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In Blogging, Use Numbered Lists; Don’t Forget the Subscript

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A subscript is a character that is set slightly below the normal line of type, respectively. It is usually smaller than the rest of the text. The National Geographic’ magazine issue “100 Places That will Change Your Life” is a great example of the way content writers can use subscripts in the titles of blog posts..

Under the name of each place the National Geographic authors recommend you visit, they’ve described a specific experience you can enjoy:

  • In Qutu, China, you can learn Shaolin kug fu, the martial art developed by monks in the 15th century.
  • In Oaxaca, Mexico, you can learn to prepare tamales using chocolate, grasshoppers, and corn fungus.
  • In Jamaica, make sure to meet the Maroons, descendants of enslaved Africans who fought for freedom from the British.
  • At Ellis Island, you can discover parts of your own family history.
  • In Vietnam, you can wander the spice forests.
  • In Bali, Indonesia, look for stunning penjor, bamboo poles adorned with frit, flowers, ad coconut leaves that display Hindu offerings during the festival of Galungan.

The way this wonderful magazine issue is set out serves as a reminder of several blog writing tactics we emphasize at Say it For You:

  1. Present information in numbered lists – Lists spatially organize information, helping create an easy reading experience, working well for scanning and skimming online searchers.
  2. Use “huh-oh” titles – “Huh?s” arouse curiosity; the “ohs” make clear what the article is about and use the keyword phrases.
  3. Offer specific advice and tips, thereby demonstrating that we understand our target readers’ needs.
  4. Include startling statistics – “Only an estimated one in 1,000 to 10,000 survives to adulthood” (describing why readers might be interested in rescuing sea turtles in Costa Rica). Opening your post with a startling statistic can be a way to grab visitors’ attention. If there’s some false impression people seem to have relating to your industry, or to a product or service you provide, statistics can serve as myth-busters.

In blogging, use numbered lists, and don’t forget the subscripts!

 

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Lists Are a Good Fit for Blogs – Once in a While

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Of all the types of list-style blog posts you could write, the “curated list’ is probably the easiest, Virtasktic.com explains, because “it is more about researching and trying to find content from others than about writing your content from scratch”. Still, curated lists require thought and care, and need to be structured in a way that makes it easy for your readers to consume.

That lists in general are a good fit for blogs is actually something I stress in corporate blogging training sessions.  By most accounts, search engines like lists and bullet points.  Even more important, I’ve found over the years at Say It For You, lists help keep readers – and writers – on track.

Interestingly, I came across two different lists, both listing resource programs available to Indiana residents.

  1. The first of these is on the state’s website, Indiana.gov, and offers a comprehensive list of assistance programs including food and clothing, mental health & addiction, health care, housing & utility assistance, children and family, tax assistance and education, employment.
  2. The second list, also abut resources, appeared in the Indianapolis Business Journal‘s promotional supplement “IN Career Ready. This list is focused on assistance programs in only the area of education. However the title does not make that clear (it’s titled “Free Money from the State of Indiana”.

Each of these two lists would be highly useful for readers searching for information about Indiana assistance programs. There is no attempt to editorialize, advise, or even organize the information in a new way. Each list is simply an organized collection of information.

In marketing a business or practice, organizing relevant and useful information in list form, geared towards the needs of your target audience can be very useful to readers. As in the two examples I found, the lists might be of resources for further information, tactics to try, or alternatives for solving a particular problem. Unlike the case with the IBJ supplement, the title must make very clear precisely what readers will find in the list. “Listicles help present a large amount of information in small, easy-to-scan, numbered sections,” explains Neil Patel.

Are list blogs meant to be an “instead of”? Of course not! For instance, listicles cannot…

  • allow your audience to know, like, and trust you
  • offer soft sales messages in value-added content
  • build community
  • highlight the specific needs fears, and wants of your target audience
  • offer opinion and thought leadership

But, when it comes to sheer utility and convenience – list blogs just can’t be beat!

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Don’t-Do-These-Things Blogging for Business

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“Selling your home? Don’t do these 5 things” is the title of an IndyStar article, and a very good title, at that – for several reasons that should be of interest to blog content writers. For some reason, it’s the ”don’ts” that draw people’s attention far more than the “dos” – readers are drawn to negative titles. It’s that old human fear of failure again, but like it or not, negative titles work.

The article goes on to offer several pieces of very practical, valuable advice, such as warning against doing major remodels to your home to match your own tastes rather than what buyers might prefer, and at a cost that may not be recoverable in the sale price.

“Don’t Do These 5 Things” is an example of a “listicle”, which is actually a very popular type of blog post title. Lists spatially organize information, creating an easy reading experience. By most accounts, search engines like lists as well. IndyStar writer Michael Schroeder is also using “chunking”, a technique for tying different pieces of advice into one unifying theme.

The “listicle” technique can be useful for freshening up old blog post content. Starting with one idea about your product or service, put a number to it, such as:
“2 Best Ways To …,”
“3  Problem Fixes to Try First….”
“4 Simple Remedies for…”

The point of it all is to draw attention to ways readers can use your product or service, making the valuable information and tips you’re offering easy to grasp and retain.

Are there any “Don’ts” about being negative in blog posts? Negatives against competitors are a basic no-no. It’s almost axiomatic that, in writing for business, we want to clarify the ways we stand out from the competition.  How, then, can we get the point across that readers should want to choose this business or this practice, or these products and services over those offered by the competition? Stay positive, is the answer.

Don’t-Do-These-Things titles may work well for attracting readers to your helpful hints. But when it comes to comparing yourself to others, accentuate the positives about your way of doing things!

 

 

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Blog Reader Checklist

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blog checklists

“Restaurants have a lot on their plate to keep diners safe this winter,” Kelsey Ogletree observes in the AARP Bulletin. We all know the basics already, Ogletree admits: staff wearing masks, hand sanitizer clearly available, special setups for takeout. “But what else can you do,” she asks readers, to make sure the venue is doing all it can to protect you?

The AARP restaurant safety checklist serves as an excellent example for blog content writers, because it provides actionable advice in a well-organized format:

  • Check the restroom (clean?)
  • Check the menus (disposable? QR code-based?)
  • Check servers’ hands (gloved?)
  • Check the kitchen (masked cooks? gloves donned before plating food?)
  • Check certifications (ServSafe Dining Commitment?)
  • Check the website and social media (does it detail safety measures?)

Offering readers this list of restaurant safety checks is hardly likely to make those readers decide to do-it-themselves (meaning stay home and cook).Oddly enough, the chance of inspiring readers to do it themselves seems to be a concern of many business owners and professional practitioners when it comes to blog marketing.

Blog content writing, I believe, is at its best on the middle ground between over-simplification and mastery. In reading business blogs about a product or service, online searchers want to:

  • find out what they’ll get if they buy
  • discover whether the product is a good match for their needs
  • gain perspective about how the pricing and the quality stacks up against the competition

Of course, in the AARP article, the author is not trying to market any one restaurant, and is coming at the subject from the readers’ point of view. As content marketers, on the other hand, even while offering useful advice to readers, we are representing a particular business or practice. Still, the goal is to present the business or practice in a very personal, rather than a transactional way. As we present advice on how to best use the product or service, the tone should be one of “sharing” a useful insight or tip, rather than “handing down” advice.

Your unique selling proposition or USP must be unique, with an emphasis on something competitors cannot claim or have not chosen to emphasize. One way to “lead” readers towards a judgment in your favor is an AARP-style checklist of things to look for when shopping for the most satisfying solutions to their own needs.

Can you think of a useful checklist leading directly to your own USP?

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New Year Resolutions for Blog Content Writers

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BLOG CONTENT

 

During the holidays, at least here in America, we seem to be “into” list-making. From shopping lists to Santa’s twice-checked  list, we now culminate the series with lists of New Year’s resolutions.

Looking back at the past year of offering Say It For You business blogging assistance, I found several simple lists I used to help readers come up with ideas for corporate blog posts:

1. Things consumers are likely to type into the search bar that could bring them to your blog:

  • Their need
  • Their problem
  • Their idea of the solution to their problem
  • A question
  • 2. Calls to action to include in titles and If-you-click-on-this-link promises, such as:
  • This link will lead you to a blog post that explains how to obtain more of something desirable
  • This link will lead you to a blog post that explains how to obtain less of an undesirable effect
  • This link will explain why one popular idea is falseMake a list of your own of content pieces that that might:

    …engage the interest of online readers who have found your blog post
    …provide valuable information to them?
    …clarify what you have to offer to fulfill their needs

    Hard to believe, our little content writing company, Say It For You, just celebrated its tenth New Year’s! Our content, now some 35,000 unique writing selections strong, may be found in clients’ corporate brochures and on their website pages, in press releases, “nurturing emails” and Facebook posts. Primarily, though, our pieces populate the blogosphere.

    In 2018, our “listicle” of wishes for you include:

  • Personal success
  • Business success
  • Good health
  • Lots of old friends
  • Scores of new ones
  • Superb SEO results

A YEAR OF GREAT BLOGGING!

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