you have the right idea, but your alias syntax is wrong. Also, rather than using an alias for this idea, you would likely be better off writing a function and putting it into your ~/.bash_profile or /etc/bash_profile.
A simple function like this (which I named "cdl"):
Code:
cdl () {
cd "$1" && ls
}
and would work like you suggested:
shell$ cdl /some/dir
would go to that dir, and ls the contents.
NOTE: this is untested, but should work, or very nearly so.
Sasha