Bullet points

What are bullet points?

Bullet points are used to list out items in your content. They help you effectively communicate your message because they capture the attention of readers who prefer scannable content. A bulleted list can also break up long blocks of text, and the intriguing phrases you use in your bullet points are opportunities to turn scanners into readers.

How to write powerful bullet points

The essence of a great bullet is brevity + promise. Brevity has been a hallmark of good writing since writing began, but everyone currently possesses an acute awareness of just how important brevity is right now. Long, complex bullet points would defeat the purpose of writing bullets at all — to keep your reader moving through your copy.

Promise is the element that hooks your reader like a fish. You’re making a plain and legitimate claim that your product/idea/service will give them what they’ve been looking for. You absolutely must deliver on the promise you make.

By using bullets, you’re demonstrating that you know how to be concise and cut to the chase. 

Tips for writing bullet points:

• Think of a bullet point as a mini headline. It needs to be concise and attention-grabbing in a way that intrigues readers and compels them to read more.
• Highlight elements key to understanding the content of your article. There’s no room for fluff here, so call out what’s most important.
• Keep it simple. Avoid complex outlines and don’t use sub-bullets if you can help it.
• Keep bullets thematically related. Bullet points highlight key elements of very specific topics, so stay on a single track.
• Make your bullet points symmetrical . . . just like the ones here. Notice how each point begins with a bolded directive and ends with a one-sentence explanation.
• Work in keywords. Search engines tend to give bulleted lists a little more weight.
• Don’t overdo it. You want your post to look like an article, not a grocery list.

The strategic use of bullet points 

Bullet points often create confusion for writers. Do you capitalize each one? Put periods at the end? When should you use numbers instead of bullets? It turns out that making your articles easy to read through the strategic use of bullet points requires a little know-how.

Here are a few guidelines.

The introductory sentence

If the text introducing your list is a complete sentence, it should end with a colon. If it’s a fragment, forget the colon and jump straight into the list.

Numbers or bullets?

If your action items need to take place in a specific order, use a numbered list rather than bullets.

8 examples of bullet points that work

1.  External fascinations
2. Internal fascinations
3. Bullet chunking
4. Authority bullets
5. Cliffhanger bullets
6. Give-away bullets
7. Expansion bullets
8. “Can’t be done” bullets