Top 5 Reasons Why Blogs List the Top 5 Reasons

Did you ever wonder why so many blogs and Facebook ads and the like have titles like “Top 5 Things to Take on Vacation,” or “10 Most Important Pasta Cooking Tips”? Well, I did a little thinking – not much, actually! – and came up with the following. See if you agree – and if you have additional items:

1. The most obvious reason is to tease you into clicking on the link. Clicks are one of many metrics that website owners use to measure success and charge advertisers.
2. Once you are on their site, many have ads that you might click on. If they expect you to click on “next” for each of the following items in the list, then you are exposed to that many more ads. Sometimes, the shrewder sites will disguise and ad link as the “Next” button, so you’ll get to an advertiser’s site, even if you had no such intention.
3. These numbered lists do give you some expectation of the time commitment to read the information when you get there.
4. If you actually get some value from the list, you may choose to bookmark the website and come back again in the future. That’s a bit more long-term thinking than trying to trick you into clicking on something!
5. There is no number 5. Really. But I’m open to suggestions! (What would you think if those other lists short-changed you?)

So, when it comes right down to it, these lists – and teases like “When he told her he was unhappy, this is the last thing he was expecting to hear!” – are just trying to get your attention, to divert you from what you may have been intending. As we all know, the clamor to get you to look at a particular site, ad, news story, video, etc. is intense. These techniques, like all the others before them, will be replaced when they stop working by new or more sophisticated approaches. Stay alert so you aren’t taken in!