Why Write Listicles

By Adam  |  13 Apr 2016 12:00:00

I'm sure you've noticed more and more that people are sharing listicles online. If you're not quite sure what I mean by a "listicle": it's just a word used to describe internet articles based around lists. An example of a listicle might be "10 Flavours of Ice Cream We'd Love to See". They're very popular. But why are they so popular? Well, here are some of the main reasons that listicles seem to do so well:

1. They are easy to read.
People like sharing listicles because time is limited and with a listicle you can just read the title of each entry and get the gist of what the author is trying to say. Sure, there'll be a more substantial piece of text underneath each entry for those who want it, but those who don't can just skim over them!

2. You can fit a lot of ideas in a small space.
Listicles tend to cover a lot of ground because each entry tends to be about something different within the same subject area. Readers enjoy these kinds of things because it helps them to feel like they've consumed a lot without actually having done so.

3. It can increase page impressions.
Some websites like to write their listicles across multiple pages so that each entry on the list is its own page (usually along with a big image for each page.) Doing things like this will increase the number of page impressions on your site, but it also has the risk of making your content less appealing to readers and potential customers.

4. They're easy to fit marketing into.
If you're doing a listicle about something and one of the entries just happens to be something to do with your business or the products you sell, well, it only made sense to put it there! You're not trying to push your product. All the other entries were other things; you only promoted yourself because it was relevant to do so. At least that’s what the reader will think.

5. They're trendy.
Websites like Buzzfeed have made listicles very trendy. People enjoy listicles because listicles are popular. If you're posting the kind of things that people like, they're more likely to read!

So I hope that illustrates the uses of listicles for you. It's also pretty easy to come up with ideas for listicles, so they might be useful to keep in mind whenever you're running low on ideas for content. But if you don't even have an eCommerce website to do content marketing for, then sign up to Sellr now and get started for no cost at all!