Quick Tip: Push your listicle to the top
Quick tip: Push your listicles to the top
AP Style and everyone else says to spell out numbers up to nine when you’re writing copy or content, right?
But you really should break this rule when naming a numbered list (listicle).
Here’s why.
Consider two white papers, called:
—Three Secrets of SEO You Must Understand
—3 Secrets of SEO You Must Understand
The first title follows the recommended style, so it’s more proper, right?
Yes, but… it will appear lower in any search results.
That’s because computers sort numbers before letters. They’re programmed to do it that way.
Don’t believe me?
Try it yourself: Sort your files in any folder with any software. Any file name that starts with a numeral will percolate to the top of the list.
Or see this report from the National Information Standards Organization:
Headings beginning with numbers written in Arabic numerals should be sorted in ascending arithmetical order before headings beginning with a letter sequence. (p.8)
That means in any list of search results, our two titles will show up in this order:
—3 Secrets of SEO You Must Understand
—Three Secrets of SEO You Must Understand
The second might even be pushed way down to page 3 or 4. That’s not where you want it, right?
So break the rule in your titles
Use a numeral at the start of the title of any numbered list white paper you do from now on: 3 Things, 4 Myths, 5 Hidden Gotchas, 6 Ways, 7 Strategies, and so on.
That will push your paper up ahead of all the rest that follow the rule set down before computers were invented.
Being on top is as easy as 1-2-3.
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