1. Numbers make readers feel good about what they are reading. They are comforting. (Talk to an accountant if you don’t get  this.)

2. Use a small number, between five and two, when your topic might normally be overlooked or seem intimidating. Small numbers help readers to know that the article won’t actually require much of them. Check out Huff Post’s successful piece on quinoa.

3. Quirky, large numbers occasionally pull in readers too. Just make sure that you actually engage your readers with legitimate, compelling information. The astonishingly insightful 53 Things Only an 80’s Girl Would Understand is a perfect example–which is why 188,888 readers shared it on Facebook.

4. Numbered sequences allow you to not worry about crafting those tiresome transitions between paragraphs. (If that’s not obvious yet, wait until you get to the end of this piece and then go back through. You’ll get it.)

5. Numbers reassure readers that they can be in control and succeed in any and every topic. Five Easy Steps to Holiness? Anyone can do that. 

6. Because numbers are honest and never mislead readers, you will not have to wade through nasty, personal comments from disgruntled readers who were lured in by unclear titles and then challenged by your prophetic articles*.

7. Numbering is Scriptural. There’s an entire book in the Old Testament which proves this point and after all, God gave Moses 10 commandments, not a few indeterminate suggestions for how to lead his people.

8. Only use completely random numbers when you have a topic that everyone–and I mean everyone–appreciates and relates to, such as 19 Videos of Bacon Sizzling in Slow Motion. (Random numbers apparently also work if you write for Buzzfeed.)

9. Using a number which corresponds to days or weeks in a year gives readers a distinct understanding of how they can use your data. This is especially helpful if you are asking them to accomplish a herculean task. See post on 52 Ways to Eat Kale.

Please prove me correct by sharing this post. I hope to reach at least 119 people. And truly, I do not intend to malign those hard working writers who occasionally, and legitimately, use a figure in their title. I’ve done it myself.

* This is not to imply that numbered lists cannot be challenging.