10 Tips for Creating Winning Listicles

Readers can’t resist a list.

Lists “are to the web reader’s eye what Brad Pitt is to the paparazzi,” says Kara Pernice, Kathryn Whitenton and Jakob Nielsen, the authors of the report “How People Read on the Web.” “You just can’t get enough.” 

That’s because lists draw the eye in and make the job of skimming easier. Indeed, according to the authors, web visitors look at 70 percent of the bulleted lists they encounter.

Here’s how to write lists posts that get the word out and boost your content marketing analytics:

1. Got a list? List it. Lists are easier to read and scan than paragraphs. So if you have a series of three or more items in a sentence, paragraph or passage, make it a list.

2. Organize lists logically. Choose the right structure. Alphabetical structure is best for glossaries, for instance. Chronological structure is the right choice for a series of steps. Hierarchical structure works best for top-10 lists.

3. Take advantage of the first and last items on the list. Nielsen says that the first few items get the most attention, the middle gets the least attention and the final item is somewhere in the middle. So save the best for first and last.

The serial item on a list may also benefit from the “recency effect.” This principle, coined by Hermann Ebbinghaus, says that items presented last will most likely be remembered best.

So if you’re creating a hierarchical list, consider an hourglass-shaped structure: Start with the most important items, place the least important items in the middle, then end with the second- or third-most important item.

4. Show the parts. To reach flippers and skimmers, lift the items of your list off the page or screen with boldfaced lead-ins. 

5. Display the whole. But what’s that a list of? Show flippers and skimmers what the list is about with a subhead.

6. Lead with the verb. Does your list feature instructions or benefits? Start the items on your list with a verb to inspire interest and action.

7. Make lists parallel. To write parallel lists, set up an intro line that says something like “To save for the future…” Then in your head, include that line before each boldfaced lead-in: (To save for the future,) Join… or (To save for the future,) Contribute...

8. Don’t include too many items. “Do not use more bullets than you get in a six-shooter,” recommends Rick Norton in Online Writing Digest. Tip: If your article looks like a PowerPoint deck, you might have overused bullet points.

9. But also don’t include too few. One item is an item. Two are a couple. It takes three items to make a list.

10. Punctuate. If your list is built on full sentences, then add a period to the end of each. Otherwise, skip the punctuation. The bullets stand in for semicolons and commas separating items in your series.  

Copyright © 2020 Ann Wylie. All rights reserved.

Want to learn more? Join PRSA and Ann Wylie for “Rev Up Readership,” a two-day workshop on April 1-2 in Austin, Texas.  

photo credit: spokart