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Cover image for 13+ 🀩 amazing 🀩 tips for writing βœ… listicles βœ… [don't be mad that you didn't know them before!]
GrahamTheDev
GrahamTheDev

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13+ 🀩 amazing 🀩 tips for writing βœ… listicles βœ… [don't be mad that you didn't know them before!]

Let's jump straight in, you don't need an introduction with a listicle.

1. Listicles showcase your knowledge βœ…

I mean what is better than copy pasting a load of work that other people have done to showcase your depth of knowledge. For a really successful post make sure you just copy a paragraph from the home page of the product you are including in your list!

2. Listicles make you a better writer βœ…

It is so very difficult to write good English like what I does. Writing a single paragraph to describe a 100kb library with 200 features is super more difficult than writing an article that explains the benefits etc. Plus it really gives people a depth of knowledge.

3. You don't need to worry about links βœ…

Don't worry about linking to the projects you are talking about. People like to struggle finding that project you are telling them about. Bonus points if you don't even use the proper name for the project so searching takes longer. Be sure to check out Foram, the project that powers dev.to if you need to start a community!

4. Listicles don't have to be original βœ…

All you do is search for "list [subject]", find 2 or 3 lists that other suckers have spent the time researching and then just copy and paste them. It is content recycling and really adds to the web! This is even more effective than point one as someone has done some of the copy pasting for you!

5. Formatting isn't important βœ…

Look at me using headers in this article don't worry though I am a noob and not doing it right a simple monolithic list will do don't make your content easy to consume if you are using headers like a noob make sure they are all different levels we can't have the list being easy to navigate for people who use screen readers at the same time don't worry about full stops or commas etc they will only slow people down and do nothing to make your article easier to read or give people a mental break point to digest the information that you just gave them!

6. You don't have to worry about tagging βœ…

Check out the tags on this post, HTML, CSS, JavaScript and Beginners...listicles are a special type of post where you can just pick the most popular tags and don't have to worry if your article contains them or is relevant, people don't expect the tags to reflect their interests.

7. They help combat the attention span problem βœ…

People have no attention span nowadays. Luckily your listicle helps people learn to focus and improve their attention span so give yourself a pat on the back for helping out! People have no attention span nowadays so you can repeat yourself.

8. The internet needs more listicles βœ…

There is a severe shortage of listicles. Really stand out among the competition by producing this rare format. Just look at the dev.to feed, I can't remember the last time I saw a listicle, we need more to help people learn!

Notice how this article really stands out in the home feed:

dev.to feed doctored image so they are all listicles

9. Conclusions are super important βœ…

After you have spent a whole 10 minutes copy pasting content you are probably exhausted. But don't worry there is only one thing left to do. You add a conclusion. Yet again, don't worry your conclusion just needs to add to your word count so it can be as simple as explaining that you wrote a list of XXX tips! The golden rule - don't accidentally add any value.

10. They don't have to be in a logical order βœ…

Just spew things onto the page. Nobody wants you to take the time to put your list in any kind of logical order. This leads me nicely onto the previous point.

11. Make sure you use prime numbers in your title βœ…

Notice how this list has 13 items. It didn't need 13 items, I only had 10 points to make but people love prime numbers. Remember, "if you can divide by anything other than 1 and itself, leave the number on the shelf." A very famous proverb by Walt Disney (see bonus tip 1).

13. Don't worry about checking you have numbered everything correctly. βœ…

Nobody will notice that you missed a number. This works especially well with articles over 10 items as people don't read the whole thing anyway.

Bonus tip 1 πŸ’₯

Don't provide any evidence to back up claims. Nobody has time to check what you are writing is actually true so don't confuse them. Make up statistics, mention a study but don't link to it, attribute quotes to people randomly etc. Nobody wants to be able to fact check what you say.

Bonus Tip 2 πŸ’₯πŸ’₯

Another bonus tip? It is almost like I can't count! People are stupid, they are really excited to get that extra something that they weren't expecting. Make sure to pander to them! Make sure to add a "+" sign after the number of tips to let people know they are in for a real treat!

Bonus Tip 3 πŸ’₯πŸ’₯πŸ’₯

Don't forget to heavily promote any products that you have affiliate links to. Make sure they are the ones you recommend (don't actually try the competition or find the best product, just go for the ones who pay the most as they must be great!). I wouldn't do this to you so I recommend you shop at Amazon, Read Medium and bank with Barclays.

Bonus Tip 4 πŸ’₯πŸ’₯πŸ’₯πŸ’₯

Make sure you use 100 emojis in your article. They really help with legibility.

Bonus Tip 5 🀯🀯🀯🀯🀯

Make sure that the cover image has nothing to do with your list. Just type a random word into an image library and download. Bonus points if it still has a watermark on it (sorry I failed on this one, I accidentally downloaded a licensed image...don't be mad I am still learning!)!

Conclusion πŸ’¦πŸ’¦πŸ’¦πŸ’¦πŸ’¦πŸ’¦

This was a list (see point 9).

Top comments (36)

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afif profile image
Temani Afif • Edited

Wow great post! This compilation is awesome! thanks for this πŸ‘

When you find a listicle with more than 10 items don't read it and jump to the comment section to say this is great. Maybe your comment will get upvoted and the author will be encouraged to add another listicle (where he will repeat some of the old items because no one will notice this)

and don't forget to bookmark the post because you will .. nah! you will not read it because you don't even know where to find the bookmarked posts and when you will find it, it will be a list of 157 listicle posts.

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grahamthedev profile image
GrahamTheDev

Thanks, those are some super great points, I will be sure to release the same post in a few months but with those two points added so it can be an "Updated for 2022" post!

Crap, I broke another rule, I actually responded to you properly instead of just saying:

"thanks for reading".

My apologies!

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afif profile image
Temani Afif

yes, 157 is a prime number!

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grahamthedev profile image
GrahamTheDev • Edited

Thinking about it...how can I possibly listen to your advice, you always use 100 which has far too many factors...and you actually create things instead of copy pasting...that takes waaaaay too much effort.....learn the ways of the listicle! 🀣🀣🀣

Crap did it again...I meant to say:

"Thanks for reading"

I will learn eventually!

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afif profile image
Temani Afif

well, I am still new to this community so I don't have enough experience to try listicle πŸ˜• and copying/pasting always break the formating and it takes time to rectify ... until I get used, I have to write my own things πŸ˜”

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grahamthedev profile image
GrahamTheDev

I actually did LOL at that. I don't do that often but for some reason this comment tickled me!

"Thanks for reading"

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GrahamTheDev • Edited

The dev.to home feed image is doctored...it isn't that bad πŸ˜‹πŸ€£

Plus apologies I wrote another sh*t post after saying I wouldn't. I have been working on an article for ages that is gigantic and it is taking forever (which is probably what made me write a sarcastic piece on listicles as I am wishing I had written one instead 🀣), just wanted to put some silly content out to make you all smile this weekend.

Next post will be a proper one as I am almost done, it is titled "the ultimate image solution" and will cover the most optimal image solution I could make with some new techniques I haven't seen before (and no that isn't me being clickbaity, I really have invented a couple of new techniques to counter Layout Shift and image size optimisation!).

p.s. no hate against people who write listicles, I am just being silly, there is in fact skill in writing a good listicle, this post just pokes fun at the poor / low effort ones!

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hellonehha profile image
Neha Sharma

🌻🌿❀️

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grahamthedev profile image
GrahamTheDev

Hey Neha, glad you popped by. I have loads of your articles queued up to read (just been a hectic week), your own version of the "accessibility rants" looked interesting. I look forward to reading that and the other posts you made as you really seem to have stepped up the content output!

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hellonehha profile image
Neha Sharma

You inspired me to start the 'rant' series. So, all credits to you (on the same note, I will update my credit section in the blog).

Take your time to review. As usual, waiting for your feedback eagerly.

Take care

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the_previ profile image
Luca

Cool article full of good advices!! Can't wait to test them as soon as possible 🀩 🀩 πŸš€ πŸš€

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grahamthedev profile image
GrahamTheDev • Edited

@afif , @madsstoumann damn you both, I just had to create a second instalment after your suggestions, any more I have missed before I pad everything out? 🀣:

dev.to/inhuofficial/13-more-amazin...

Point 1 is just for you guys πŸ˜‹

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madsstoumann profile image
Mads Stoumann

There’s also the β€œ[framework or css-feature] is awesome”-posts!

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grahamthedev profile image
GrahamTheDev

Oh that is going in as an example!

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afif profile image
Temani Afif

don't released it too soon. People need a few times to forget the first one so they get amazed with your new "innovative" listicle.

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grahamthedev profile image
GrahamTheDev

Ah good point, I will add that to the article / add it to a section as that is sage advice!

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antonmelnyk profile image
Anton Melnyk

Yeah, is a curse of modern development articles websites. First Medium ended up in this, now Dev is there too, very few articles are actually original, well-written and worth reading.

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grahamthedev profile image
GrahamTheDev

It is just a natural part of success, you get popular and you are bound to get the low quality posts as well as the good ones.

Plus it lets us all poke a little bit of fun every once in a while! 😜

Sorry I meant β€œthanks for reading”

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madsstoumann profile image
Mads Stoumann

πŸ˜‚

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grahamthedev profile image
GrahamTheDev

"Thanks for Reading"

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madsstoumann profile image
Mads Stoumann

I’ll go for the clickbait-approach: β€œI thought I knew JavaScript until I read this. You won’t believe what happened next!”

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grahamthedev profile image
GrahamTheDev • Edited

Excellent point and your click bait skills are on point! 😜🀣

I think between you and Temani I can make a whole new article! πŸ˜‚πŸ˜‚

β€œThanks for reading”

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mcsee profile image
Maxi Contieri

Great and provocative article!

I need more like this.
How to master new fancy framework in 7 minutes (7 is prime)
The 13 proven tips to get a job on a FAANG

etc..

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grahamthedev profile image
GrahamTheDev • Edited

FAANG? Don't you mean FANIMAGNET? πŸ˜‰

Glad you enjoyed the article, I have too much silliness in me at the moment.

"Thanks for Reading"

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andreidascalu profile image
Andrei Dascalu

This should be reposted every other day

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GrahamTheDev

β€œThank you for reading”

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sgolovine profile image
Sunny Golovine

BRB. Copying and pasting this post for my own listicle.....

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GrahamTheDev

Finally someone has taken the advice! πŸ˜œπŸ˜‚πŸ˜‚

β€œThanks for reading”

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leob profile image
leob

13 ways to take the p*ss out of listicles, love it ;)

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grahamthedev profile image
GrahamTheDev

β€œThanks for reading” 😜

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siddharthshyniben profile image
Siddharth

Fun fact: The post with the most reactions on DEV is a listicle, and a well written one at that.

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GrahamTheDev • Edited

Well of course it is, people love listicles as their attention span has been eroded by social media etc. however they should have done 11 projects for even more views so they had a prime number! 😜🀣

Obviously I am poking fun at the low / no effort posts which are just links or one line copied from the home page.

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aslasn profile image
Ande

πŸ˜‚ aight I wont spoil it

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grahamthedev profile image
GrahamTheDev

Hehe.

β€œThanks for reading”

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mcsee profile image
Maxi Contieri
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GrahamTheDev

Just so you know, part 2 on liticles is out....I can only say sorry 🀣 dev.to/inhuofficial/13-more-amazin...