list posts: why people love and hate lists. curation tips for list makers

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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

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This is a work in progress. I've curated a lot of posts and research in Lists Posts. I want to add to it, but figured it's better to share than not My active research is here http://list.ly/list/Vx-list-of-why-people-love-lists-why-people-hate-lists?feature=search

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Page 1: List posts: Why people love and hate Lists. Curation Tips for List Makers

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

Sunday, 28 October, 12

Page 2: List posts: Why people love and hate Lists. Curation Tips for List Makers

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

Sunday, 28 October, 12

Page 3: List posts: Why people love and hate Lists. Curation Tips for List Makers

Curative Thinking: My Curation RulesI’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.

Sunday, 28 October, 12

Page 4: List posts: Why people love and hate Lists. Curation Tips for List Makers

List Love Section

Sunday, 28 October, 12

Page 5: List posts: Why people love and hate Lists. Curation Tips for List Makers

10 Reasons Why We Love Making ListsLists 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.

Lists can force people to say revealing things.

Lists can keep us from procrastinating

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

LINTON WEEKS

Sunday, 28 October, 12

Page 6: List posts: Why people love and hate Lists. Curation Tips for List Makers

5 Reasons List Posts Don’t SuckLists

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

Sunday, 28 October, 12

Page 7: List posts: Why people love and hate Lists. Curation Tips for List Makers

Listmania and Social InfluenceLists are insanely subjective.

Lists stimulate conversation and debate,

That's what makes lists fun!

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

@El4short

Sunday, 28 October, 12

Page 8: List posts: Why people love and hate Lists. Curation Tips for List Makers

List Posts : I’m a Big FanList 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.

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/my-2011-sneaky-blog-promotion-trick-list/

Stanford Smith Pushing Social

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

Sunday, 28 October, 12

Page 9: List posts: Why people love and hate Lists. Curation Tips for List Makers

21 Tactics to Increase Blog Traffic Target Your Content to an Audience Likely to Share

Lists are super-sharable & embedable

Participate in the Communities Where Your Audience Already Gathers

List form communities around shared passions

Make Your Blog's Content SEO-Friendly

Lists keep changing feeding SEO with new data

Use Twitter, Facebook and Google+ to Share Your Posts & Find New Connections

Lists are the idea transporter

Add Graphics, Photos and Illustrations

Every list item has an image or play rich media directly in the list

Conduct Keyword Research While Writing Your Posts

Lists are lving research

Install Analytics and Pay Attention to the Results

Lists come with built in analytics and tracking that double up as social proof

Frequently Reference Your Own Posts and Those of Others

You can make lists of your posts

Aggregate the Best of Your Niche

This is a classic curation tactic

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

Rand Fishkin SEOMoz

Sunday, 28 October, 12

Page 10: List posts: Why people love and hate Lists. Curation Tips for List Makers

6 Types Of Posts That Drive TrafficTop 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

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

Michael-Dunlop Income Diary

Sunday, 28 October, 12

Page 11: List posts: Why people love and hate Lists. Curation Tips for List Makers

65 Ways to Drive Traffic to Your BlogWrite 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.

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/

Satrapp blogstash.com

Sunday, 28 October, 12

Page 12: List posts: Why people love and hate Lists. Curation Tips for List Makers

5 Top: Why Lists Bring Blog TrafficLists Can Be Quickly Scanned

Long articles take time to read.

We all have short attention spans.

A list format is quick to scan & comprehend

Lists Appear Neat

There’s no rambling; no long, complicated sentence structuring that can confuse readers.

Lists look neat and tend to look visually pleasing.

Readers can avoid blocks of text.

Consider embedding video & slides inside your list - not everyone loves text

Lists Are Comprehensive And Persuasive

Lists are great to summaize pros and cons.

Lists can be comprehensive in their content

Lists can be persuasive and convincing.

Lists Are Easy To Write

For the average blogger, writing long articles can be quite a challenge.

Lists are easy to write in linear fashion. Stepwise process

Reader do not need consume linearly.

Lists Act As Memes

Publish a list today with 10 clear opinion points on a topic

Other bloggers many link to your list and start an epidemic of similar ideas through lists.

Lists can spread very quickly for this reason.

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

Mahesh Kukreja maheshkukreja.com

Sunday, 28 October, 12

Page 13: List posts: Why people love and hate Lists. Curation Tips for List Makers

5 Vital Reasons to Use List PostsExplosive Attention Grabbing Headlines

Creative headlines on your blog is an incredibly important aspect to getting visitors to view your content.

Consider the attention grabbing power of these headlines:

14 Ways to ..., 5 Websites That .... 5 Sure-Fire Strategies for ...

Lists Posts = Skimmer’s Delight

We all skim through the article, read portions , skip others

You probably skim for the highlights and then hone in on the key concepts.

List posts = easy reads

They give Readers quick acccess to the summary of a subject

List posts cram a lot of information in a concise manner.

Your readers can take in your expertise on a subject simply by looking at each point’s headline.

If they want more information they can drill or move on.

They Demonstrate Clarify & Organization

Organization helps you get more done and it looks good to those who see you.

List post help your reader and increases your credibility as a blogger

List inspires people to return to your site

The are Perfect Search Engine Food

List posts are great for getting hits from Google. Keyword rich.

List post also get clicked on due to catchy headlines (and shared) > More SEO goodness

Searchers get several points instead of just one.

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

Sunday, 28 October, 12

Page 14: List posts: Why people love and hate Lists. Curation Tips for List Makers

7 Reasons To Use List Posts On Your Blog!List Posts = Can be Good and Bad

Great writers can make list posts exciting

Bad writers can make them boring as hell.

List Posts = Method to Divide Content

No one would argue that headings, sub-heads, and bullet points are useless.

Using lists is a way to break up content, nothing more

List Posts Headlines Trump Copy

Llist posts are easy to skim, but they work becasue intrigue people to read them.

List post headlines (i.e. 7 ways to get more traffic) are succinct and appealing,

List Posts Are Easy to Consume

Breaking post into small bites > Snacks

Long form blog posts are disappearing,

List Posts Are Easy to Share

We all skim the content and quickly move to the comment or share button.

People are simply looking for something to share rather than something to read.

List Posts Are Difficult to Do Well, Which is What Makes Them Great

A good list post takes just as long, if not longer to write than a normal post.

Time to research to craft,

List Posts Help You Mix Things Up

It’s boring to use only one format

Use a list post to mix things up

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

Wong Chendong TheBadBlogger.com

Sunday, 28 October, 12

Page 15: List posts: Why people love and hate Lists. Curation Tips for List Makers

Reasons to use ListsLists often make it easier for a writer to express his thoughts.

This way a writer can write higher quality posts, because he can express himself in a better way.

Many bloggers decide to summarize another bloggers list, and link to them at the same time.

This makes the blogosphere more connected.

Persuasiveness is another key element for lists.

This applies to those posts in which you are trying to prove something.

Easy to read

This will be especially helpful to your readers, who for some reason are not interested in some points of your posts.

Instead of giving up on reading your post, they can easily analyze what are the other points presented in your post.

They can decide to move to the next point if it is of interest to them.

Prevent “rambling”

Give your readers solid information they want.

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

Prealasrecife.com

Sunday, 28 October, 12

Page 16: List posts: Why people love and hate Lists. Curation Tips for List Makers

List Hate Section

Sunday, 28 October, 12

Page 17: List posts: Why people love and hate Lists. Curation Tips for List Makers

5 Reasons Not to Use A ListThey don’t flow well

We speak in conversation and unless your blog is purely instructional, you shouldn’t write it as a list

It’s creatively lazy

Lists generally require little creativity

It’s unlikely to spark the imagination of your reader.

I once heard a journalist say that lists are ‘lazy journalism’

Is it any different in the blogosphere?

Lists are associated with boredom

Outside of Santa Claus, I can’t remember ever getting excited about a list.

I associate them with routine and apparently many others do too!

They become redundant

depending on your topic, very often a list will be become quickly out-of-date especially in the digital world

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

TweakYourBiz.com

Sunday, 28 October, 12

Page 18: List posts: Why people love and hate Lists. Curation Tips for List Makers

5 Reasons to Avoid ListsPrevent ‘Attention Theft’

Media sources, including blogs, use lists to steal your attention.

Be the Hunter – Not the Hunted

They are nothing more than an old marketing tactic to get you to do something you did not consciously set out to do.

In summary, be mindful of what you are doing.

Lists are Listless

Lists do not provide energy – they sap it.

Lists provide short-term inspiration

Reading the right lists on a daily basis may aid in the formation of positive thinking and healthy habits.

My observation is that most lists are formed and published to steal the attention & fragment attention.

Lists Are Generally Generalizations

Lists are typically “one-size-fits-all”-type generalizations.

Direct your list at a a narrow audience, such as the “Top 10 Ways to Stay Safe in a Foreign Taxi“,

Creating a list by (and for) yourself is the perfect antidote to generalization.

Avoid the ‘Poverty of Attention’

Information rich often translates into attention poor.

Avoid low attention by allocating your attention in a similar way you would a portfolio of investments:

Allocating attention is quite a conscious, valuable and necessary personal development practice

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

Kent Thune

Sunday, 28 October, 12

Page 19: List posts: Why people love and hate Lists. Curation Tips for List Makers

The Top Ten Reasons I Won’t Use Lists

Lists Trivialize

They trivialize complexity of the real dynamics that go on behind every issue

Lists Make Us Lazier

We want someone else to 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

Inclusion

I’ve been on someone’s list before

False Importance

Lists communicate a false sense of importance

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

Tim Carson

Sunday, 28 October, 12

Page 20: List posts: Why people love and hate Lists. Curation Tips for List Makers

Top 10 Lists SuckTop 10‘s should be a countdown from 10 to 1.

Some sense of order leading up to the most important or best.

Is there no appreciation for the build-up to the best anymore?

Every good Top 10 has been done

Now we are subjected to an endless array of the overdone (Top 10 Beaches) or moronic and nonsensical (Top 10 Photos featuring Blue).

Letterman does it better than any of us, leave it in his capable hands.

They insult your readers

What you are basically saying is that no one cares to read anything unless it comes in bite-sized pieces.

While this may be true don’t feed the beast.

They are just done for SEO purposes

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

It is lazy writing

Throw up some photos of beaches and call them the top 10 best beaches in the world.

No depth, no thought, just damn lazy.

They are lame

Ten is a cop-out. Go for the Top 3 beaches or take a real stand and just go with your very best beach of all time.

What the hell is up with 10?

Are there really always ten best of every single thing in the world? Why not 7 or 12 or 16. Ten is contrived.

Because it is long past time to put substance over style.

Can you think of any Top 10 post that you thought was an example of truly great and thoughtful writing?

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

Sunday, 28 October, 12

Page 21: List posts: Why people love and hate Lists. Curation Tips for List Makers

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.

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

Sunday, 28 October, 12

Page 22: List posts: Why people love and hate Lists. Curation Tips for List Makers

Reasons why list posts are crapLook 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

http://www.margieclayman.com/5-reasons-why-list-posts-are-crap Marjorie Clayman margieclayman.com

Sunday, 28 October, 12

Page 23: List posts: Why people love and hate Lists. Curation Tips for List Makers

3.5 Reasons Why I Am Sick of List PostsToo Much Generic Information

I can find that sort of information anywhere. If I am reading a post – even a list one – I would like something that is a bit more than a compilation of information that even my 7 year old can put together really well.

Yes, the posts are scannable, but they actually go on to hurt your reputation.

Show that you have put in some effort No effort = no regular readers.

Who Cares?

Keep the winning formula of writing posts in mind; do you know what it is?

Backstory – useful information – close. As simple as that.

Start your posts with some sort of back-story. Clue in your readers to why all of a sudden you wanted to write that post. Bring them to the same page.

Make one point per post

Really hone in that point. People will read your post quickly and enjoy sharing it as well.

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

End with a call to action, ask them a question, ask them to share or subscribe. Its up to you.

I Can’t Tell Who Wrote it – Could Be a Bot

I never read posts where the blogger doesn’t make it a bit personal. If I cannotfeel their personality – hear their voice, I feel like I am reading a generic article, not a blog post.

If you are blogging, you need to allow people to enter your comfort zone.

When you write with an authentic voice, or people will only be reading the headings.

Give your reader a reason to read the text that is filling up the white space. .

Write about what you need to write about. It doesn’t have to be a list post.

3.5 It’s a Personal Thing

You might feel totally opposite on this one. Are you living to see which list post arrives next in your feed? Don’t hesistate to let me know.

You could even comment in the form of “7 Reasons why I don’t agree…” ;)

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

Sunday, 28 October, 12

Page 24: List posts: Why people love and hate Lists. Curation Tips for List Makers

List Research

Sunday, 28 October, 12

Page 25: List posts: Why people love and hate Lists. Curation Tips for List Makers

Lists Are Collections. We are all Collectors

Creation / curation are blurring

Everyone is become a publisher

Evryon is a curator of their life

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

Mahesh Kukreja maheshkukreja.com

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

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

Nir Eyal NirandFar.com

Elad Gil eladgil.com

Sunday, 28 October, 12

Page 26: List posts: Why people love and hate Lists. Curation Tips for List Makers

Brainzooning 2010: 8 of the top 10 are list posts

Published on January 1, 2011 by Mike Brown in Blogging, Brainzooming - All Posts, Creativity,Innovation

Here are those which received the most page views throughout the year:

7 Extreme Creativity Lessons from “Cake Boss”

Social Media Productivity – 13 Tips to Maximize Your Time

Creative Block? 26 Ways to Get Your Brainzooming When Creativity Is Blocked

6 Social Media Metrics You Should Be Tracking

16 Creative Ways to Supercharge Presentations

16 Social Media Tactics for Building an Audience

Innovation Metrics – A Whole Brain Strategy

The Value of Brainstorming for Innovative Business Ideas

20 Strategies for Making Your Solo Social Media Effort More Successful

“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

Sunday, 28 October, 12

Page 27: List posts: Why people love and hate Lists. Curation Tips for List Makers

Curation is the New Search is the New Curation

In the beginning there was curation, and it was good. People found interesting things on the web, created directories of those things, and then you found what you were looking for inside those curated lists. That was the origins of the original lists and directories, from Yahoo on outward.

If we couldn’t index 100,000 websites in 1996 by hand, how do we propose to do 234-million by hand today?

The answer, of course, is that we won’t — do them all by hand, that is. Instead, the re-rise of curation is partly about crowd curation — not one people, but lots of people, whether consciously (lists, etc.) or unconsciously (tweets, etc) — and partly about hand curation (JetSetter, etc.).

We are going to increasingly see nichey services that sell curation as a primary feature, with the primary advantage of being mostly unsullied by content farms, SEO spam, and nonsensical Q&A sites intended to create low-rent versions of Borges’ Library of Babylon. The result will be a subset of curated sites that will re-seed a new generation of algorithmic search sites, and the cycle will continue, over and over.

In short, curation is the new search. It’s also the old search. And it’s happening again, and again. [-]

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

Sunday, 28 October, 12

Page 28: List posts: Why people love and hate Lists. Curation Tips for List Makers

Tips to write Great List Posts

Sunday, 28 October, 12

Page 29: List posts: Why people love and hate Lists. Curation Tips for List Makers

10 Steps to the Perfect List PostDecide the item count for your list

Odd numbers work best

Keep each item on theme

Keep the types of items consistent with the title.

Brainstorm surplus items

Aim for 10% more ideas than your final goal. Ensure each item is strong.

Order the list Logically

Structure your post. Make sense in your sequencing

Break very long lists into sections

It’s a good idea to split long lists up into sections.

Consider making your list a series

This way, you can get five, ten, twenty or more posts for the price of one.

Be consistent your layout

Structured your list a similar way.

Always number the items

Don't frustrate your reader.

Deliver on the item count in your title

Invite readers to add to the list

Add a few closing words

Ask for suggestions

Choose a great title

The important final step

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

Darren Rowse ProBlogger.com

Sunday, 28 October, 12

Page 30: List posts: Why people love and hate Lists. Curation Tips for List Makers

Tips for Creating More Popular Blog Posts

Numbered list posts are popular

Both internet discussions and my own experience on the Brainzooming blog confirm this

The most popular blog posts on Brainzooming incorporate a numbered list and feature the number in the blog title.

Some pundits argue

Making list posts as long as possible to increase reader impact

When it comes to a set of sequential things to do,

people want short numbered lists with as few steps as necessary to accomplish a result.

When it comes to an array of options to pick from,

people want longnumbered lists with as much variety as possible

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

Mike Brown - BrainZoooming.com

Sunday, 28 October, 12

Page 31: List posts: Why people love and hate Lists. Curation Tips for List Makers

12 Tactics for Faster Business Blogging Set up an editorial calendar / Set blogging deadlines.

This is crucial for internal and external blog content contributors.

Get staff to contribute blog posts every month.

Get each employee to contributes at least two blog posts as part of their monthly duties

Reach out to guest contributors.

Ask people in your network and industry to contribute content to your blog.

Stop worrying about length.

Many people get tripped up over how much they're writing.

The truth is, people hate reading.

The easier you make that process (AKA the less time it takes), the happier they'll be

Answer a common question.

Answer questions your customer are asking your support team.

Post an answer on your blog just like it's an FAQ,

Curate a list.

Content curation is a quality content lifesaver

A list of curated content can help cut down on writing time.

Plus it links to other people's valuable content.

Write evergreen content when you have time.

Build a backlog of posts to prevent panic over what you could to post today.

Publish excerpted content.

Repurpose your long form content, rg ebooks, or case studies

Find a section of it that can stand on its own, and publish that excerpt with a short intro framing what the reader will learn.

Cite your sources. It's helpful and original content, so your readers won't care that it's an excerpt from somewhere else.

Feel the pressure from Google's freshness update.

When news breaks, write about it fast, as Google's algorithm will now rank you more favorably i

Freshness update requires you to be one of the first to report on it to reap the benefits, No slacking

Read about it, write about it quickly, get it up there, and move on with your day.

Publish videos and other visual content.

Have you been working on an infographic, cartoon, slideshow, or video?

These types of content are not only well received by readers and frequently shared, but they require nothing more than a quick intro in way of writing.

Outsource

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-Time-Crunched-Marketers.aspx

Corey Eridon @Corey_bos hubspot.com

Sunday, 28 October, 12