Ranked list
A numbered rundown with the picks named, ranked and explained - and a section on how they were chosen, so the ranking can be checked rather than taken on trust.
Use a Ranked list when the reader wants options put in order: the best of something, with a winner at the top. You give it a subject and a count; it comes back as one article with the picks named, ranked and explained.
"The 7 best budget espresso machines", "10 CRMs for freelancers", "5 day trips from Edinburgh".
On this page
Say what is being ranked, in the plural
Write it the way it would read in a headline - budget espresso machines,
CRMs for freelancers - because it goes into the headline as typed.
Choose how many make the cut
The count goes into the headline and into the heading of the rundown, and the desks produce exactly that many entries, numbered from one.
More picks does not make a longer article. It is the same length split further, so each entry gets less room. Choose the number your reader actually needs.
The picks are the desks', not yours
The desks research the subject and choose the entries from what the sources support. If you already know exactly which items you want covered, use an Assignment with one line per item, or a Head to head for two.
The shape
A ranked list has five sections, and most of the article is the rundown itself. The rest is the frame around it:
- the short answer up front - the top pick, for readers who want only that
- the rundown - every entry, numbered, with what it is good at and who it suits
- how the picks were made - the basis for the ranking
- how to choose - what matters for the reader's own situation
- the questions people ask next
The section on how the picks were made is what makes the ranking checkable. A list of names with no stated basis is an opinion. A list with its basis written down is something a reader can test and argue with - and trust.
You see the shape before you spend, and can edit it.
Checked like every article
Every price, figure and claim about an entry is checked by the Fact Desk against the pages the desks read. A claim no source supports is cut or marked for your review.
Related: Head to head · Explainer · Assignment