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5 Steps For Effective Use Of Lists In Your Blog Posts

lists, listing

There are a lot of ways that a blogger can get his point across whatever the topic is. Sometimes, if they are trying to show their readers some steps or directions, lists are used. Lists are also used even to just…well, list stuff. Even though it might be very easy to list items, properly using them is one of the common mistakes I come through. Here are some steps to use effective lists in your blog posts. **Notice how I use lists to do this**

1. Use the proper list type. Number lists are used for directions or for showing steps to do something (like this post). Bullet lists are for listing anything that doesn’t need a proper order. For example, you might list your favorite foods. You would use a bullet list for this and not a number list.

2. Highlight keywords. Remember, write good content that can easily be scannable. First impressions of a blog post can also affect first impressions of your blog. Even if the reader doesn’t read the whole article, they can go over all the important keywords that are highlighted. You can do this by putting words the important words in bold.

3. Don’t lose track. If you’re trying to show directions or steps, make sure you get out of order. Keep things organized to keep your readers reading.


4. Give them a teaser. This is really optional, but if you want to increase your page views, you can leave a teaser to your readers. Here’s what I mean: don’t give your readers the whole post that includes the whole list. If you have 10 Steps to __________, show only the summary and the first 2-3 items in your list. Your readers can then “read more” or “continue reading”.

5. The more the better. This is self-explanatory. If you are trying to list 2 or 3 items, I would consider that too little. Five should be the minimum, and 100+ should be the maximum. An example of a list that had over 100+ items is something like the Make Money Online: 100+ Tools and Resources from Mashable.

Got other tips for effective use of lists?

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11 Responses to “5 Steps For Effective Use Of Lists In Your Blog Posts”

  1. Michael Says:

    Great post!

  2. Marketing Blog Says:

    some great advice there thanks

  3. Link Tips: 02 September 2007 Says:

    [...] Usings Lists: If you use lists often on your blog you might want to check this five tips to increase their efficiency. Don’t want to miss a single tip? Subscribe to our RSS Feed! [...]

  4. Format Blog Posts For Readibility and Legibility Says:

    [...] Lists. Lists are a good way of presenting information. [...]

  5. Instigator Blog » Blog Archive » Raising the Bar on Blog Contests Says:

    [...] I’ll be looking at your headlines, how you write, linking strategies, your use of images, structure of your posts and more. For good measure I’ll look at your blog headlines [...]

  6. Hafiz Dhanani Says:

    Five solid points there. Looks like you followed your own advice.

    Hafiz Dhanani’s last blog post..Welcome to Ask A Blogger

  7. lilyruth Says:

    You can use a list if yur writing up a receipe of your favorite cake or meal huh? I myself always have trouble with lists I can never get them underneath each other they always look like this 1. Be sure to leave a comment. 2. Now you see what I mean ? 3. No matter how hard I try I cant get them right. and as for the line that goes underneath that certain word that you want to make stand out I have this problem _____GROCERIES__________ I do not know how to make the line go right underneath the word. I enjoyed reading your article thoI have tried bullets it still did not work for me.

    lilyruth’s last blog post..Pro 360.com Online Casino

  8. Web Design Lincolnshire Says:

    Great tips.

    Many Thanks this will help me on a upcoming blog post.

  9. Internet Marketing Blog Says:

    Seems like you’ve got some pretty successful lists on here yourself - your top three most popular posts are lists :)

    Lists seem to be the most popular things on social media sites as well - another great incentive for writing one.

    Internet Marketing Blog’s last blog post..Focus

  10. Blog for Beginners Says:

    I’m in the habit of using to highlight certain keyword for better SEO.

    And I like your idea of using a teaser.

    Blog for Beginnerss last blog post..Yet Another 8 CSS Tips For Your Blog

  11. Gert Hough Says:

    Inspirational stuff. Using Lists shows the post as more organized and more readable. It reminds me to go and edit a post I made about DoFollow Directories. A nice plugin I have also reminds me constantly of one that needs to be taken of as it is a broken link.

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