If you follow my blog, you know that I love writing articles with numbered lists – the so-called listicle.
Listicles are fun and somewhat easy to write. People also love reading them!
That being said, the listicle seems to have a bad rap. Many see them as low brow, geared more towards entertainment.
But there is a reason why the listicle is still popular – and why I and so many other writers, bloggers and marketers will continue creating them.
There’s method behind the madness!
Listicles are great for producing content quickly
Having a steady stream of online content is extremely important for content marketers and bloggers alike. Period.
Luckily, listicles are relatively easy to produce.
To create a listicle, do the following:
- Select a topic – this will be your headline.
- Create bullet points – this will become your numbered list.
- If needed, fill out bullet points with further details – text, pictures, etc.
- DONE!!!
The listicle can be presented as a step-by-step, how-to article or as a top 10 list (or whatever number you have in mind). If you can’t think of a topic one day, try creating a curated list that pulls from other people’s content.
Learn how to generate online content like the media.
The listicle was made for the online browser!
You know exactly what you’re getting when you see the headline for a listicle. Which is perhaps why they’re so popular.
People also love sharing them! Don’t believe me? Check out the evidence below:
- One study on Twitter showed that tweets with numbers were 17% more likely to get retweeted. (A tweet with a number in it is a good indication that the accompanying article is a listicle.)
- List-based articles are known for going viral. BuzzFeed – the most viral website according to eBizMBA – produces a lot of viral content in the form of listicles.
People don’t read articles like they used to. Instead, they browse for important subheadings, bold text and images.
The listicle is only one part of your content mix
Listicles are great for all the above reasons. However, they should not be the end all, be all.
For real impact, listicles should complement other content types, including long-form posts geared more towards thought leadership, and news and announcements.
You will hit the content sweet spot of quantity and quality by combining easily produced listicles with the more thorough content types.
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