Why are list blog posts so successful? Well, there are quite a few reasons, why list blog posts are successful, get a lot of retweets, and go big on Digg and other Social Networking and Bookmarking sites.
1. List blog posts are short
Or at least that is the perception of most readers. Come on, when was the last time you read a whole blog post, from start to finish? People are overwhelmed with the information that is accessible to them, so they want short, concise and snappy things to read that gives them an answer to their question. They definitely DON’T want to read pages of pages of stuff providing little or no solution to their problem or answers their question.
2. Well structured information
List blog posts are so successful, because they provide structured information. As most readers only scan a text, especially online, their eyes need to be guided to the most important information! Think about it: Do you prefer to read a large chunk of text, where you have to search for your information in every paragraph, and sometimes, not even find this information useful?
3. Catchy titles
But why do list blog posts become so successful on social networks, get retweeted a gazillion times and often go at least some sort of viral? People like catchy titles and titles like “5 reasons to …” “10 ways to ..” are usually short, snappy and catch your readers attention. The title also indicates that this list blog post will share some new information and even takes it to the next level: it tells you what and how much to expect! If you are in a hurry, you will not click on a title that reads: 101 ways to improve your website. Your readers like to know, what they are getting into before they click on your link!
4. Share information
Hm, the very nature of blog posts is to share information, but there are different ways to do it! List blog posts are your best option to catch the attention of a reader, draw them to your blog and give them the information that they need in a quick and easy way. Even though list blog posts are so successful, and there are probably quite a few billion list blog posts floating around the net, they still catch the reader’s attention.
5. Easy to write and easy to read
Another reason, and in my opinion the most important reason why list blog posts are so successful: They are natural! Whether you are a reader or a writer, lists are a natural way of writing! When was the last time you wrote your shopping list as a whole text? And remember in High School or College, in which format did you take your notes? Writing and reading list blog posts has one great advantage: The writer does not get off track so easily, because he or she has a structure to follow, and for the reader it is much easier to find the most useful information, prioritized and in a certain order.
Important: List blog posts are great and can drive a lot of traffic to your website, but: Do not only write list blog posts! Catch some new readers and get some visibility for your blog! My personal advice: Use them to give a general overview about a topic and then provide more detailed information in regular text posts about the most important points in your list blog posts. Nice idea when you just can’t come up with new blog post topics!
About the author: Maria Berneiser is the CEO and Founder of Market Your Startup, Inc. in San Diego, CA. She provides Social Media and Blogging services to her clients and can help you to create a successful Social Media Marketing campaign.
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Twitter: bbrian017
Maria it’s truly a pleasure having you as a contributor here on our social blog. With your professional experiences we look forward to learning from your articles. I didn’t know list posts were so popular. To be honest I didn’t even know they had a name until I seen the first official pro blogger community challenge.
With your suggestions specifically in the article structure and catchy titles I will be able to perhaps improve my own blog lists and increase the quality of my content.
Thanks so much for participating in our guest blogging activities
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Great post! I absolutely adore list posts. I find them much easier to write and I really get into them. Almost like a challenge to yourself. And of course, they’ve been my most RT’d posts.
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Twitter: FAQPAL
I love list posts, any post that is a list always gets great traffic.
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Thanks for the positive feedback on this post! It is always great to get responses from readers… this is what keeps us going, right?
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Twitter: smartbloggerz
One of the main importance of list post which I like is that it makes the information to be easily understandable for the readers and it looks more constructive.
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List posts are great. My most popular post was “5 Musicians who died on stage”
People love top ten lists and if it contains quick facts or a fun/jokey headline then it becomes a really active post.
.-= Martin´s last blog ..How not to run a music festival! =-.
Twitter: extremejohn
5 excellent points all though I often find myself struggling to reach the larger number list posts like 25 of this, etc. I need to keep it small or I end up not doing it period.
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Nice one. I love list posts, simple and straight to the points.
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Excellent post. Great advice. I like short, sweet and to the point posts, but I tend to get long winded when I’m passionate about the subject matter. I’ll have to learn to back off a bit, won’t I!
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Twitter: denharsh
Great points here, and last but not the least They got most exposure on social media sites..
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Twitter: moonheart85
I also agree with it that list post are better for increase traffic.
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great information about list post and blogging idea for newbies.. I was just join in blogengage forum and found this very useful for newbie bloggers
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ARE list blog posts so successful? With a title like that, you should have started off your article with a few statistics showing that list blog posts have a higher percentage of readership, were looked at more often, etc. What does “so successful” mean? If you were unable to back up your claim with statistics, then maybe you should have just titled your post “5 reasons why list blog posts are BETTER.” The article was generally good, but as a reader I feel let down because the article did not fully back up the claim made by the title.
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