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
WOW, that was quite difficult to do. Even though I am a person that loves structure and order, writing in lists is something I don't do, so on the question on whether lists are easier to write, the answer for now is no.
My list post, however can be found here: http://www.unsafechallenge.com/2010/05/04/3-thing…
WOW, that was quite difficult to do. Even though I am a person that loves structure and order, writing in lists is something I don't do, so on the question on whether lists are easier to write, the answer for now is no.
My list post, however can be found here: http://www.unsafechallenge.com/2010/05/04/3-thing…
This is a good start, but it feel like it could be just the beginning. I think these thoughts could be fleshed out with a real story or example.
Also, your post pointed out what you saw wrong as the church operating as an institution (and I am in agreement here…) but what are some of the ideas you have on making things better? Possibly try giving some solutions alongside your observations.
My last point, it was pretty hard for me to read the text because of the small font. You might consider making it larger for those of us who have started squinting at the screen. 🙂
Great post! I had no idea all of these run tracking systems were available!
The one thing missing in this post is links. Do you talk about any of these systems or the challenges of tracking runs in any earlier posts? If so, link back to those. (I think every post should have at least one internal link.) Also, I would include a linkback to the website/blog for each of the five tracking systems. This adds dimension to your post and will also alert the manufacturers/other bloggers that you are writing about their systems. Adding the links helps you build community.
Nice list…
Nathalie…
This was a good list post. Out of curiosity, are you just trying to reach a Fr#fr|en|http%3A%2F%2Flemondedenathalie.ca%2F2010%2F05%2F04%2Fdefi-du-jour-5-habitudes-a-changer-pour-lenvironnement%2F">ch audi#fr|en|http%3A%2F%2Flemondedenathalie.ca%2F2010%2F05%2F04%2Fdefi-du-jour-5-habitudes-a-changer-pour-lenvironnement%2F">ce? I used Google Translator to read your post in #fr|en|http%3A%2F%2Flemondedenathalie.ca%2F2010%2F05%2F04%2Fdefi-du-jour-5-habitudes-a-changer-pour-lenvironnement%2F">glish. Here is the link: #fr|en|http%3A%2F%2Flemondedenathalie.ca%2F2010%2F05%2F04%2Fdefi-du-jour-5-habitudes-a-changer-pour-lenvironnement%2F">|#fr|en|http%3A%2F%2Flemondedenathalie.ca%2F2010%2F05%2F04%2Fdefi-du-jour-5-habitudes-a-changer-pour-lenvironnement%2F">|#fr|en|http%3A%2F%2Flemondedenathalie.ca%2F2010%2F05%2F04%2Fdefi-du-jour-5-habitudes-a-changer-pour-lenvironnement%2F">http://translate.google.com/#fr|#fr|en|http%3A%2F%2Flemondedenathalie.ca%2F2010%2F05%2F04%2Fdefi-du-jour-5-habitudes-a-changer-pour-lenvironnement%2F">|http%3A%2F%2Fl… The #fr|en|http%3A%2F%2Flemondedenathalie.ca%2F2010%2F05%2F04%2Fdefi-du-jour-5-habitudes-a-changer-pour-lenvironnement%2F">glish translation was a little brok#fr|en|http%3A%2F%2Flemondedenathalie.ca%2F2010%2F05%2F04%2Fdefi-du-jour-5-habitudes-a-changer-pour-lenvironnement%2F"> but I was able to understand what was being said. Just FYI in case you wer#fr|en|http%3A%2F%2Flemondedenathalie.ca%2F2010%2F05%2F04%2Fdefi-du-jour-5-habitudes-a-changer-pour-lenvironnement%2F">'t aware of this tool.
Nathalie…
This was a good list post. Out of curiosity, are you just trying to reach a Fr#fr|en|http%3A%2F%2Flemondedenathalie.ca%2F2010%2F05%2F04%2Fdefi-du-jour-5-habitudes-a-changer-pour-lenvironnement%2F">ch audi#fr|en|http%3A%2F%2Flemondedenathalie.ca%2F2010%2F05%2F04%2Fdefi-du-jour-5-habitudes-a-changer-pour-lenvironnement%2F">ce? I used Google Translator to read your post in #fr|en|http%3A%2F%2Flemondedenathalie.ca%2F2010%2F05%2F04%2Fdefi-du-jour-5-habitudes-a-changer-pour-lenvironnement%2F">glish. Here is the link: #fr|en|http%3A%2F%2Flemondedenathalie.ca%2F2010%2F05%2F04%2Fdefi-du-jour-5-habitudes-a-changer-pour-lenvironnement%2F">|#fr|en|http%3A%2F%2Flemondedenathalie.ca%2F2010%2F05%2F04%2Fdefi-du-jour-5-habitudes-a-changer-pour-lenvironnement%2F">|#fr|en|http%3A%2F%2Flemondedenathalie.ca%2F2010%2F05%2F04%2Fdefi-du-jour-5-habitudes-a-changer-pour-lenvironnement%2F">http://translate.google.com/#fr|#fr|en|http%3A%2F%2Flemondedenathalie.ca%2F2010%2F05%2F04%2Fdefi-du-jour-5-habitudes-a-changer-pour-lenvironnement%2F">|http%3A%2F%2Fl… The #fr|en|http%3A%2F%2Flemondedenathalie.ca%2F2010%2F05%2F04%2Fdefi-du-jour-5-habitudes-a-changer-pour-lenvironnement%2F">glish translation was a little brok#fr|en|http%3A%2F%2Flemondedenathalie.ca%2F2010%2F05%2F04%2Fdefi-du-jour-5-habitudes-a-changer-pour-lenvironnement%2F"> but I was able to understand what was being said. Just FYI in case you wer#fr|en|http%3A%2F%2Flemondedenathalie.ca%2F2010%2F05%2F04%2Fdefi-du-jour-5-habitudes-a-changer-pour-lenvironnement%2F">'t aware of this tool.
Okay, so I manually went back and changed the text for the links to orange so that it would be easier to tell that the links are available. Thanks for pointing that out Larry because I had not caught that in previous posts.
Funny, whitty, and I love it!
I think it is a good start to a list, but I might go back and read the post "10 Steps to the Perfect List Posts" that was listed right below the assignment. The first two points on your lists were good in length, but simply putting "Structure" last left me wondering what you meant by that. I made me wondering if you really meant it or just threw a 3rd item in to complete the list.
I also think that with short list you need to give more information. My list for today was only 5 items, so I gave reasons why I picked those 5, however if was doing a list of the 25 best runs in America I would likely just list them with links to the race information. I think it's a delicate balance of making a post too short, or too long.
Thanks for the article. That is very helpful.