Expanded List Post

 

Hey guys, Brian Dean here. Welcome to the fourth lesson of Module 2. In the last lesson I showed you how to create a Go-To Guidebook, a massive piece of content that puts everything someone needs to know about a topic all in one place. And in this lesson you’re going to learn how to execute what’s known as the “Expanded List Post” Content Framework. Let’s dive right in. Does this situation sound familiar to you? 

You’re on Twitter or Facebook and you see a post like “50 scientifically backed ways to be more productive”. You think to yourself, “That sounds cool”. So you click on the link and land on the post.

If this productivity post is like most lists posts, it looks something like this. So you have a title at the top, an intro and 50 items. And you read the first couple of tips on the list and you think “hey, this is good stuff.” But by the time you get to the 5th or 6th item on the list, you start to suffer from information overload. So you say, “I’ll bookmark this for later. 

When I have some free time I’ll read the entire post.” But if you’re like me (and most people), you never go back and read it. Like 99% of list posts out there, that content collects dust in your bookmarks folder never to be read again. And guess what? 

The Linkreators do the same thing when they see posts like that. They bookmark it for later, but never actually get around to reading it. And if your Linkreators don’t read your content, there’s a zero percent chance they’ll link to it. So, what’s the solution? After all, you don’t want to completely ignore list posts. They’re a tried and true content format that have worked for decades. So we’re not going to throw the baby out with the bathwater here. 

There’s a way to take the traditional list post and make it more powerful and effective. And that’s the Expanded List Post content framework. Here’s an example. This is a Power Page that I published very early in Backlinko’s life. Even though I had almost no subscribers and followers when I launched this Power Page, it was a near-instant traffic machine. 

To date this post has generated backlinks from hundreds of domains and ranks in the top 5 for my target keyword. But you might be wondering: why does an ELP work so well? And more importantly: how is an ELP different from a normal list post? An ELP is different from a traditional list post for one simple reason. 

It lists out the steps for every tip on the list. Now this may seem like not a big deal, but it’s an important distinction. As I said, the reason most people don’t read an entire list post is because of information overload. 

For example, let’s go back to our productivity list post example from earlier. Let’s say the first item on the list was “eat a healthy breakfast before you start your day”. Well that’s a nice tip, but it lacks step-by-step detail. What should I eat? How much should I eat? Should I eat after I get out of bed or right before I start working? And you realize that to actually USE tip #1, you’ll need to read other articles in order to fill in the blanks. 

On the other hand, an ELP hooks you up with EXACTLY what you need to execute each tip. So if you’re ready to take action right away, you have everything you need right there. For example, let’s look back at the ELP from Backlinko that I mentioned earlier. One of the items on the list is a relatively untapped way to find keywords. 

Most list posts would give a brief little description like “It’s important to find the right keywords because of blah, blah, blah.” But my gives you the insanely-detailed steps for you to find keywords. No need to fill in the blanks from resources on other sites. 

Now there are some additional techniques that make an ELP more powerful than your typical list post. Which I’ll get into those later. But for now it’s time to dive into the step-by-step plan for creating your first Expanded List Post.

Step 1 is to choose your topic. Your ELP topic needs to fit two simple criteria. First, it needs to be Linkreator-friendly. I know you know this, but it bears repeating. You already have a list of these topics ready to go from the work you did in Module 1. 

Next, the topic needs to be something that you can provide 17-27 bite-sized tips on. So look over your list of topics and find one that you could easily write 17-27 tips about. For example, let’s look at one of my most successful Power Pages. I knew that I could easily bang out at least 20 tips about this particular topic (from my own experience and by researching strategies from articles on other sites). 

Once you have your topic, it’s time to list out your tips. You may already have a few in mind. If so, jot those down now. And to generate more tips, give these two techniques a try. Pretend that a client or customer is having a coaching session with you. What problems will they bring up? What simple tips or strategies would you give them? 

Think about when you or a client had an issue related to your topic. What techniques did you use to solve them? For example, let’s say you had a blog about dog training. You’d imagine that someone with a misbehaving dog comes to you for help. And they tell you about all the issues Fluffy is having, like “he doesn’t listen”, “he chews up the furniture” etc. 

Then list out some simple tips you could give them that they could execute right away. For example, maybe the dog’s owner could change their posture or tone of voice to get the dog to respect them. If you’re still stuck, you can research on other blogs. Just Google keywords like “your topic” + tips and “your topic” + strategies to find other list posts or guides. 

You can borrow techniques from these resources that you find and add them to your list. Just make sure to cite them when you do. Now it’s time to whittle your list down to 17-27 tips. From lots of testing I’ve found that 17-27 items is the sweet spot for an ELP. Fewer than 17 and it doesn’t have the “wow” factor from the Content Length Share Trigger. Any more than 27 and the post ends up overwhelming people with options.

So how do you know which items from your list to include in your ELP? That’s simple: you want the techniques and tactics that people can use that day. Preferably within minutes. In other words, you want to choose the most actionable tips to go into your ELP. 

For example, take a look at this ELP for pro photographers. This ELP has generated over 10k social shares and thousands of unique visitors for its author, Jim Harmer. And like any good Expanded List Post, Jim’s tips are all things people can put into practice right then and there. For example, Jim includes tactics that literally take 15 minutes, like “Create a Facebook page for your photography” and “Learn a new Photoshop trick by following a tutorial”. 

Next, it’s time to identify the 3-4 most interesting tips on your list. Those are the tips that you’ll start your ELP off with and end with. For your ELP, your “best” tips aren’t necessarily the most effective. When it comes to an ELP, “best” tips are tips that most people haven’t seen before. 

The fact is, people will judge your ELP by the first 2-3 items. So it’s important to hit them with something fresh right off the bat.These items don’t have to be 100% original. Simply adding a small twist is more than enough to qualify it as a unique tip. For example, let’s take another look at this ELP from Backlinko. 

I started off this ELP with two strategies that hadn’t already been covered to death. In fact, I’d never seen them covered anywhere else before. So I knew that they’d grab people’s attention. OK so once you pick the first two tips, identify the 3rd or 4th best tips still on your list. 

Those will be the last 1-2 tips in your ELP. Even though these tips are at the end, they get read more than the items in the middle. So you want to include some of your best tips here too. Once you identify your 3-4 most unique tips, it’s time to move onto step 5, which is to create your post. Like we always do, let’s start at the top and work our way down. First up, we have our title. Your ELP title needs two things. 

A key benefit and the number of items. Let’s break these down. First you need the benefit that someone will get out of reading your post. There’s no need to be overly creative here. Just name the benefit. Here’s an example. 

Next, you need the number of items on your list. You want to start your title off with that number. Here are two examples: 22 Things You Can Do Today to Change Your Photography Forever and 27 Ways to Increase Traffic to Your Website. Once you have your title in hand, it’s time for your intro.

Here’s how you want to construct your ELP intro. First, quickly mention the benefit, then show off some potential results. Let’s break it down. First, quickly, and I mean quickly, mention the main benefit that your ELP will help someone achieve. Here’s an example from one of my Expanded List Posts. As you can see, nothing complicated here. Just tell your reader what you have in store for them. 

Then, show off some potential results. These can be results you’ve achieved from using the strategies in the post. Or what someone can expect to see if they put your tips into practice. Next up, it’s time to write out the items on your list. Each item in your ELP needs to contain 3 elements. Benefit-rich title, brief intro of the item and detailed steps. 

You can look at each item in your ELP as a mini blog post It has a title, an intro and steps to achieve an outcome. Let’s break these down in detail. First, you need a title for each item in your ELP. As a pro tip: don’t use a generic title like “Eat protein for breakfast”. Make each item on your list SUPER descriptive and benefit-rich. 

So instead of “eat protein for breakfast”, say: “Fight cravings with a protein-rich breakfast.” See the difference? For example, let’s check out one of the tips in this ELP. I turned a bland-sounding title about content into compelling and benefit-oriented.To be clear: this isn’t possible for every item. 

But I recommend trying to make as many items benefit-rich as you can. Next, before you dive into the steps, you need a quick overview of the item and why it’s important. For example, let’s look at this tip. As you can see, I kick things off by talking about why the item is important in the first place. 

That brief intro adds some much-needed perspective to the item and pushes people to actually take action on it. Finally, outline the steps they’ll need to execute the tip. This is really simple. Just hold their hand and walk them through the steps. And don’t be afraid to tell them EXACTLY what to do. Let’s look again at one of the items from my ELP. 

See how I list out every step? Along with screenshots that walk people through the steps? That’s the level of detail you want to provide for each step. Finally, you need a conclusion. You want your ELP conclusion to do one thing. Ask people to commit to trying out one of the techniques. 

The fact is, when someone gets results from your content (whether it’s a normal reader or a Linkreator), they become a fan for life. And sometimes they need a little push to take action. For example, at the end of this ELP I really encourage people to choose one specific technique to start with. That way, they’re more likely to take action.

OK so that’s it for the Expanded List Post Content Framework. To quickly repap, in this lesson you learned that the Expanded List Post is like a traditional list post but better. Specifically, unlike a normal list post, your content gives people everything they need to execute the techniques all in one place. 

And looking ahead to the next lesson in this module, Lesson 5, you’re going to learn all about the Awards Bait Content Framework. Which is perfect for brand new sites. And if you’re ready to rock on your ELP, download the worksheet below this video. And I’ll see you in the next lesson.