Bloggers Need to Cultivate the Fine Art of the List
one must develop ways to decide in a blink if a post is any good. What works best for me is to see if a post has an ordered (1, 2, 3) or bulleted (*) list; if it does, it's probably worth reading.
On the other hand if it has long paragraphs of unbroken text or a multitude of short paragraphs, the post is probably one of those “woe is me, I am fascinating, these are my deepest feelings that I want to share with you” bull-shiitake posts written by a guy who changed the pronunciation of his name from “Kevin” to “Keevin.”
By contrast, a post that contains an ordered or bulleted list is probably much better conceived and organized. Here are some examples, good and bad, to consider:
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Could have been so much more powerful as a list. Do you see how you have to dig the tidbits out of this posting? If the author had done it, thousands of people wouldn't have had to do it themselves—assuming they had the fortitude to try.
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A list, but a disguised list. This one makes me sad. He tried to make it into a list with headlines, but there so many graphic elements going on that you can't figure out where a new item begins. It could have been an even greater post. The same thing is true for this post by my buddy John Jantsch.
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A lovely idea: combining a list with graphics. If only I could draw, I would do my “top ten” lists this way. Each item would also make a great Powerpoint slide for a speech. Not for everyone, but it is a lofty goal to try to achieve.
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So close—if only the person had used a little bit of HTML. The tips just don't pop out of the posting—if only they were in boldface or offset somehow. A touch more HTML would have made all the difference in the world.
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A good example of a well-done list. Honestly, the five paragraph preamble to the list is a bit long for me, but the list makes up for the slow launch. He also uses links to outside sources very well. As seen in the previous example, a bit of HTML would have gone a long way.
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Just about perfect in my humble opinion. Rohit does a perfect job with this: interesting introduction, an ordered list that stands out, and a nice number of interesting points.
If you buy this theory, then you should write posts in list format so that your readers will make the same positive snap judgment. To speed you along the way, here are my tips for the art of the list, a.k.a. convincing people in a blink that your post has substance.
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Provide four to twelve items. Any less than four, and the reader feels cheated. Any more than twelve, and the reader feels like you haven't put in the effort to filter out the detritus. If you have to go more than twelve, go way more than twelve, such as “99 ways to change the world.”
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Make them parallel in structure. Every list item should be roughly the same style and length. Two to four sentences is the proper length: just enough to explain your point but not enough to bore your readers.
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Start with a verb for maximum impact. If you're trying to catalyze action, you should use verbs as the first word of each item. And I mean active verbs like “reach,” “serve,” “engage,” “provide” and “deliver.” Passive verbs (“Be interesting”) and negative verbs (“Don't disappoint your customer”) are weak.
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Begin with boldface text. Start off each item with a word or phrase that's in boldface, then use the next two to three sentences to further explain your point. You want your main point to suck in the readers. Boldface helps make this happen.
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Write it in HTML yourself. Don't be a wimp: learn enough HTML to do this yourself. You don't want to use numbers or asterisks in regular paragraphs like “1.” or “*” because they make you look like a Luddite. Here's all the HTML you need for an ordered and unordered list, respectively.
<ol>
<li><p>Your first point here.</p></li>
<li><p>Your second point here.</p></li>
<li><p>Your third point here.</p></li>
<li><p>Your fourth point here.</p></li>
</ol>
<ul>
<li><p>Your first point here.</p></li>
<li><p>Your second point here.</p></li>
<li><p>Your third point here.</p></li>
<li><p>Your fourth point here.</p></li>
</ul>
Give it a try the next time you write a blog post. Even better, the next time you're scanning a bunch of websites, see if the most useful and interesting posts aren't in list form.
Source: Open Forum
