This is Day 2 of 31 Days to Build a Better Blog, a group project 50+ other bloggers are doing together in an effort to help each other become better bloggers. You can read more about it and still sign-up to participate here.
What an awesome first day we had in this series yesterday. I am blown away! To see my observations from yesterday check out 6 Things I Learned from Day 1 of #31DBBB.
Today’s lesson is about the list posts. If you’ve been reading blogs for any length of time, you know list posts are very popular. In fact, we have done our fair share of list posts here at Christian Web Trends. Here are some examples…
Top 5 List Posts on Christian Web Trends
- 20 Ways to Share Your Faith Online
- Top 10 Signs Your Church Website Needs a Redesign –
- The 10 Commandments of Social Networking
- 12 Ways to Ensure Easter Attendees Don’t Come Back to Your Church Next Week
- 10 Things I Learned from the Online Church Blog Series
The lesson gives several reasons list posts are so popular. They are easy to write. They’re easy to read. They break the main point up into clearly identifiable bite-size nuggets. In fact, you could make the case that list posts are the Chicken Nuggets of blogging. (Would you like some dipping sauce with that?)
Personally, I have my own theory for why list posts are so popular…
Geeks like numbers.
But that’s just one number-loving geek’s theory. (Full discloser: I was on the math team in high school)
Assignment
The assignment for today is to write a list post for your blog. If you’d like some more advice about writing list posts, check out 10 Steps to the Perfect List Post
Discussion
- Do you agree that list posts are both easier to write and easier to read? Why or why not?
- Of all the tips you’ve read about list posts, which do you think are the most important?
- If you did the assignment and wrote a list post, include a link your comment.
The Extra Mile
A few other things you can do to take your blog, other bloggers, and this project even further today…
- Reply & give other bloggers feedback on their list post
- Go back to 31DBBB – Day 1: The Elevator Pitch & check out the elevator pitches.
- Tweet, share, & bookmark this post. (You could win a $25 gift card!)
- Ask & answer questions about blogging but unrelated to elevator pitches in the forums.
303 Comments
I did think that 39 in a row would be a bit much. It needed a break for readability and effect. I see your point too. Thanks for the critique.
wow, seems like this series is going to break all sorts of records for the blog. Maybe at the end if 31 days you could give us a list of those records broken 🙂
My list post was already done on Monday because I am part of the Gratitude Community at Ann Voskamp@Holy Experience. Each week, we count the things for which to give thanks. The goal is to reach a 1000. But the real goal is to see how the Lord changes your focus and your heart. On this journey, my list post can be found at: http://openmyearslord.blogspot.com/2010/05/every-…
I do find it easier to do a list post. I'm a recipe-kind-of-girl. The list post helps you to focus on the important points you want to convey. And, it is easier for readers to grasp the information
they need.
Looking forward to your comments,
Janis
List posts can be easier yes. I have done some for my transport blog a few times. When writing one it gives you a definite starting point and ending point. But, as you can see in my list, I went from 10 things to 15!
I like the tip about breaking the list into a series. You could maybe do a post that shows what the list will be and then write the series for how ever many days. This also can let you go back to the original post and post links to the blogs on each topic, thus creating more internal links on your blog/site.
Excellent list but made frustrating by the popups whenever I accidently rolled over a hyperlinked word.
I'm with Richard on the format …
When I think I'm reading a list the format, to me anyway, should be pre-emminent in the posting. It may have been my browser but your points went from bold to non-bold to a single word. It left me looking for the list when I realised I had in fact just read it.
Perhaps bulleting each point or numbering them would have helped that but consistency of style (format) goes a long way.
Nice list Kim, tx
It's always a good gimmick to do more than the stated number – make them freebies or honourable mentions, just don't do it everytime.
However, you added at the bottom that you could have added another 5 or so – why not make a second list and schedule that for a lean time?
Good list but it didn't really adderss the title – as I saw it.
To me the title appears to indicate that you are going to help me create a social media policy (and taht's just my take) but even though it didn't I still enjoyed the list.
I agree that list posts are easier to write and read. They are short and to the point. There are also lots of fun things you can do with lists, beyond giving information and instructions.
I think one of the best tips for writing list posts is to get focused, brainstorm, and then pick only the BEST items for your list.
I wrote a list post. It's going up on my blog on Thursday, May 6, 2010. Here's the link:http://wp.me/pG2Wu-cX
~Jennifer