For the most part, web users aren’t interested in reading long, narrative writing. They tend to prefer easily digestible snippets of information. This is why blog posts and articles are usually heavily formatted — especially when they are longer pieces of content.
When an article has headings to break up the text into smaller chunks or certain parts that are highlighted in bold, italics or a different font size or type, the information is easier to digest and it allows readers to skip to the part they are interested in. This is especially important when a reader has arrived at an article via a search engine question and wants an answer quickly.
One of the best ways to break up dense paragraphs is with a bullet point list. As well as enabling you to present information succinctly and allow readers to scan more quickly, bullet points attract attention, highlight key information and help make complicated subjects easier to understand.
In this article, we’ll share nine tips to help you use bullet points effectively in your content. We’ll also explain how to use punctuation correctly in bulleted lists.
To use bullet points effectively in your content, you should write a clear introduction to the list, stick to one topic, keep each bullet point short and avoid starting each bullet point with the same word.
You should also make each point symmetrical, be consistent, use numbers appropriately, incorporate keywords and be careful not to overuse bullet points.
Continue reading to find out more about these tips.
Nine tips for writing effective bullet point lists
Bullet points are ideal for breaking up chunks of information. But they are only effective when they are used correctly. Here are some tips to help you achieve this:
1. Write a clear introduction
A bulleted list should be introduced with a clear, grammatically correct sentence. This is to let readers know what the list is about and why it is important.
It’s worth noting that if each bullet point completes the introduction in a meaningful way, the lead-in doesn’t have to be a complete sentence. Just remember that your bullet points should lead on from the introduction, to form a grammatically correct sentence, for example:
The colours of the rainbow include
- Red
- Yellow
- Indigo
Whereas, the following is an incorrect example of an introduction to a bullet point list:
The colours of the rainbow include
- Red comes first
- Yellow is another rainbow colour
- The second-to-last colour of the rainbow is indigo
A helpful tip is to read each point with the introduction to determine whether it makes sense as a complete sentence. For example: “The colours of the rainbow include red” makes sense, while “The colours of the rainbow include yellow is another rainbow colour” does not.
2. Stick to one topic
Bullet points highlight the key elements of a single specific topic and they should be easy to understand at just a glance.
This means every point should directly relate to the introductory paragraph and it should be clear how each one is relevant to the other.
3. Keep bullet points short
For your bullet points to stand out from big blocks of text, they need to be as concise as possible. One way to help you do this is to think of each one as a mini headline. Deleting fluff or transitional words is another way to keep your bullet points succinct.
Each bullet point should contain only the most important information, but sometimes it may be necessary to give additional information. If so, keep this to a minimum and make sure you are listing the most important information first and the details afterwards.
It is also a good idea to avoid sub-bullets to keep your list as clear and simple as possible.
4. Don’t start each point with the same word
Repetition is mundane and if you are guilty of it, you can quickly lose your reader’s attention. So, wherever possible, delete articles like “a” and ‘the” and other repetitive words from the beginning of each bullet.
Having different words at the start of each point also makes it easier for the reader to distinguish between them.
5. Make each point symmetrical
Another way to use bullet points effectively in your content is to make each of your bullet points symmetrical. This means ensuring they are all the same length and are written in the same format.
A bulleted list that’s symmetrical is more pleasing on the eye, which makes for better for readability and indicates that each point is as important as the other.
If you feel the need to explain one of the points, you can keep your list symmetrical by explaining the others as well.
6. Be consistent
While there are no hard and fast rules when it comes to formatting a bulleted list, you should include some guidelines in your house style guide to keep things consistent. If you don’t have a style guide, you can refer to a commonly used one like Chicago or APA and use it for every bullet point list you write from now on.
You also need to ensure you are structuring each bullet point the same way. They should all start with a noun or a verb, for example, and they should all be either sentence fragments or whole sentences.
7. Use numbers appropriately
In some cases it might be better to use a numbered list rather than a bulleted one. However, you should be aware that numbers are not always interchangeable with bullets and if used incorrectly numbers can alter the list’s meaning or create confusion. For example, a list giving numbered options could make readers think each point is a step that must be completed.
A numbered list is generally used to prioritise the bullet points. You may wish to use a numbered list when writing a top ten article or step-by-step guide, for example. Bulleted lists are usually used when the order of the points does not matter.
8. Incorporate keywords
As mentioned, bullet points make your content more readable, which not only helps readers find what they are looking for quickly, but search engines are more likely to pick it up.
When you emphasise your keywords in a bulleted list, it increases the chances that your article will rank as a featured snippet. And that means more traffic to your website.
9. Don’t overuse bullet points
The whole point of a bulleted list is to break up chunks of text and make certain points stand out. But if you have too many bulleted lists, all the content will start to look the same and will be more difficult to skim-read.
So, if you want to write powerful bullet points, do so sparingly, otherwise they will lose their impact and you may as well have left them out altogether.
To keep your bulleted lists to a minimum, a good rule of thumb is to embed lists of three items or less into a sentence, rather than using bullet points.
How to use punctuation in bullet point lists
When writing content for your website, every sentence should be grammatically correct to position your company as a credible and trusted source of information. That said, it's easier to make mistakes with bulleted lists. With that in mind, we’ve included this section, with some helpful advice on how to use punctuation in bullet point lists.
Capitalisation
While it is the standard for the first word of each bullet point to begin with a capital letter, you do not always have to do this.
If your bullet points are single words or sentence fragments, capitalisation is a style choice. This means you can choose to start with a lowercase letter or a capital.
If, however, your bullet points are complete or multiple sentences, you should use capital letters at the beginning of each one.
It is worth noting here that although capitalisation is optional in certain instances, capital letters do make it easier to scan a piece of content.
Colons
If the introduction to your bullet point list is a fragment of a sentence, a colon is not needed. If it is a complete sentence, you should put a colon at the end of it. Note, though, that you should not use a semicolon or a dash to introduce a bulleted list.
Full stops
As with capitalisation and colons, the correct usage of full stops depends on whether your bullet points are whole sentences or sentence fragments.
If they are complete or multiple sentences, you should use full stops or other types of ending punctuation, such as exclamation marks or question marks. If they are single words or sentence fragments, you do not need to use ending punctuation like full stops.
Summary
One of the best ways to break up dense paragraphs is with a bullet point list. As well as enabling you to present information succinctly and allow readers to scan more quickly, bullet points attract attention, highlight key information and help make complicated subjects easier to understand.
But if you want to use bullet points effectively, you need to follow certain rules. Nine tips to help you write effective bulleted lists are as follows:
- Write a clear introduction to the list
- Stick to one topic
- Keep each bullet point short
- Avoid starting each bullet point with the same word
- Make each point symmetrical
- Be consistent
- Use numbers appropriately
- Incorporate keywords
- Be careful not to overuse bullet points
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