or should I say – ‘The Seven Secrets of Singing Sharks?’

OK. I’ll come clean. That was a pitiful way of trying to grab your attention. What I’m really talking about is ‘Seven Secrets’ articles, and why, given half a chance, you shouldn’t write one.  The reasons are simple.

• The web is full of seven, three, five, etc secrets articles.
• If you write the same things as everyone else, you won’t stand out, and it’s a crowded web.
• I don’t want seven bits, I want THE secret.
• Isn’t a secret supposed to be something you only tell one person at a time?

Does this mean you should avoid list articles? No, absolutely not. List articles are great because

• Bullet pointed lists are easy to follow.
• Lists are quick  to read
• Lists are very popular with publishers
• You still get to show what you know.
• You don’t have to write complex sentences
• They can be written quickly
• They can be comprehensive
• They can ‘go viral’.
• They can be used to attract comments (e.g. provide nine secrets and ask for the 10th as a comment)

So how should you approach a list article?

Many people jump right in, but the ideal list article begins with an introduction explaining why the remainder of the article is important and what a reader will get in return for spending time reading. Don’t express this in terms of information, tell the reader what he will be able to do as result of the information you are about to give.

Think about the order is which your present your bullet points. Jot them down on paper. Hopefully you’ll have some genuinely good information there, something most people in your audience don’t already know. Separate your points into order. The more useful and less well known points go at the top. Now find the best three.  The best point of all is your point one, the second best is your last point and the third best is your second point.

Why? Because it’s makes a great first and last impression on the reader. If you start with lots of bland stuff your reader will switch off, but if you’re doing a top ten (20, 30 etc.) list, start with the least popular and be sure to say so in your opening paragraph. Curiosity will keep people reading to find out which is number one.

So, if you should avoid seven secrets articles, what title should you choose?  Ive explored this in another article elsewhere - but the real point here is that

List articles are a good idea AND

You don’t have to say your list article is a list article in the title.

A list of items you need to take on holiday with you, for example could be really useful and might be snapped up by a travel site, but there’s no need to call it ’21 things to pack in a suitcase’ just because it is a list. Use your title to sell the benefits of reading.

Travel on a Shoestring: How to Pack For a Tropical Vacation

is a better title than ’21 things to pack for a tropical Vacation’  and a much better title than

‘Seven Secrets of Vacation Packing’. Why?

Because if I say in my list that when you pack you should include a toothbrush and paste, I have delivered on my title. The reader isn’t going to be disappointed.

To deliver in the same way in a ‘seven secrets’ article, I’d have to work a lot harder.

However, if you are planning a list article to establish you as an authority in your field, you may want to put that number in your headline, but don’t make the number seven.  If you’re looking to provide THE resource on a subject you need a much bigger number, try 101, or maybe 50, but seven is right out.  And there’s no need for ‘secrets’.  Fifty ways, one hundred things, or twenty five steps are all more believable, as well as being easier to achieve.

The final part of any list article should be a short paragraph describing once again the benefits of learning from the points mentioned in the article.And if you really feel you do have a ‘secret’ you want to share, don’t put it in a list. If it’s not important enough to stand on it’s own in an article, it isn’t much of a secret.

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