Here’s a tip for how to get people to link to your blog.
Write lists!
I’ve been reminded by this again today by seeing just how many people are linking up to Piaras Kelly’s list of Tips on writing content for your blog. I must have seen 10 or 15 people link to it in the last few hours (including me). Even though I don’t agree with all of it there is something about a list that bloggers and blog readers love. Here’s a list of reasons why lists can be good for your blog:
- Lists are Scannable – online readers are notoriously lazy. A list helps communicate a number of points quickly and easily
- Lists keep posts succinct – there is something about a list that keeps you from rambling
- Lists look ‘neat’ – I don’t know about you but when I surf onto a site that is full of messily formatted text – I don’t tend to stick around long. Lists on the other hand can be quite visually pleasing
- Lists are easy to link to – most of the links to the link above simply summarize the list (giving the keypoints) – bloggers seem to like linking up in this manner
- Lists can be comprehensive – Piaras covered 12 points in the above list
- Lists are persuasive – if you want to mount a case for something quickly presenting numerous arguments in a list can be quite convincing
- Lists can add to the ease of writing – I like writing in lists because they break down my thoughts into bite sized pieces which is good not only for readers but me as a writer as I consider how to express myself
- Lists as Memes – I’m not quite sure how to describe this – but lists can start epidemics of ideas. For the above reasons (and others – bloggers seem to love linking to lists and as a result they have the ability to spread quickly
There is obviously a pretty good case for using lists in your blog writing. Of course you can use them too much – sometimes a topic calls for something a little more meaty and in depth than a list – but overall I’d recommend that using lists on your blog as part of your writing mix is an worthwhile strategy.
Your absolutely right – my post 7 Things To Do With Your Old iPod Mini was just a collection of off-the-cuff comments, but it still resulted in a massive traffic spike:
http://mashable.com/2005/09/08/7-things-to-do-with-your-old-ipod-mini/
Darren, i totally agree with you, in fact…this post made me realize some very important things about my own personal blog:
http://me.heatmax.illusionfxnet.com/?p=22
this post is about common mistakes in newly created forums, as you see, the caluses numbers are a bit bigger, and the title of each clause is pretty stand-out.
This post was very very popular, got linked in alot of webmasters and foruming forums and sites, probably the most popular post i ever posted.
http://me.heatmax.illusionfxnet.com/?p=31
Now this is another post about foruming, that i invested as much time in, but as you can see, it’s not put up as a list with numbers, it’s put as little paragraphs for each clause.
Even though i invested alot in this post, it wasn’t that popular comparing to the common mistakes one…
And i guess one of the main reasons are what you just sharpened in my mind right now, listing! =)
Thanks for another great post
Heat
I had a blog that had a blog directory list on the navigation menu. Some of my readers emailed me thanking me for the list. They also said that they will reference the list when they submit their blogs.
Based on that response, I recreated that blog and it’s now called
http://www.SubmitBlogs.net
As long as the list is useful to readers, they’ll link to it.
Great observation, Darren. You’re so right about lists.
Years ago, when I was a struggling magazine writer, I discovered the list format. Until then, I had really struggled to get my head around article ideas, and it took me forevere to actually write one. But list-type articles suddenly freed me, and unleashed all sorts of ideas, energy and creativity. (As a bonus, they’re easy to explain to editors, who also seem to love them!)
I still use lists frequently when I write ads, brochures, Web content, newsletters, etc., for my copywriting clients.
Tom McKay
Attract More Customers
http://www.MaineCreative.com/blog.htm
Hey, don’t let this secret out of the bag, you could be charging for it :-)
Darren,
I’m glad I read this before Duncan talks you out of sharing with us.
Bad, bad Duncan !
This is now a sticky note glued to our monitors. We are now officially “listing” fools. Or at least part of that phrase.
Once again Darren is da man.
Hey – nice list.
:-)
ok – so if you’ve read this – send me $3 pls….
Actually that’s wise words. Time to publish my five reasons why truncated feeds suck :Þ
I made a list entitled “Top 5 ways my baby will be similar to Google.com”. Unfortunately it did not receive the attention that I thought it may. Possibly because I was/am a new guy in the blogosphere or maybe it was too short. Hell maybe it just was lame I dont know.
http://www.webgoonies.com/2005/07/top_5_ways_my_baby_will_be_sim.html
Human nature just never changes. We love lists even as long as fifty ;-) 50 Reasons Why We Can’t Change
While I agree with you in theory, in practive I’ve found it doesn’t always work!
A few weeks back I made a list of 9 reasons why blogging is good for business ( http://bdminnovate.com/journal/2005/08/18/why-a-blog-is-good-for-business/ ) hoping to get some comments to build it into a better list, but alas only 2 peoepl!
I think the time you post and the title are important too – I titles it ‘Why a Blog is Good for Business’ as oppose to ‘Ten Reasons why Businesses Should Blog’. Might have made a difference!
For me, reason #7 would be reason #1. Not only do writing in lists keep you the author on track when you are writing, but they also help the reader follow your line of reasoning (especially if each point builds on the previous pioints).
Clever of you to write about why lists are good in a list format :)
[…] Darren at problogger provides 8 Reasons Why Lists are Good for Getting Traffic to your Blog. […]
[…] Tapping into my recent posts on blogging with lists – here’s my Top Ten Reasons why ProBlogger has slowed down: […]
I feel like this post will make tons of blogger start a “list of” has their posts. We’ll find tons of “why”, “where”, “how” lists getting high in blog lists since they are easy to read and everything. But please, at least, make the list coherent and have some value, don’t just make a list to have a list…
8 причин почему списки приносят траффик на ваш блог
Владелец блога problogger.net, Даррен, приводит список причин, почему наличие списка в постингах приносит траффик: “…Списки легко обозрев…
9. Lists worked for Schindler
10. Lists go great at a tailgate party at the San Antonio Saints game.
Don’t forget to lighten up. If you’re awake late enough to be reading this, you’ve surfed across Letterman’s show.
At last, validation for my favorite writing style! Lists rule!
I definitly agree with number one, that online readers are lazy. They are also very busy and long post sometimes is to much to read to find the point where a list gets to the point short and sweet.
I also agree with keeping a site clean. There are enough ugly sites out there and we don’t need any more
If you have a semi to highly customized site, then creating a list of the plugins, themes, and customizations that you use is interesting to other bloggers and will generate a lot of hits from trackbacks and searches. I was often asked what plugins I use on my site, so I made a list. My list of the plugins, More Fun with WordPress Plugins, gets tons of hits and was pretty easy to make.
[…] […]
[…] Who says? Well, Darren, Amy, and Larisa for starters. […]
[…] origin […]
[…] […]
[…] 2. Write a list – this second step will not surprise regular ProBlogger readers as you know I love a good list and that lists (like in this very post) are pretty central to my blogging style. When I make the decision that a topic is big enough for a series I generally start with a bit of a brainstorming session and compile a list of the main points that I want to make. […]
Hey, I really appreciate all of these blogging tips.
[…] 8 Reasons Why Lists Are Good for Getting Traffic to Your Blog | Problogger […]
I couldn’t agree more especially regarding point number 2 (keeps post succinct). Writing more than a sentence or two on a list just feels wrong.
I definitly agree with this article, we posted a list on one of our design articles and it definitly helped traffic.
Shawn G
Bathroom Vessel Sinks & Faucets
G-NET Car PC & Vehicle Computers
[…] 8 reasons why Lists are Good for Getting Traffic to your Blog […]
[…] 8 Reasons Why Lists Are Good for Getting Traffic to Your Blog | Problogger […]
[…] Read this problogger articles titled “8 reasons Why lists are good for getting traffic to your blog”. Read the comments section and you will see that most of the people agree with that. […]
Good stuff! Nice and to the point.
[…] Make a list. Lists dominate the del.icio.us popular page. Read DR’s 8 Reasons Why Lists are Good for Getting Traffic to Your Blog. But use odd numbers. Interestingly, tonight there are only 2 lists on the page of 32. Nonetheless, here is testimony. […]
A tip: there are always lots of opinion surveys floating around and they are good places to find “listable” material. If you are writing something substantive as opposed to humorous, it helps of course to stay on theme and remember all the other rules of good blogsmanship. In other words, please have something intelligent to say about the list you just put up for all to see.
I have a religion- themed blogged and I got a big spike from Reddit with a list of the Top 10 Reasons People Stop Attending Church.
[…] 8 Reasons Why Lists Are Good for Getting Traffic to Your Blog | Problogger […]
[…] 8 Reasons Why Lists Are Good for Getting Traffic to Your Blog | Problogger […]
[…] 8 Reasons Why Lists Are Good for Getting Traffic to Your Blog | Problogger 7 Ways to Get to the Top of the del.ico.us Popular Page | Problogger Top 10 Actionable Tips (Rules) That Make Me Top Digg User | Marketalica The Dark Side of Social Media And 5 Ways to Avoid It | Influential interactive marketing […]
[…] The same thing could be said about our culture’s obsession with lists. It’s all the rage to use lists to get your point across. Why? Because they grab attention, and everyone knows that grabbing attention is the way to get traffic. […]
[…] Other bloggers offer their own reasons for compiling lists, but many of the same thoughts are readily apparent. […]
I couldn’t agree with #1 more…people like to quickly scan for information–get to the point.
[…] • Lists – One of the easiest ways to write a post is to make a list. Posts with content like ‘The Top Ten ways to….’, ‘7 Reasons why….’ ‘ 5 Favourite ….’, ‘53 mistakes that bloggers make when….’ are not only easy to write but are usually very popular with readers and with getting links from other bloggers. Read my post – 8 Reasons Why Lists are Good for Getting Traffic to your Blog for more on lists. One last tip on lists – if you start with a brief list (each point as a phrase or sentence) and then develop each one into a paragraph or two you might just end up with a series of posts that lasts you a few days. That’s how I started the Bloggers Block series. […]
[…] 8 Reasons Why Lists Are Good for Getting Traffic to Your Blog | Problogger […]
[…] 8 Reasons Why Lists Are Good for Getting Traffic to Your Blog | Problogger […]
[…] 8 Reasons Why Lists Are Good for Getting Traffic to Your Blog Problogger […]
[…] Darren Rowse (My Idol blogger) has a even better list at his site located here: 8 Reasons why lists are good for getting traffic to your blog […]
[…] 8 Reasons Why Lists Are Good for Getting Traffic to Your Blog | Problogger […]
[…] I’ll admit that usually I’m not a fan of lists, hence you won’t find many long ones here at Better Business Blogging. However, when they are recommended by people like Brian Clark at CopyBlogger or Darren Rowse at Problogger then who am I to argue?Although I have presented this as a single list, there are really three distinct groups of techniques that I would recommend that you consider in here – firstly what I would call “Blog methods”, then the more general online marketing methods and of course offline marketing and PR techniques. We’ll be looking at all of these on an ongoing basis at The Blog Coach. […]