List posts: Why people love and hate Lists. Curation Tips for List Makers

Lists & Lists Posts
Love & Hate
Where do you sit on this debate?
To help me (and you) I curated these slides

Sunday, 28 October, 12

There’s No Debate: People love or hate lists
There’s No Debate:
People love or hate lists

I collected research on
List Posts
http://list.ly/Vx

I inclued both factions
List Post Lovers
List Post Haters
I curated content from
these post


Curative Thinking: My Curation Rules
I’ve linked back to every post in these slides
I’ve added photos and names so you know who I’m citing
I’ve extracted the key points from each post
I’m shortened / reworded much of the content
If you want to quote the source, go to the source.
My List links directly to each post.
http://list.ly/Vx

Please add your suggestions to this lisrt
I found this a really interesting exercise
I believe it become the basis of original content from me
If you’ve never curated content I highy recommend your repeat this kind of
process for your domain. Try to assemble a balanced story for your audience.


List Love Section


10 Reasons Why We Love Making Lists
Lists bring order to chaos.
Lists help us remember things
Most lists are ﬁnite.
Lists can be meaningful.
Lists can be as long or as short as necessary.
Making lists can help make you famous.
The word "list" can be tracked back to William
Shakespeare, according to the Oxford English Dictionary.
Lists relieve stress and focus the mind. LINTON WEEKS

Lists can force people to say revealing things.
Lists can keep us from procrastinating

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=101056819


5 Reasons List Posts Don’t Suck
Lists
are easy to skim

capture your attention and properly set up
expectations

are fantastic for curating.

are great for starting the conversation and
generating comments

often provide a ranking, and in Social Media
that is a big deal!

http://millennialceo.com/social-media/5-reasons-list-blogs-suck/

Daniel Newman
Millenial CEO

Listmania and Social Inﬂuence
Lists are insanely subjective.
Lists stimulate conversation
and debate,
That's what makes lists fun!

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=101056819
Elrond Lawrence
@El4short


List Posts : I’m a Big Fan
List Post: Go-to post for uber-practicality
List posts oﬀer easily digestible tips
List Posts get more retweets.
I suspect that these posts are easy to
understand and often communicate a lot of
value at a glance. Stanford Smith
Pushing Social

Lists Are Easy to Share:
This is the perfect type of information to share
with readers causing many readers to quickly
retweet. Keep a close eye on your retweets and
the post types.

http://pushingsocial.com/the-spectacular-post-formula/

http://pushingsocial.com/my-2011-sneaky-blog-promotion-trick-list/


21 Tactics to Increase Blog Traﬃc
Target Your Content Use Twitter, Facebook Install Analytics and
to an Audience Likely and Google+ to Share Pay Attention to the
to Share Your Posts & Find Results
New Connections
Lists are super- Lists come with built in
sharable & embedable Lists are the idea analytics and tracking
transporter that double up as
Participate in the social proof
Communities Where Add Graphics, Photos
Your Audience and Illustrations Frequently Reference
Already Gathers Your Own Posts and
Every list item has an Those of Others
List form communities image or play rich
around shared media directly in the You can make lists of
passions list your posts

Make Your Blog's Conduct Keyword Aggregate the Best of
Content SEO-Friendly Research While Your Niche
Writing Your Posts
Lists keep changing This is a classic
feeding SEO with new Lists are lving research curation tactic
data

http://www.seomoz.org/blog/21-tactics-to-increase-blog-traﬃc-2012
Rand Fishkin
SEOMoz


6 Types Of Posts That Drive Traffic
Top Lists
It’s no secret that top lists drive traffic to your
site, particularly if they’re based on 1 person’s
opinion, that other people may disagree with.

Take a collection of 10+ websites or people
and then you organize them into an order
that you think is right Michael-Dunlop
Income Diary

10 Tips / Reasons
Similar to a top list, this sort of post offers
clear, concise and easy to read information
for the reader to understand.

No lengthy writing, usually just a paragraph
and a photo per point on my posts.

http://www.incomediary.com/best-types-of-blog-posts


65 Ways to Drive Traffic to Your Blog
Write list posts like the one you are
reading.
Readers love posts like “10 ways to make money”
or “6 ways to drive traffic to your blog”.
List posts are amongst the most popular kinds of
posts, and people tend to share list posts with
others more often than other posts. Satrapp
blogstash.com

Hold a contest and give prizes to your
readers.
Use social networking sites like Twitter and
Facebook to let people know about the contest.
A good contest with good prizes will attract a lot of people.

http://www.problogger.net/archives/2011/10/16/65-ways-to-drive-traffic-to-your-blog/


5 Top: Why Lists Bring Blog Traﬃc
Lists Can Be Quickly Scanned Lists can be comprehensive in their
content
Long articles take time to read.
Lists can be persuasive and convincing.
We all have short attention spans.
Lists Are Easy To Write
A list format is quick to scan &
comprehend For the average blogger, writing long
articles can be quite a challenge.
Lists Appear Neat
Lists are easy to write in linear fashion.
There’s no rambling; no long, complicated Stepwise process
sentence structuring that can confuse
readers. Reader do not need consume linearly.

Lists look neat and tend to look visually Lists Act As Memes
pleasing.
Publish a list today with 10 clear opinion
Readers can avoid blocks of text. points on a topic

Consider embedding video & slides inside Other bloggers many link to your list and
your list - not everyone loves text start an epidemic of similar ideas through
lists.
Lists Are Comprehensive And
Persuasive Lists can spread very quickly for this
reason.
Lists are great to summaize pros and cons.

http://www.maheshkukreja.com/5-top-reasons-why-lists- Mahesh Kukreja
are-good-for-getting-traﬃc-to-your-blog maheshkukreja.com


5 Vital Reasons to Use List Posts
Explosive Attention Grabbing Headlines Your readers can take in your expertise on a
subject simply by looking at each point’s
Creative headlines on your blog is an headline.
incredibly important aspect to getting visitors
to view your content. If they want more information they can drill
or move on.
Consider the attention grabbing power of
these headlines: They Demonstrate Clarify &
Organization
14 Ways to ..., 5 Websites That .... 5 Sure-Fire
Strategies for ... Organization helps you get more done and it
looks good to those who see you.
Lists Posts = Skimmer’s Delight
List post help your reader and increases your
We all skim through the article, read portions , credibility as a blogger
skip others
List inspires people to return to your site
You probably skim for the highlights and then
hone in on the key concepts. The are Perfect Search Engine Food
List posts = easy reads List posts are great for getting hits from
Google. Keyword rich.
They give Readers quick acccess to the
summary of a subject List post also get clicked on due to catchy
headlines (and shared) > More SEO goodness
List posts cram a lot of information in a
concise manner. Searchers get several points instead of just
one.

http://www.sitesketch101.com/5-reasons-to-use-list-posts/
Nicholas Cardot


7 Reasons To Use List Posts On Your Blog!
List Posts = Can be Good and Bad Long form blog posts are disappearing,

Great writers can make list posts exciting List Posts Are Easy to Share
Bad writers can make them boring as hell. We all skim the content and quickly move
to the comment or share button.
List Posts = Method to Divide
Content People are simply looking for something
to share rather than something to read.
No one would argue that headings, sub-
heads, and bullet points are useless. List Posts Are Diﬃcult to Do Well,
Which is What Makes Them Great
Using lists is a way to break up content,
nothing more A good list post takes just as long, if not
longer to write than a normal post.
List Posts Headlines Trump Copy
Time to research to craft,
Llist posts are easy to skim, but they work
becasue intrigue people to read them. List Posts Help You Mix Things Up
List post headlines (i.e. 7 ways to get It’s boring to use only one format
more traﬃc) are succinct and appealing,
Use a list post to mix things up
List Posts Are Easy to Consume
Breaking post into small bites > Snacks

http://www.thebadblogger.com/blog-marketing-secrets/
reasons-list-posts-blog
Wong Chendong
TheBadBlogger.com


Reasons to use Lists
Lists often make it easier for a Easy to read
writer to express his thoughts.
This will be especially helpful to
This way a writer can write higher your readers, who for some
quality posts, because he can reason are not interested in some
express himself in a better way. points of your posts.

Many bloggers decide to Instead of giving up on reading
summarize another bloggers list, your post, they can easily analyze
and link to them at the same time. what are the other points
presented in your post.
This makes the blogosphere more
connected. They can decide to move to the
next point if it is of interest to
Persuasiveness is another key them.
element for lists.
Prevent “rambling”
This applies to those posts in
which you are trying to prove Give your readers solid
something. information they want.

http://www.prealasrecife.com/reasons-to-use-lists
Prealasrecife.com


List Hate Section


5 Reasons Not to Use A List
They don’t flow well Lists are associated with
We speak in conversation and
boredom
unless your blog is purely Outside of Santa Claus, I can’t
instructional, you shouldn’t write remember ever getting excited
it as a list about a list.
It’s creatively lazy I associate them with routine
and apparently many others do
Lists generally require little too!
creativity
They become redundant
It’s unlikely to spark the
imagination of your reader. depending on your topic, very
often a list will be become
I once heard a journalist say that
quickly out-of-date especially in
lists are ‘lazy journalism’
the digital world
Is it any different in the
blogosphere?

http://tweakyourbiz.com/marketing/2011/08/26/five-
reasons-you-shouldn%E2%80%99t-use-a-list/
@Con_Keppel
TweakYourBiz.com


5 Reasons to Avoid Lists
Prevent ‘Attention Theft’ Lists Are Generally Generalizations
Media sources, including blogs, use lists to Lists are typically “one-size-ﬁts-all”-type
steal your attention. generalizations.

Be the Hunter – Not the Hunted Direct your list at a a narrow audience, such
as the “Top 10 Ways to Stay Safe in a Foreign
They are nothing more than an old Taxi“,
marketing tactic to get you to do something
you did not consciously set out to do. Creating a list by (and for) yourself is the
perfect antidote to generalization.
In summary, be mindful of what you are
doing. Avoid the ‘Poverty of Attention’
Lists are Listless Information rich often translates into
attention poor.
Lists do not provide energy – they sap it.
Avoid low attention by allocating your
Lists provide short-term inspiration attention in a similar way you would a
portfolio of investments:
Reading the right lists on a daily basis may
aid in the formation of positive thinking and Allocating attention is quite a conscious,
healthy habits. valuable and necessary personal
development practice
My observation is that most lists are formed
and published to steal the attention &
fragment attention.

http://www.pickthebrain.com/blog/5-reasons-to-avoid-lists-1-reason-to-read-them/
Kent Thune


The Top Ten Reasons I Won’t Use Lists
Lists Trivialize Inclusion
They trivialize complexity I’ve been on someone’s
of the real dynamics that list before
go on behind every issue
False Importance
Lists Make Us Lazier
Lists communicate a false
We want someone else to sense of importance
do the work for us

Lists <> Control
We believe that if we only
have it on a list we’re
somehow in control of it

http://vitalwholeness.wordpress.com/2011/10/14/the-top-ten-reasons-i-wont-use-lists/
Tim Carson


Top 10 Lists Suck
Top 10‘s should be a countdown from 10 to 1. It is lazy writing
Some sense of order leading up to the most Throw up some photos of beaches and call them
important or best. the top 10 best beaches in the world.

Is there no appreciation for the build-up to the best No depth, no thought, just damn lazy.
anymore?
They are lame
Every good Top 10 has been done
Ten is a cop-out. Go for the Top 3 beaches or take
Now we are subjected to an endless array of the a real stand and just go with your very best beach
overdone (Top 10 Beaches) or moronic and of all time.
nonsensical (Top 10 Photos featuring Blue).
What the hell is up with 10?
Letterman does it better than any of us, leave it in
his capable hands. Are there really always ten best of every single
thing in the world? Why not 7 or 12 or 16. Ten is
They insult your readers contrived.

What you are basically saying is that no one cares Because it is long past time to put substance
to read anything unless it comes in bite-sized over style.
pieces.
Can you think of any Top 10 post that you thought
While this may be true don’t feed the beast.
was an example of truly great and thoughtful
They are just done for SEO purposes writing?

All of us publishing on the web want our stories to
appear near the top of the Google or Bing searches,

Unfortunately people get on google all the time to
ask for the “top 10″’s

http://www.goseewrite.com/2011/02/top-10-lists-suck/ Michael Hodson


5 Reasons Why You Shouldn't Title
Your Blog with Numbered Reasons
Numbers Change
You could be wrong about the numerical count...and you probably ARE wrong. You may
think there are 50 ways to leave your lover, but then Lorena Bobbitt comes along and
bam! there are 51.

You sound pedantic
(pedantic definition: ostentatious in one's learning, ostentatious definition: look it up.) i.e.;
I know more because I know exactly how many reasons...etc.

It lacks originality.
Just because every other blogger is jumping on the numerical bandwagon doesn't mean
they aren't going to jump off a cliff...I need to work on my metaphor a little.

It is silly.
I can't look at a Social Media blog that starts out with a number in the title without
chuckling.

It does not make you an Authority
A number in your blog title doesn't make your blog more authoritative. Anyone can come
up with a number. For this blog I picked five as my magic number and made my reasons
fit the number.

Paul Kizer
http://technorati.com/social-media/article/5-reasons-why-you-shouldnt-title/
Technorati.com


Reasons why list posts are crap
Look for posts that go against the grain and support those
posts
Offer suggestions on how the kinds of posts you don’t like
could be spiced up a little
Acknowledge the good stuff.
Why do list posts do well?
People are in a rush, and if they see they might just have 3 or 4 or 5
bullet points to read, they’ll be more inclined to head on over and
read those posts.

If you don’t feel new content is being covered
Cover it yourself!

Light the fire of interest
Marjorie Clayman
http://www.margieclayman.com/5-reasons-why-list-posts-are-crap
margieclayman.com


3.5 Reasons Why I Am Sick of List Posts
Too Much Generic Information End with a call to action, ask them a question, ask
them to share or subscribe. Its up to you.
I can find that sort of information anywhere. If I
am reading a post – even a list one – I would like I Can’t Tell Who Wrote it – Could Be a Bot
something that is a bit more than a compilation
of information that even my 7 year old can put I never read posts where the blogger doesn’t make
together really well. it a bit personal. If I cannotfeel their personality –
hear their voice, I feel like I am reading a
Yes, the posts are scannable, but they actually go generic article, not a blog post.
on to hurt your reputation.
If you are blogging, you need to allow people to
Show that you have put in some effort No effort = enter your comfort zone.
no regular readers.
When you write with an authentic voice, or people
Who Cares? will only be reading the headings.

Keep the winning formula of writing posts in Give your reader a reason to read the text that is
mind; do you know what it is? filling up the white space. .

Backstory – useful information – close. As simple Write about what you need to write about. It
as that. doesn’t have to be a list post.

Start your posts with some sort of back-story. Clue 3.5 It’s a Personal Thing
in your readers to why all of a sudden you wanted
to write that post. Bring them to the same page. You might feel totally opposite on this one. Are
you living to see which list post arrives next in
Make one point per post your feed? Don’t hesistate to let me know.

Really hone in that point. People will read your You could even comment in the form of “7
post quickly and enjoy sharing it as well. Reasons why I don’t agree…” ;)

Who knows, your post might actually be an aha
moment for somebody – its hard to accomplish
that with list posts.

Marya Jan @WritingH
http://bestbloggingtipsonline.com/3-5-reasons-why-i-am-sick-of-list-posts/
writinghappiness.com


List Research


Lists Are Collections. We are all Collectors
Creation / curation are blurring
Everyone is become a publisher

Evryon is a curator of their life

Elad Gil Nir Eyal Mahesh Kukreja
eladgil.com NirandFar.com maheshkukreja.com

http://www.nirandfar.com/2012/01/where-is-web-going.html

http://blog.eladgil.com/2011/12/how-pinterest-will-transform-web-in.html

http://techcrunch.com/2011/12/30/twittertumblrpinterest/


Brainzooning 2010: 8 of the top 10 are list posts
Published on January 1, 2011 6 Social Media Metrics You Should
by Mike Brown in Blogging, Be Tracking
Brainzooming - All Posts, 16 Creative Ways to Supercharge
Creativity,Innovation Presentations

Here are those which received 16 Social Media Tactics for
Building an Audience
the most page views
throughout the year: Innovation Metrics – A Whole
Brain Strategy
7 Extreme Creativity Lessons from
“Cake Boss” The Value of Brainstorming for
Innovative Business Ideas
Social Media Productivity – 13 Tips
to Maximize Your Time 20 Strategies for Making Your Solo
Social Media Eﬀort More
Creative Block? 26 Ways to Get Successful
Your Brainzooming When
Creativity Is Blocked “Taking the NO Out of Business
InNOvation” 10 NO’s Blocking
Business Innovation

http://brainzooming.com/your-top-10-brainzooming-posts-for-2010/5873/ Mike Brown -
BrainZoooming.com


Curation is the New Search is the New Curation
In the beginning there was curation, We are going to increasingly see
and it was good. People found nichey services that sell curation as a
interesting things on the web, created primary feature, with the primary
directories of those things, and then advantage of being mostly unsullied by
you found what you were looking for content farms, SEO spam, and
inside those curated lists. That was the nonsensical Q&A sites intended to
origins of the original lists and create low-rent versions of Borges’
directories, from Yahoo on outward. Library of Babylon. The result will be a
subset of curated sites that will re-seed
If we couldn’t index 100,000 websites
a new generation of algorithmic search
in 1996 by hand, how do we propose
sites, and the cycle will continue, over
to do 234-million by hand today?
and over.
The answer, of course, is that we won’t
In short, curation is the new search. It’s
— do them all by hand, that is. Instead,
also the old search. And it’s happening
the re-rise of curation is partly about
again, and again. [-]
crowd curation — not one people, but
lots of people, whether consciously
(lists, etc.) or unconsciously (tweets,
etc) — and partly about hand curation
(JetSetter, etc.).

http://paul.kedrosky.com/archives/2011/01/curation_is_the.html Paul Kedrosky


Tips to write Great List Posts


10 Steps to the Perfect List Post
Decide the item count for your list Consider making your list a series
Odd numbers work best This way, you can get five, ten, twenty
or more posts for the price of one.
Keep each item on theme
Be consistent your layout
Keep the types of items consistent
with the title. Structured your list a similar way.

Brainstorm surplus items Always number the items
Aim for 10% more ideas than your final Don't frustrate your reader.
goal. Ensure each item is strong.
Deliver on the item count in your title
Order the list Logically
Invite readers to add to the list
Structure your post. Make sense in
your sequencing Add a few closing words
Ask for suggestions
Break very long lists into sections
It’s a good idea to split long lists up Choose a great title
into sections. The important final step
Darren Rowse
ProBlogger.com

http://www.problogger.net/archives/
2008/08/17/10-steps-to-the-perfect-list-post/


Tips for Creating More Popular Blog Posts
Numbered list posts are When it comes to a set of
popular sequential things to do,
Both internet discussions and people want short numbered
my own experience on the lists with as few steps as
Brainzooming blog conﬁrm necessary to accomplish a
this result.
The most popular blog posts When it comes to an array
on Brainzooming incorporate a
of options to pick from,
numbered list and feature the
number in the blog title. people want longnumbered
lists with as much variety as
Some pundits argue possible
Making list posts as long as
possible to increase reader
impact

http://brainzooming.com/list-posts-2-tips-creating-more- Mike Brown -
popular-blog-posts/7120/ BrainZoooming.com


12 Tactics for Faster Business Blogging
Set up an editorial calendar / Set blogging Write evergreen content when you have time.
deadlines. Build a backlog of posts to prevent panic over what you
This is crucial for internal and external blog content could to post today.
contributors.
Publish excerpted content.
Get staff to contribute blog posts every month. Repurpose your long form content, rg ebooks, or case
Get each employee to contributes at least two blog posts studies
as part of their monthly duties Find a section of it that can stand on its own, and publish
that excerpt with a short intro framing what the reader will
Reach out to guest contributors. learn.
Ask people in your network and industry to contribute Cite your sources. It's helpful and original content, so your
content to your blog. readers won't care that it's an excerpt from somewhere
else.
Stop worrying about length.
Many people get tripped up over how much they're Feel the pressure from Google's freshness update.
writing. When news breaks, write about it fast, as Google's
The truth is, people hate reading. algorithm will now rank you more favorably i

The easier you make that process (AKA the less time it Freshness update requires you to be one of the first to
takes), the happier they'll be report on it to reap the benefits, No slacking
Read about it, write about it quickly, get it up there, and
Answer a common question. move on with your day.
Answer questions your customer are asking your support
team. Publish videos and other visual content.
Post an answer on your blog just like it's an FAQ, Have you been working on an infographic, cartoon,
slideshow, or video?
Curate a list. These types of content are not only well received by
Content curation is a quality content lifesaver readers and frequently shared, but they require nothing
more than a quick intro in way of writing.
A list of curated content can help cut down on writing
time. Outsource
Plus it links to other people's valuable content. When all else fails, find a way to outsource your creation.

http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/30523/12-Business-Blogging-Shortcuts-for- Corey Eridon
Time-Crunched-Marketers.aspx @Corey_bos
hubspot.com


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