How to Write Killer Listicles for Your Business?

Your website represents your space in the digital world.

A website that ranks high in search results is also often the one with the most authoritative, valuable, engaging, and viral content.

Simply speaking, the high ranking for your website is a sign that it contains quality content which drives traffic to your website and ultimately leads to the conversion of your visitors into your customers.

Digital marketers from the top digital marketing companies in Dallas confirm that the content strategy for your website if correctly drawn, must have different kinds of content that cater to various purposes. Your website content can include images, infographics, articles, etc.

So what is a listicle? And why are we talking about it?

This article explores what listicles are and their different types. Further, it also points out the factors to keep in mind when you write that next killer listicle that shall make your website stand out.

What is a listicle?

A listicle is an article that contains lists. It provides the necessary information to the readers in an engaging list form.

A listicle may contain short explanations, images, relevant details, links, and media. However, it does not comprises any filler explanations that make the write-up long.

Concise and precise are the two vital characteristics often identified with listicles. And perhaps, it is one of the crucial reasons why the audience loves listicles.

Why should your content strategy include listicles?

The best of the best digital marketers from the Dallas digital marketing agencies will suggest going for listicles because it helps in ranking high in the search results.

If used wisely, the heading, subheading, and the relevant images used in a listicle make it a perfect case for the search bots to spot the articles and place them high on the search results page.

Since numbers talk more than words can, here are a few statistics you should know:

• 75% of people prefer shorter articles of 1000 words or less
• Statistics also point out that the popularity of listicles (57%) and ‘How to’ articles, which are also a form of listicle (77%) are more than even the articles on news and trends (47%).

Some websites and companies are dedicated solely to publishing listicles. Check out a few live examples here:

• Buzzfeed has been one of the most popular listicle websites. They publish on various topics to entertain, educate, and market.

40 Products That Will Shock You With Their Efficiency

• Some companies like Listverse have a strict policy to publish a list of 10 things on any given topic. They stand firm with the number but flexible with the kind of topics.

10 Super Foods to Heal Your Body

Why do people love listicles?

• It is simple to read and engages the readers quickly.
• Readers can skim through the headings and subheadings and jump to the particular point they are interested in.
• A listicle is generally shorter in length than a regular article. Due to the average short attention span of the readers, a listicle often proves to be the bait they gobble up.
• Due to its structure and organization, a listicle is often more appealing to the reader. It also is less strainful on the eyes.
• Because a reader knows what is promised in the headline will be delivered within its content, a trust is automatically built. For example, “10 things to carry while vacationing”.Here the reader knows that this is a list of 10 things.
• People tend to feel organized when they skim through a list.

What are the types of listicles?

The Dallas digital marketing company conforms that generally, a listicle can be categorized into various types based on its content and intent.

A listicle can be:

• Inspirational (10 ways to inculcate a good habit)
• Educational (15 tips to sleep better)
• Instructive (13 simple steps to write an article)
• Opinionated (7 reasons why mobile addiction is on the rise)
• Analytical (5 mind-numbing charts show the effects of climate change)
• Collectibles (9 all-time best songs of Elvis Presley)

However, for the sake of digital marketing and content strategy, a listicle is identified and categorized based on its intent. For this purpose, a listicle is broadly categorized into the following two types.

Viral listicles

As the name suggests, a viral listicle is created so that it gets viral on the internet world. Its sole objective is to engage the audience and spread the word about its content.

It can help the brand get air in the overcrowding sea of digital content. However, it does not aim to convert its readers into customers.

Informational listicles

These are the listicles created to inform and provide value to the customers at the start of the buyer’s journey.

According to the digital marketing agencies in Dallas, informational listicles outlining simple steps to solve a customer’s problem can do wonders for your business.

How to write a listicle to create an impact on your audience?

A good content marketing strategy combines viral listicles and informational listicles to deliver its content and engage with the audiences so that your business thrives. Let us explore how to write a listicle to engage your audience that will eventually benefit your business.

Define your goal

Based on the two broad categories of listicles, you need to define the goal of your listicle.

1. Is it meant to go viral and create brand awareness?
2. Or is it meant to serve your target audience by providing valuable information, steps, and procedures that will eventually convert your audience into customers?

Select your topic

Once you have identified the goal for the listicle, you need to select an appropriate topic. The topic for the listicle will often steer its language, style, tone, keywords, and optimization that will eventually show its results in the search rankings.

For a viral listicle, create a list of topics you think the audience would generally be interested in. Here the focus is more generalized and not product-specific.

For informational listicles, create a list of topics you believe will solve a customer’s problem.

Here the focus must be on addressing the customer’s pain points and enlist how your product can help solve those problems.

Generate ideas through

Once a topic has been selected, narrow down and generate ideas around the topic that will form the ingredients for your listicle. Digital marketing agencies in Dallas point out two distinct and definitive ways to generate ideas for listicles, viz., keyword research and competition analysis.

Keyword research

Your listicle to rank high has to focus on keywords. Therefore, keyword research is a time-tested method to start generating ideas that will form the basis of the listicle.

Research around your keywords and topic by keeping an eye for words and phrases such as:

• Top
• Best
• Great
• Amazing
• Awesome etc.

Combine such adverbs with a numerical, for example: “5 amazing ways”, “10 Best tips”, or “7 top places.”

Enumerate a detailed list of keywords through various tools available on the internet.

Google Analytics, Google keyword planner, and various other keyword explorers can give the information you need about the keywords that are trending on a particular topic.

Any professional digital marketing company in Dallas or anywhere in the world will not begin with the next step until they have researched every possible keyword around a given idea.

It is the skeleton upon which your listicle will get structured.

Competitor analysis

Competitor analysis also gives you an insight into what keywords your competitors focus on and in what context. Knowing this detail alone will make your listicle stand out from the crowd and show its uniqueness.

Check what your competitors are posting as list posts. What are their best-performing list posts? Think about whether you can provide better value or add a uniqueness to the list or its content?

Outline your listicle with the ideas generated

Now that you have generated your idea and a list of keywords, you need to create an outline for your listicle. The broad outlines should contain those keywords.

• Ensure SEO optimization

Articles must be SEO optimized to rank high, and when it comes to listicles, pay attention to how your write-up is structured with appropriate headings.

A listicle can often have a list of headers and subheadings. Professional marketers from the top digital marketing agencies in Dallas agree that it is a superb opportunity for search engine bots and crawlers to recognize the structure of your written piece and rank it appropriately.

• Outline with header tags

There are certain specifications concerning header tags or HTML tags that require special attention while outlining your list post.

Header tags are used to structure the body of your article in the order of their appropriate importance. H1 tag is the title of your listicle and H2 up to H6 are the subheadings that will introduce each new topic and subtopics.

Use subheadings to introduce a new subtopic within the list post. These may be tagged as H2.

When a subtopic is explained further and broken down into points, they get tagged as H3, H4 tags, and so on.

HTML header tags help the search engines to understand better how your article structure is placed. Articles with well-placed header tags will be recognized quickly by the search engine bots.

Start writing the content

Now that your outline is ready, it is time to start writing the first draft of the listicle. While writing, address the points noted during the outlining process. Content experts from the Dallas digital marketing company or anywhere in the world will advise that while writing your listicle, always keep the reader in mind.

Your listicle must adhere to certain norms to qualify and rank high. While you are drafting your piece, pay special attention to:

• Length and clarity

Keep your lists limited. And do it with clarity each time. A short and precise list will travel far and wide and do its job perfectly well.

• Include innovative graphic imagery

Pictures often depict a situation precisely where limiting words can fail.

Statistics say that two-thirds of the readers are visual learners, and 65% of readers can recall information after three days if they had seen an image about it. 67% of readers consider that a detailed image is more important than texts about product information.

Further, a staggering 94% more views are generated by articles that have images.

Since a visual listicle is social media friendly, it tends to get viral quickly.

Be sure to use innovative images and pictures that explain the topic at a glance. Your readers will often stop by the picture if you have had it done and placed appropriately.

• Create a catchy title

Legendary copywriter David Ogilvy points out that, on average, a headline is read five times more than the actual article.

Once you have written the piece, create a compelling title for it. Your listicle title alone should intrigue the audience to delve into the main article. However, try to incorporate the keywords into your title.

• Number your list

Dallas digital marketing company speaks from experience that titles containing numerical naturally attract readers. Research points out that 36% of readers are more likely to read an article if your headline has a number.

Furthermore, the audiences love odd numbers. So use numbers in your title.

Wrap Up

So what is your content strategy for listicles? Not everyone can draft a good listicle. It is where professionals from top digital marketing agencies in Dallas and elsewhere come into the picture.

Your content is as crucial for your website as it is for your business to grow. Digital marketing experts have shared their experiences about why the content strategy for your website should include listicles, and we have shared in this article the little nuances of writing one.

Tell us about your experience in writing a listicle.