List posts are all the rage these days. I love reading lists. I have about 25 different notepads just for taking lists (and I’m probably under exaggerating this!).
People like to read list posts because they are like information wrapped in a neat little package. If I know I can browse a list of 100 blog topic ideas to get my creative juices flowing, I’m all over that. If I know I can go to a website that recommends the top 5 plugins I need to run my blog properly, I’d be all over that. If I am decorating my house and want inspiration from 25 different interiors decorated in my favorite color combo, blue & gold, I’d be all over that!
List posts are probably my favorite type of posts to write because they make sense to me. I can write points one through three in one sitting, then add points four through 7 later on. If I start writing a post about 21 ideas for XYZ and then only come up with 13, then I simply change the title. Easy peasy! (This post, for example, started out as 5 list post examples, and I found 7!)
I thought it would be a good idea to give a glimpse into the variety of ways I’ve used list posts on WhatMommyDoes to grow my traffic base and keep readers browsing around my blog. I hope it inspires you to create your own list posts.
List Posts Seven Different Ways – My Favorite List Post Ideas
Here are 7 different formats/styles of list posts you can find on my blog. Most of these examples are finance-related because I just tend to write those types of posts in list format so I can take a serious subject and make it a little more fun. 🙂
1) 7 Ways to Make $800 – This kind of list post is the easiest to write. It’s a straight up list with everything on one page, and each bullet point is explained with a paragraph or two.
2) 3 Things Every Little Girl Needs to Hear Her Daddy Say – Super short, but intriguing. I tend to write long posts, so whenever I do a post with only 3 bullet points I feel like I’m getting away with something easy! 🙂
3) 13 Mason Jars to Make & Sell for Extra Cash – This is a slideshow I put together using the Theia Post Slider plugin from Code Canyon. This massive post took several days of work because I had to request links from other bloggers, create each collage, and basically write 7 posts in one, but it has been totally worth it traffic-wise. The plugin is very simple to use.
4) 75 Non Candy Easter Basket Ideas – I posted this on a whim, not thinking it would go anywhere, but I figured I would give it a shot since I saw so many other bloggers having success with these types of posts. It was surprisingly well received! If I remember correctly, I got a few thousand page views on this post from Facebook and Pinterest right around Easter. I’ve been meaning to try it out for other holidays but I haven’t gotten around to it yet. It’s just a simple post of 75 ideas, no explanations.
5) 7 Creative Money Gift Ideas – This list is a roundup of my own posts! This kind of list post can send visitors all over your blog. I’m hoping to add a few more money gift idea posts to my blog over the next few months so I can make all 7 my own links. Because I don’t want to take away from the bloggers currently getting exposure from this post, I will still include them at the bottom as “bonus” ideas.
6) 50 Ways to Make Extra Money on the Side – Sometimes linking up to a lot of sources take longer than I’d like, so I used Inlinkz to create this roundup over the course of a few weeks. I had the idea for a ost about 50 money making ideas, but I don’t have that many of my own posts on making money. So I just asked some of my financial blogger friends to link up their relevant posts after I got the Inlinkz code set up. This collaborative post was so fun to do!
7) 7 Super Easy Christmas Cookie Exchange Ideas – This kind takes literally minutes to put together! These are all ideas I actually considered when I was looking for recipes for a Christmas cookie exchange, so I just threw those ideas into a post! All you have to do is think of a neat topic and round up some of your favorite resources.
There you have it – seven different list post ideas! As you can see, list posts are a great way to cover a complex or fun topic. People love to read them because they’re easy to digest, so they’re great for getting more website traffic. Link up a few of these to each other, and you might be able to convince a visitor to stay! 🙂 If you give this a try, make sure to share your published post in the comments below so we can all go take a look!
How I Grew My Blog from 17K – 350K+ Monthly Visitors
If you like this post, you will no doubt like the tips I included in my Blog Traffic Ebook. I’ve been getting great feedback on this ebook and I’ve been told it’s helping bloggers in all kinds of niches think outside the box when it comes to traffic generation.
Everyone who purchases the ebook is eligible for my affiliate program, which pays out $10 per sale (and I have an affiliate income series coming to help you with that part!). 🙂
Preview My Ebook Traffic Stats Here
More Blog Traffic Tips: Ideas to Grow Your Blog Traffic
As I was writing my ebook, I found that it was getting so long I had to stop putting tips in there! So I’m adding more tips as I think of them to my free blog traffic series. You can start that series here: Blog Traffic Tip #1
Related Reading:
How I Plan to Double My Monthly Blogging Income to $16,000
- 30 Non-Toy Christmas Gift Ideas for Kids - 10/31/2023
- 50+ Fun Family Christmas Gift Ideas for Every Budget - 10/31/2023
- 19+ Creative Birthday Money Gifts - 08/04/2023
robbie @ use resources wisely says
I appreciate the narratives of these posts more than anything! Thanks for linking up through the facebook group. Will have to try these twists on them out. 😉
Sarah Mueller says
Super helpful! I always tend to make these things harder than they need to be. Thanks for the ideas – I’ll try out some of the shorter ones 🙂
Lena Gott says
haha you and me both! I never would have believed a simple list with no explanation could do well, but apparently they do! 🙂
ChristyM says
Here is a list post that has done well for me. I’m going to try a few of your ideas including intentionally making list of my own posts.
http://www.thrivingstem.com/2014/11/why-boats-float-ways-to-make-toy-boats.html?m=1
Lena Gott says
Awesome! Come back if you think of it and share your results!
Emma says
I love that you made a list post about making list posts! lol! They’re actually one of my favorite kinds of posts to write!
Lena Gott says
hahahaha you know I didn’t catch on to that until I was done. 🙂
DazzleWhileFrazzled says
Thanks for the advice! As a newbie blogger, I’m all over learning how to do this thing called blogging. Visiting from The Pretty Pintastic Party.
Lena Gott says
Glad you found this useful!