Hi,

I’m leaving tonight for a 40 day vacation across Europe.

“40 days? Are you crazy?” “That’s three year’s holidays all together!” – those are the most common reactions I hear.

And yes, it’s been crazy planning the trip.

We’re spending most of our time in Spain, Italy and Germany. A few days for WordCamp Europe in Porto, two in the Netherlands (Keukenhof tulip gardens and Efteling amusement park) and one doing the scenic Bernina Express train route in Switzerland (because we couldn’t do it on our last trip!).

As you can imagine, the family is very excited.

And I’m sure we will have a great time.

But it also means I won’t have a lot of time to write these emails.

We’re aiming for one newsletter every two weeks. Let’s see how it goes!

Hope that’s ok.

There’s something really useful that you can do in the meanwhile though.

Listicles.

For example: 5 best WordPress newsletter plugins for 2022

They’re easier to write than typical blog posts and work great for SEO. We’ve seen some great results.

Sharing our lessons, right after this section.

Listicles – for content, for SEO, for engagement…

What’s a listicle?

An article that is a list of something. The internet is full of such blog posts. “10 things to do in Rome for first-timers”, “Best mirrorless cameras in 2022”, “Top WordPress plugins for affiliate marketing”, “12 superfoods every kitchen has”, “Essential styling tips for men in their 30s”… These are all listicles. They talk about a collection of things – typically with reviews or tips.

Why do listicles work so well?

A friend wanted a new phone. He spent a good weekend doing online research and finalized a model from a popular brand.

I asked, “Why did you select this over the others?”

“I searched for ‘best mobile phone to buy in 2022’ and every blog post mentioned this model.”

Herd mentality? Social proof?

Yes, more importantly the power of listicles!

Consider what he searched for. Pay attention that “every blog post” mentioned the model he picked in the end.

Listicles provide answers to what people are searching for. And since they provide multiple options with their pros and cons, people feel they’re making a better, well-informed decision.

You should create listicle content too

• They are shorter and easier to understand
• It’s more like secondary research, so much faster to create
• They attract readers and answer their questions quickly
• SEO benefits – lots of keywords, subheadings of listicles may be picked up in SERP, possibility of showing up in “featured snippet” for relevant search terms…
• You can pitch your product/service directly as one of the list items – your target audience will read it!
• You can create an endless variety of listicles

Extra tip: Create a listicle blog post and add an opt-in form in the post. You’ll see a better conversion rate of really interested people. Here’s how to create a form in Email Subscribers.

How to get started?

List a few important keywords for your niche. Think about what your target audience is searching for.

Now what kind of list-articles can you write that answer these questions?

Go ahead and publish a listicle this week.

Reply and share your experience!

Credibility and popularity through “rank and rent” sites

Alright, we just saw how listicles can help our sites.

But you may have some questions.

• You may still feel it’s hard to create a listicle and rank it on search engines.
• Your site may be small / new and you fear search engines won’t give it enough weight.
• You may be competing against giants.

One solution to all these challenges is to approach some rank and rent websites. These are sites that have a good search engine ranking and are willing to “rent” a bit of space. They may have a lot of listicles or other posts, and are willing to add a link back to your site. They may do this for money or something else.

Here’s how it works.

Imagine you want to rank for “top plant-based food blogs”.

• Find good listicle blogs that appear for your keywords
• Contact their owner via email or contact form
• Request them to add a mention of your product / blog to their listicle
• Offer some benefits
• Discuss, work out terms and get listed
• Do this for a few more times and your site will start gaining credibility and traffic

Link salad

🥗

A mixture of quick readings for an inquisitive mind.

• Albera – helps bloggers perform deep content research using AI
• Rytr.me – one of the best AI writing tools that we’ve seen so far
• Checkli – hundreds of curated checklists from experts
• Uptime – get smarter (and wiser) in just five minutes with this app
• Did you know? The word “Goodbye” originally comes from an Old English phrase meaning “God be with you”!

A writing prompt

✍

Think back to the most beautiful place you’ve ever been to. Now, describe the place and your experience.

What did you like / dislike about this email? Do reply and share!

Keep wandering,