10 Reasons People Don't Read Numbered Lists

I'm sort of kidding, but it seems like it is getting ridiculous how many lists there are. Every blog is a list of "10 Ways To Purr Like A Cat"... or, "100 Things You Can Do With A Broken Light Bulb"...

What I'm not seeing is, "50 Reasons Why I Should Care About Your Numbered List"

True, numbering is just a matter of ordering, categorizing, simplifying, organizing.

And marketers will tell you something different. It is a way to move people through important ideas quickly, and, include valuable information for people who like to read everything.

Numbered lists are all over the Internet.

They've moved from being the highlight of Letterman to being the primary format of nearly every blog post, article, e-zine, listing, and template...

It's gotten to the point where, if it has numbers, it must be important and disposable.

1. If the first three aren't life-changing, your reader is done.
2. If the headline tells the whole story, the rest of the text is wasting time.
3. When you use the paragraph as filler, you lose the reader's interest in the rest of the list.
4. It's too easy to leave things out.
5. It's too easy to include crap. How many times do you see a list that is clearly stretching and making sh*t up, just to hit a certain number?
   
6. Numbers scare some people (only a few, but they are out there).
7. If your list is too long it will take too long to read and most people, even if they're excited about it, will decide to come back later when they have more time. This means they will most likely never come back.
8. If your list is too short people will automatically assume it holds no value. The "Top Three" anything can't really offer much depth.
9. If your list is too obvious, you lose all credibility as an author/consultant/expert.
10. When you sacrifice great prose for a numeric outline you abandon most of the emotional connection your reader is seeking to create with you.

What are some alternatives to Numbering lists?

• Bullets. Those are boring, but they identify a unique idea effectively.
• How about a color-code system that resembles a rainbow? That would be festive.
• Or perhaps a list of barnyard animals that lived on Old MacDonald's farm?
• I'd love to see people using logically ordered symbols that occur in nature.
• Seasons
• Currencies
• Flora
• Car models/makes
• Historic munitions
• Silhouettes of Presidents
• Shapes of building blocks

The possibilities are endless.

1. Figure out a way to let the symbols support your topic.
2. Don't let a specific number determine your list.
3. Let people add to your list.

Like here - I encourage you to add to mine in the comment section below.

What are some other things that the Internet Marketing gurus say to include that make your insides get the purple-squirrels?

I wanna KNOW! So use the comment section below this, and tell me what you think!