I’ve spent the last four years as a full-time freelancer, and there are plenty of things I wish I’d known about creating high-impact content when I started. The most valuable thing I’ve learned is how to write the types of content that get audience engagement. There are plenty of ways to do this, of course, and I’ve sometimes been surprised by the content that went viral. Among the tried and tested types of high-engagement content, however, you’ll find a concept known as a “linkbait list.”
Basically, you provide a rapid-fire list of tips, tricks, ideas, facts, or examples targeted at a specific topic. I really enjoy both writing and reading linkbait lists, but as you’ve likely seen for yourself, some of them are terrible. This article will walk you through the types of linkbait lists that have the highest success rate—and that leave both writer and reader feeling satisfied.
1. Use your title to make the value of the list clear.
Can people tell what you’re offering through the title alone? If not, you’ll need to shift your title—or your focus.
For example, the title, “8 Tips for Skateboarding” doesn’t make it clear what people will get (something about skateboarding, presumably?). “8 Tips to Make You a Better Skateboarder ” is a step up, but still non-specific. “8 Tips for Learning Skateboarding Tricks Quickly” is even better.
2. Titles should use high-engagement but non-cliched words in your title.
Don’t use “free,” don’t use “secret,” and don’t use obvious overstatement unless it’s tongue-in-cheek.
For example, let’s say you want to teach someone how to lower their stress. You don’t want to be as bland as “7 ways to relax” (which is unlikely to get engagement), but “7 Secrets to Unwinding Faster Than You Ever Thought Possible” is painfully excessive. Even a title like “7 Unbeatable Ways to Unwind in Fifteen Minutes or Less” is overkill. The ideal balance is a clear value promise that means something positive and concrete, like “7 Proven Ways to Unwind in Fifteen Minutes or Less.”
3. Fulfill your promise.
Titles set up an important framework for the rest of your article. While the title itself is crucial, its value comes from the appealing promise it makes to readers. As such, it’s vital you line your content up appropriately. Whatever you promised in your title needs to be delivered by the end of the list, or you’ll wind up frustrating people rather than winning them over.
That sensation of a fulfilled promise is powerful. For your visitor, the experience should be, “I see an article title that interests me, I click the link and read through the article, and at the end I feel that my life or knowledge was improved in the way I thought it might be based on the title.” It’s that sense of satisfaction and trust that leads to newsletter subscribers and content re-shares.
4. Keep your list length substantial but manageable.
A list of three items is hardly a list at all. Meanwhile, anything over 10 items becomes overwhelming. What’s the right range, then? In my experience, 6 to 9 (though a good old-fashioned “Top 10″ list is okay when used sparingly).
In this same vein, the content itself should be kept between 500 and 1500 words. That means each list item should have somewhere between 50 and 200 words of extra content attached to it. (See my next two items for more details.)
5. Make it “skimmable.”
See how this list is formed? You can glance through the numbered items and see the structure, makeup, and quality of the content. If you decide you’re interested in learning more, either from the article as a whole or one of the numbered items on the list, you can read the additional information beneath the header.
Skimmability relies on “skim points”: headers, bullet-points, bolded items, and short paragraphs, all of which can be understood quickly. If people can’t get a sense of your article based on a quick skim, they’ll probably leave rather than giving your article a thorough read.
6. Make it “diveable.”
While skimmability is about giving people the ability to skip across the surface, diveability is about making sure you’re not just staying on the surface. Take the time to expand on each major “skim point” by providing examples, studies, or other meaningful information.
If an item is too self-explanatory or obvious to be diveable, consider whether it’s even worth including on your list. Are you just re-hashing common sense? Is it really impossible to add value? Either find a way to enhance the item or drop it entirely.
7. Bring in your own stories.
It’s a bad idea to try and prove your expertise at the beginning of an article. It makes you seem insecure. However, it’s a great idea to tell a story that demonstrates your perspective and expertise. Often, this is the best way to open up an article and get people interested.
If it works for the general length of your content, you can also use stories for individual points—but these stories need to be concise, and you shouldn’t let them make the time devoted to one item on the list disproportionately longer than the time devoted to other items.
8. Write to your passions.
My most successful article ever was titled “7 Things Dungeons & Dragons Taught Me About Storytelling.” I was stunned at the article’s success: More than 5,000 social shares, tens of thousands of visitors, dozens of new links from other bloggers and websites, and several people who contacted me out of the blue to share their own experiences, professional work on the topic, and more.
Why? It’s not because it’s the perfect topic. It’s because it’s something I actually find to be deeply interesting, and that interest bleeds through in the content itself.
I could tell you to have a personality in your article, but your personality coming into play shouldn’t be a mechanical addition to your writing. It should be the natural result of writing about the things that make it impossible to hold your personality back.
Write on,
Rob
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