"Best" & "Top" Lists 101

OVERVIEW

Clients often request lists from Wonder to help them make decisions on products and services. In many cases, they want us to find the “top” or “best” products, services, people, etc. by researching various characteristics and ranking them according to objective criteria. These particular words mean that there is a measurability component to the question.

Step 1: Determine the size of the list:

Usually the client will specify the number they are looking for, however, if they do not then the interpreter will likely scope the request to be a certain number for you. If that also does not happen, you should provide at least 10 items and include: "A single Wonder list comprises 10 items, and if you need more entries, you can submit a new request and we'll pick up where we left off." In very rare cases where 10 items do not exist, you can submit as few as 7 items.

For each item in your list, include at least a 2-3 sentence description. If the data is quantitative (rather than qualitative), consider organizing your list as a spreadsheet.

Step 2: Determine how to define “best” or “top”:

If a client asks for a list of "top" or "best" persons, companies, or products, you must explain your methodology for choosing those items as "top" or "best. Use the criteria the client provides, if included. Otherwise, find how experts rate those items and adopt their criteria. Facile proxy lists for "top" (e.g., most reviewed on Amazon, top hits on Google) should be avoided. Use this how-to to help you build strong methodology for "top"/"best" lists.

• Read the question and understand it thoroughly
• If the client does not provide his/her criteria for “top,” then make a decision what should be measured as top (revenue, Web visitors per month etc.).
• Envision what the perfect answer would look like and what authoritative resource(s) could prove that such an answer meets the measurability criteria.

THE SOURCER’S ROLE

In general, the sourcer’s role is to build the list through sources. The sourcer should clearly explain how they selected the items for the list and in which order the items should appear. In all cases, a source for each item on the list should be provided. In other words, sourcers should not simply provide several pre-compiled lists and leave it up to the writer to decide which items to choose. However, they should include these pre-compiled lists as sources if they helped them identify items to go on the list.

Once you’ve determined the size of the list and the criteria to use to determine “best”, “top”, or whatever superlative the client is looking for:

1. Search for pre-compiled lists from authoritative sources and/or other reliable resources/databases that offer metrics/sorting/ranking capabilities to prove measurability. Some such resources can be found in the Research Tools area of the Wonder Resource Center. Each question may have uniqueness and may need a matching unique search strategy.
2. Thoroughly explain you research methodology in the Wonder answer, describing why your search strategy and the resources being used are appropriate. Search strategy includes: what you search for, what you found, what was not available and why that information was not available. The methodology should tell the client a story about your research path so there is no doubt that you did a thorough job.
3. For Best/Top Lists specifically, It is critical that sourcers explain the criteria used to rank the items on the list. Often, the criteria is revenue, number of users, review ratings, or number of social media followers. However, it could be some other criteria, as long as it applies to all items on the list so that the client can make apples-to-apples comparisons. In some cases, the list won’t be ranked at all, but will require justification for why an item made the list.

If there is a spreadsheet already created, sourcers should not complete it. Sourcers should only be finding the sources that contain the information that will allow the writer to complete the spreadsheet.

Examples of Top Questions and Sample Search Strategies

Example Question #1: What are the top taxi companies in the U.S.?

Thought process of researcher:

Probably revenue can be the metric for “top” company here. I wonder if some official transportation association or taxi professional society ranks taxi companies. If that doesn’t work, I wonder if the Hoovers database has a SIC or NAICS code for taxis. I know that this database can rank companies by revenue, so that may be a good search strategy.

Search strategy and its execution:

No professional transportation publication or association that is searched appears to have any pre-compiled lists of top taxi companies. The researcher then goes to Hoovers and finds that there is a NAICS code of 485310 for taxis, plugs that code into the database and sees the top taxi companies by revenue. The list is provided in the Wonder answer along with a solid search strategy, explaining that the respected Hoovers database ranked the top taxi companies by revenue.

Example Question #2: Who are the best lawyers in agricultural law in Nebraska?

Thought process of researcher:

I wonder if some Nebraska area publication or legal association ranks lawyers in some manner. Perhaps Martindale.com may be a good source because that is a highly respected database of attorneys that also provides star ratings of the lawyers.

Search strategy and its execution:

After finding no respected Nebraska-specific listing of the best agricultural lawyers in Nebraska, the researcher goes to Martindale.com. There, the researcher puts in the parameters of agriculture law and Nebraska, and ranks the lawyers by peer review. Now, the researcher can list the five-star ranked Nebraska lawyers within agricultural law for the client. Full details of the reliability of the search strategy are written in the Wonder answer, so that the client understands the reliability of the listings.

Example Question #3: Name the top ecommerce sites of flower companies.

Thought process of researcher:

I wonder if some ecommerce or florist professional association ranks flower ecommerce sites. I could also always go on SimilarWeb and look at their category rankings. I bet they have a list of top florist ecommerce sites.

Search strategy and its execution:

The researcher finds an excellent free report on top florist ecommerce site from the Association of Online Florists. Additionally, for added value, the researcher lists the top visited flower ecommerce sites from SimilarWeb. Full details of the reliability of the search strategy are written in the Wonder answer, so that the client understands the reliability of the listings.

THE WRITER’S ROLE

For build a list requests, the writer’s role is to use the sourcer’s methodology and sources to actually create/fill in the list, either in the brief on on a spreadsheet, and write the brief. Clearly writing out the methodology and criteria used by the sourcer to determine “top”, “best”, or another subjective term is crucial.

Build a List Guidelines:

Present the list in order based on the criteria the sourcer used to identify the list items. Most list requests require a brief description of each item on the list. Often, you will need to provide justification for putting an item on the list. This is especially true if there isn’t one objective criterium being used to rank the items. The sourcer should have provided this justification in their summary or source notes.

The Write Up:

If you are completing the list on the brief itself, the write up should follow standard write up guidelines. If you are completing the list on a spreadsheet, the write up should follow the guidelines for a spreadsheet write up. Wonder does not require a methodology section, but build a list requests often need one, particularly to explain the criteria you used to include or rank list items. Reviewers and clients should be able to determine how you chose the items on the list from your write up.

Insights:

Insights should contain information directly from the list. They should NOT simply state that you created a list of items. Presenting the top three items on the list and the criteria used to rank them are acceptable insights for list requests.

PAST 5-STAR EXAMPLES

• Top Law Firms
• Top Dog Influencers
• Best City for New Home

OTHER HELPFUL RESOURCES

• 20 Tips to Use Google Search Effectively