10 May 09 Blogging: The Power of a List

Web is different. It is unlike print. The style of writing for print will not work here as the attention span on the internet is very low, and reading long pages on the computer is physically discomforting. Hence, on the web you need to choose a different style of message delivery. The text intended for a website or a blog should be short and the paragraph should be small. Long and complex paragraphs will not work. The text should be easily scannable and should not appear heavy on eyes. A list post has all these and many more things. A list post does not put excessive demand on the readers. Let’s take help of a list itself to demonstrate the benefit of a list post:

• Lists can be easily scanned: The Internet is walloping and this is known to all. The awareness of this fact alone has made many people uncomfortable. The controlling nature of the human being is forcing us to cover as much ground as we can on the internet that results in lesser and lesser time for one webpage. Hence, we scan through the page for the important points.

• Lists are compact: Compactness is inherent in a list. One point in a list post talks about only one topic, which binds the writer and does not allow him or her to wander and blabber.

• Lists look light: A list post is deceptively simple. It never gives away the total length of the post. If written in a list format even a 1000-word post will look light as there is lots of breathing space between the texts.

• Lists can be all-encompassing: Unlike popular belief list can indeed cover everything that you have to say. A list does not take away your power to be comprehensive, rather it provides you with a way in which you can make your visitors read your long posts.

• Lists are less time consuming: Writing a list post takes significantly less time than writing a long paragraph-based post. Writing a list post is also easier.

• Lists are buzz-worthy: As people read the list post from start to finish, list posts are often persuasive. List posts excite people and make them talk and generate buzz.

Tags: Attention Span, benefit, blog, Breathing Space, Compactness, Different Style, Excessive Demand, Excite, Many People, Message Delivery, Nature, Paragraph, Paragraphs, Popular Belief, Texts, Word Post