Listicles, yay or nay?
I’m always fascinated by how different blog post formats can yield different results.
Roundups (a.k.a. listicles) can make you look like a hack when done poorly, but they seem to be effective at gathering shares and comments. They also seem to do well in Google searches (at least right now).
What do you think about listicles? As a reader or writer do you do them?
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If they are done right and maintained they can be useful, I dislike them when they become clickbaity and incomplete, or biased in an unhelpful way.
Hi Karl, it totally depends on what your goals are. List article is a format that users want and that you should create to rank for your target keyword.
Rather than thinking to them as I like/dislike it, you should analyse if people search for them.
Search intent is key to Google and users, if a result page for your target keyword includes only listarticles, so you should to be able to be part of the top 10. Creating a content with a different format can bring you to not be considered by Google, and so potential users visiting your page.
Hope it helps,
Francesco
Good point about search intent.
For example, I have a list article that ranks well for "alternatives to Google forms". I can't imagine searchers would want anything other than a listicle for that search term.
It depends on your target audience.
Most people like lists as they are easy and fast to consume. At the same time, they are associated (and for a good reason) with low-quality content.
If your goal is to attract people with a deep knowledge of the subject or be consider a reputable source, avoid listicles.
If your goal is to attract the widest audience possible, they are a good choice.
I think they can work really well. As simple as it sounds it's always good to have the highest number at the the start of your post title than the competition.
However, the calibre of visitor can often be less relevant to your proposition, depending on what it is you're offering, of course.
They're rarely great, so by association I usually ignore them when they appear in a feed
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They do still rank well for certain search terms, although the Buzzfeed style "make a list out of everything" is sort of passe.