A Better Way to Create “List” Posts

How many “Top 10″ and “50 Best” posts have you seen recently? Most likely, you’ve seen more quite a few of them. They have emerged as one of the most popular forms of posts within the blogosphere, particularly sites involved in “social media” and design.

Originally, like most good ideas, these posts had a good use, and this was to help blog visitors quickly find new, fresh content from various sources around the web. For the past three years (and longer), many of the top websites on the web have been using a technique like this to increase traffic, draw in new visitors, and help build their brand as creating content; not particularly unique at that.

One of the most well-known sites for using this type of post may be Mashable, which started just like every other blog on the web. Many of these posts dealt with web resources and blog themes, but now, there are relatively few of these posts on the main page, but there are still posts of this style published. While this is not the only site to use this technique, it is one that actively promoted using it – but there is still unique content being published.

The Problems with List Posts

List posts have gone downhill for one reason, and one reason only: there are so many of them being created of the same main topics. If you have twenty variations of the “Top 100 WordPress Themes,” after ten or so of them, they will have repeated a good number of the same themes. If Google ranks each of them fairly similarly, they will all appear, and it’ll be mostly up to chance whether a visitor clicks on your post, compared to the next one on the list.

Every designers’ dirty little secret is that they copy other designers’ work. They see work they like, and they imitate it. Rather cheekily, they call this inspiration.

— Aaron Russell

When choosing a main focus of a list post, a blogger must first research whether it has been done before, and how many of them have been created. Sticking with WordPress themes, it isn’t too hard to re-compile a list of these themes from a selection of smaller collections, but if none of these posts exist, it’ll be more difficult to compile the list, as it’ll take more time, and the blogger will have to do more research.

From a Visitor’s Standpoint

Bloggers must think about the bloggers – it is your main focus to tailor your blog to them, after all.

1. The list post format grows old quickly, especially when the post titles are quite similar. It can be hard to remember whether you’ve read through this post or that post. I’ve seen quite a number of blogs (including this one at times) that do consecutive posts with titles of “25 Best Methods of…,” with the next post being “50 Excellent Ways to….”
2. Readers don’t have as much time as you might think. While they are free to choose which posts they bookmark and which ones they don’t, it can still be quite tiresome on their part to read through one of these long posts (mainly consisting of images), and then going onto the next post, which is mostly a repeat.
3. Often, little value is added to the posts, so the reader is left with nothing more than he or she enters the site with. The main reason visitors are drawn to your site each day is for content, knowledge, and something that will inspire them to think. These list posts need to start doing this.
4. Discussion. Plain and simple, as humans, we want to see some form of discussion evolve within the constraints of a post. I recently took a look at two posts on the same topic, to see how users react to the two types of content – list posts and regular, useful posts, if you weren’t paying attention. Here’s what I found:
   1. The “trends” post contained 1,126 words, with 27 comments, and 575 words (including names and dates). Seven of the comments were between two words and seven, or didn’t add any additional content to the discussion. 25 images were showcased within the post. Finally, there were 193 retweets and nearly 3,700 clicks from the bit.ly URL.
   2. Another article, published one week prior to the above article, looked at proper techniques of designing websites using this technique, providing insight into the process as well as how he did it, providing all the HTML required. There were 29 comments (just two more) but there were 2,582 words contained here (including names and dates), which is nearly five times as much discussion. The actual post was similar in length, at 1,174 words, and four images. There were no retweets, as this was not implemented and cannot be tracked, and there were eleven bit.ly clicks on the link, although they were from an aggregate site.
   3. Sure, one could say that the post with more clicks/shares has more popularity and more traffic, but wouldn’t designers want to see how to properly create the design, rather than how “the best” sites design it? No. They went to the post that collected some of the best examples. Very little discussion was attached to the post.

From the Content Creator’s Standpoint

As a content creator, it can often be difficult to create these posts, without thinking first about how value can be added or how to execute the post to ensure that readers will find something special about the post.

1. Not everyone has the Internet speeds required to view the larger posts, especially those with a hundred or more images. While these posts might take eight seconds to load for some visitors, they will take more than a minute for other visitors.
2. Again, time is not on the side of the blogger. Although all the content for these posts is already “there,” these posts can often take a few hours to create, and that’s before the unique aspects are added.
3. Instant gratification or long-term success. It’s a decision that bloggers have to make before they write each post, and this is where we move onto the main points.

Benefits of the List Post Format

There has recently been a lot of backlash from the design community and average readers who feel it is time to move on beyond this format. I have to agree with them on some fronts, but still feel it is necessary to address what benefits these posts have.

1. Designers can find resources and inspiration for their upcoming work. Not everything comes to our minds when we need it to, nor do modern trends emerge without seeing them in use first.
2. Spreadability, yes that’s a good way of putting it. People love spreading these list posts throughout the web, and I guess the main reason for this is so others can discover them, too? For those who don’t want to see them any more: it’ll only happen when these posts don’t bring in much traffic/shares on social bookmarking/networking sites.
3. Popularity. Generally, these list posts do very well. Almost too good. The “top” sites that publish posts like these can generate thousands of unique visitors within a matter of minutes after publishing them, due to how their readers spread the content on various sites. Facebook, Digg, StumbleUpon, Delicious, Twitter, Tumblr, Mixx, TweetMeme, Topsy, and the list goes on. It’ll be there, trust me.
4. The Format. When writing a list post, it is much easier to place content in these posts than spreading them out or sharing them in other formats. Would you rather see a good example of a design within a single post and a long discussion or an abbreviated one within a longer list post?
5. Being Collective. It can sometimes be difficult to find examples of web designs without browsing through hundreds of CSS galleries, and you’re often left empty-handed. Having a specific list/resource post can save a designer/developer time when it comes to inspiration or brief how-to tips.
6. Limitless. These posts can be written on just about anything, form how to publish a book to ways to start a business. Sure, there are crazier examples than these, but you get the idea. Have an idea for a list post? There’s probably already one for the topic.
7. They’re Logical. Most people will find it easier to read a list post than to explore ten different sites to get the same ideas contained within the list post. Some would tell me that this is a negative, though.
8. They are Timeless. Unless the list post covers the “Top 10 Medical Breakthroughs of 2009,” or any other similar topic that focus on a certain time period, the post will remain somewhat popular and useful for years to come.
9. People Demand Them. Inline with popularity, people will continue flocking to these posts as long as they are being created. We consume, and are addicted to content on the web. Nothing will change that.

Another List on Lists: What You Can Do, as a Content Publisher {Blogger}

Unless your livelihood depends on you creating list posts, avoid them unless your visitors really like seeing them. It’s up to you whether you publish them, and it’s up to your readers to tell you whether they want to see more of them.

Unless you have already become established in your particular niche – web design, in this case – you’ll have a hard time getting noticed unless you do some good old fashioned link bait posts. Nothing will stop people from flocking to the posts.

Build a Proper Foundation

Your website needs a proper logo, design, and structure before you’ll ever get noticed on the web or treated seriously. I can have a thousand list posts and lack the core elements of a site – the community, the branding, and the inbound links, resulting in a site that just has copies and links to third-party websites.

Readers want to see a foundation of tutorials, resources that you have created yourself, and proper techniques of designing or coding for the web before they see “best practices” from other designers.

Everyone has to start somewhere, and if that means learning how to design properly yourself first, then that is what has to be done. No one learns everything overnight and no one can claim to have the answers to all the world’s problems.

The Discussion Begins with the Author

Sometimes it is best to move away from tutorials altogether. Rather than creating a PSD file your visitors can download, choose to instead focus on a certain aspect of web design. The main reason posts that explain why or how to create something aren’t actively distributed and spread around is because the blog authors don’t promote it.

More bloggers would add quality content to their site should they see it become popular, but it hasn’t thus far.

Using an improper CSS technique isn’t the right way to gain attention, either. Explain the way you went about designing a project, the techniques that went into it, and inform your visitors how they, too can get a similar effect, essentially laying a framework down.

Create Answers, Not Questions

List posts create a lot of questions. That’s it. Take a look at my latest wallpaper collection, and you’ll find more text than most bloggers would add, but unless you were looking for links to a multi-monitor wallpaper, there aren’t a whole lot of problems solved.

Browse through forums, look on Twitter, and browse through these “Top X” posts for questions that others are asking. While these questions may have been answered countless times in the past, there is absolutely no reason why you can’t add your own unique ideas to truly inspire and capture your audience.

Example Questions You Can Answer Today:

• Why is this technique used, compared to that one?
• Many already know how to do something, but few really understand why they are doing it.
• Why did the designer align the header to the right, rather than to the middle?
• Trends are trends, nothing more. If I didn’t know how to use them in the past, how will I learn how to properly use them when they reach full popularity?
• We know sites evolve. Why have they evolved the way they have, and what techniques could I use to modernize an existing design?

Delve Further into the List Post

A good list post begins with a main idea, and then branches off into several similar topics, which all tie into the main focus. Why were list posts created or popularized in the first place? Primarily to create a central place to learn all about the topic. It was (and still is) focused on content.

Put the design tips into action yourself, break down the code, show the Photoshop or Dreamweaver actions, or provide a solid background of what you are talking about and how the technique has evolved. Two hundred words and then fifty images doesn’t cut it anymore.

Be Unique, Don’t Listen to the Leaders

Even though the sites continuing to spread this type of post will continue to grow, what is going to stop you from creating a new trend? Only you. Take risks when it comes to creating content online.

The only thing you will really waste if you fail is the chance you took. However, you’ll learn and grow from them, emerging with new ideas that can be put into use.

The Internet

A soon as you go online, you are sharing content with others.You have the right to post (or not post) certain content. There’s a good chance that if it will help your blog grow, you’ll want to post it.

If the Internet had just one copy of everything created, there would only be one company in charge of everything you read, watch, and discuss online. That would be a disappointment. Share what you like, avoid the content you don’t, and the best content will magically begin to reappear from the mist.

Additional Resources

Here I’ve brought together a few posts that explore and touch upon this topic, with even more discussion surrounding “list” posts and where they are headed.

• Learn About Design, Not Making Things Pretty
• The List Article Backlash
• 7 Reasons Why List Posts Will Always Work (yes, it’s a list)
• Zero Things I Like About List Posts

Conclusion

We’d like to hear your thoughts on these posts, where they are going, and how we can help draw in more discussion to these posts.

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