A “listicle” might sound fancy, but in reality it is quite basic and something you’ve seen a million times on the Internet. It is simply an article that appears in the form of a list. Titles often include numerical values, such as “10 Movies to See This Year” or “25 Gadgets You Can’t Live Without.” Some listicles have 50 or more items included with short information about each. Other listicles have less line items, but each entry has multiple paragraphs.
Legal industry content is often incredibly technical and confusing to the average consumer. Listicles can make complicated and/or boring topics easier to understand. While there are endless ways to use lists in your law firm marketing strategy, remember they work best if they remain easy to skim, follow, and understand.
If your readers are like me and really enjoy crossing things off of their to-do lists, listicles might even give them a sense of accomplishment as they read through each point, ticking them off one by one.
Why Use Listicles?
There are so many great reasons to use lists in your law firm’s articles, including:
- They make it easier to organize information
- They help you write clearly and concisely
- They can easily target keywords relevant to your law practice
- They are easy to update with new or additional information
8 Tips For Great Legal Industry Listicles
While making a list might be easy for daily tasks, distilling large volumes of information and explaining complex concepts in an easy-to-read format requires some skill and planning. Below we list our top tips to help make your listicles shine.
Topic Selection
Determine what your audience wants to hear about and what will be valuable to them, and then articulate why you are writing the article. You can uncover questions your target demographic may have by looking at Reddit, Quora, or other similar question and answer sites or forums.
Research
Make sure to conduct in-depth research to find all of the important details related to your topic. While research is often the most time-consuming part of the process, it is critically important. As part of your investigation, you should perform both keyword research and competitive research to see what users are searching for and what your competitors have to say on those topics. Be sure to rely only on trustworthy sources of information.
Lists Make Formatting Easier
Lists are easier to read and scan than long paragraphs of text; so, if you have a series of three or more items, turn them into a list. By utilizing a list format for a blog post, you start out with a set structure for the majority of your article. If your list is made up of full sentences, add a period at the end of each. Otherwise, let bullets stand in for the punctuation that would normally separate the items in the series.
Make Your List Stand Out
Because so many lists have already been done, you must ensure your idea is original and well executed. Try to write from as interesting an angle as possible, using action verbs and other substantive words to garner interest.
Draft Precise Subheadings
One way to ensure you are organized and thorough is to start your writing by mapping out the titles of each item on your list (also known as subheadings in blog speak). Be as specific as you can be while also saving something worthwhile for the text accompanying the subheading so the user will keep reading.
Use Compelling Imagery
Lists by themselves can be pretty dull; even dedicated readers zone out when reading articles that contain nothing but text. After you’ve organized your listicle, you can stand out by embedding GIFs and/or images into your writing. Ideally, a writer should break up their post so there is one image per text scroll.
Wrap Up Your List Well
Just because your article is written in the form of a list doesn’t mean it should end abruptly. Take time to wrap things up in a witty and memorable way.
Ensure Your Title Is Catchy
I often find myself retooling a blog title after I’ve written the post. Sometimes the perfect headline can’t be determined until the writer outlines the points they want to make. A good listicle headline should capture the reader’s attention, clearly define what valuable information readers will learn, and indicate the quantity of information by indicating the number of items on the list.
Law Firm Content Marketing
Google and other search engines feed off of the regular addition of quality content to your law firm website. If your blog hasn’t been updated in several years or if the content you do have doesn’t comply with current search engine optimization best practices, you may need some help. If you don’t have the time or don’t know where to begin, contact the law firm content marketing experts at Stacey E. Burke, P.C.
Leave a Comment