3 Reasons Why You Shouldn’t Use Numbered Lists in Your Posts

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Numbered lists are great for attracting attention and conveying your thoughts in a clear and easy-to-read format. They perform extremely well on social media sites like Digg and Sphinn and are commonly used in magazine tabloids because they produce headlines that stand out and are more likely to be read by a large audience. In fact, this very post uses a numbered list and the fact that you are here reading this goes to show how well they work. Are you using numbered lists effectively? In this article, I’ll explain why and when you shouldn’t use numbered lists in your posts. I bet you weren’t expecting that one.

Why you shouldn’t use numbered lists in your blog posts and articles

1. Overused and abused
Because numbered lists work so well, it’s easy to overuse the method when creating your articles. If every post you write is a numbered list, what makes them stand out and attract attention? The reason why numbered lists work so well is partly because they are unique and easy to follow. If overdone, people will grow tired of numbered lists and the method will begin to lose it’s effectiveness. Be sure to use sparingly for best results.

2. Difficult to differentiate yourself
Again, since numbered lists are becoming more and more popular in the blogging world, everyone and their brothers are using them as part of their strategy to write effective posts. All blog posts are starting to look the same and if you want to differentiate yourself from the crowd, it’s important to do something different or to use a different strategy.

3. Limited depth - surface level coverage
Numbered lists work well in sparking interest and providing information in a clear and concise fashion. However, the problem is that they are rarely able to go into much detail beyond the surface level. If your goal is to deliver comprehensive information in your articles, you might want to stay away from the numbered list approach.

Are you using numbered lists for your blog posts and website articles? They work well in many cases but the above 3 reasons show that it may be wise to use a different strategy.

Can you think of any more reasons why you shouldn’t use numbered lists? Do you agree or disagree? Leave a comment below.