.

    While Mashable and Smashing can generate lists with bullet point #6 (quaility) can generate more links, that does not prove #1.

    List blog posts are fast becoming little more than splog content which invariably clog up the SERPS with duplicitous crap. When I find myself actually searching for something when this happens, I append “-intitile:free -intitle:top -intitle:best” to my query … and oila! All of those lists disappear.

    • http://www.jackhumphrey.com/ Jack Humphrey

      @Webstractions – Good point, but there’s no difference between a bad list blog and a bad blog period. I’d simply elevate your reading to a higher level of blogs in general. A good list blog (though no blog should just a a bunch of lists unless you’re listable.com) is far more professional and well done than bad blogs of any kind. I never talk about “me too” blogs here. When I mention things like this, i am only thinking about quality blogs in the tiny percentile.

      So I operate under the understanding of the fact that most blogs, like most sites of any kind on the web, suck. This is one of the places where you learn not to suck.

  • http://www.blogaboutnothingatall.com Kai Lo

    Besides doing lists, viewers love “how to” guides too. Everyone loves free lists and guides.

    Kai Los last blog post..How to Write a "How To" Guide

  • http://1man9women.blogspot.com Roy

    Leave it up to you Jack to make a blog list about lists.

    The secret number now seems to be 7, but I still make all my list with ten items.
    Ten reasons the world will not end in 2012 was my last list. It wasn’t even that good and it worked very well for me.

    Roy

    Roys last blog post..Grandkids

  • http://www.webstractions.com Webstractions

    Okay John, I can follow what you are saying. Roy’s example of a list was rather entertaining. Those types of lists, sprinkled lightly into the mix, actually have appeal.

    And I hope to think that my elevation level is above all of that. The fact is that you are right about lists in general anyway, sucky lists too. It seems that those knock-off list sites attract hundreds/thousands of visitors a day anyway. Granted, they may not be the most intelligent people in the world — but if you are making a living off of page views, what the hay!

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  • http://www.PatrickBurke.net Nicole Chow

    Ok, I’ll admit it. I like reading lists. Maybe I have a short attention span or maybe I just don’t like to read lengthy blog posts, but whenever I see a list, I am compelled to read it. Plus, in this day and age, where people subscribe to hundreds of newsletters, blogs, websites, etc, we are inundated with items to read. So, when I see a list, I am drawn to reading it because I know I can quickly skim it. I’m also a fan of David Letterman’s Top Ten list and sometimes will just watch that versus the whole program. I agree with Kai Lo, guides are great as well!

    Nicole Chows last blog post..5 Easy Things You Can Do to Broaden Your Exposure Online

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  • http://www.asktak.com/blog Tak Hikichi

    How to Get Traffic For Your Blog list by Seth Godin has been my favorite, I have it bookmarked this page for the longest time.
    http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2006/06/how_to_get_traf.html

    Tak Hikichis last blog post..Socially Brandable

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