What is the difference between long form and short-form?
Long form and short-form content differ significantly in terms of their depth. A viewer or reader typically needs more time to digest long form content.
Long form content effectively serves as a deep dive into a particular topic. The post aims to identify the different nuances and complexities associated with something, along with providing examples, statistics, and other supporting evidence. Generally speaking, long form content is better than short-form content for educational purposes.
Short-form content, on the other hand, is for quick updates and to briefly discuss a subject matter. Examples include press releases and social media posts.
Why should I use long form content?
Use long form content to demonstrate knowledge in an area associated with your business. Discussing a wide range of subjects comprehensively has the potential to influence Google’s search engine rankings, as expertise is a factor they consider.
You should also use long form content for audience engagement. It’s possible to share this kind of content across other mediums, too, such as in your newsletter.
• Test your long form content over 3-6 months to see if you’re becoming more of a trusted resource in your industry; if you aren’t, make changes.
What are the benefits and drawbacks of long form content?
Long form content has multiple advantages (i.e., search engine visibility), along with drawbacks (e.g. the time it takes to create). Understanding both is important.
Advantages:
- Search engine visibility: Long form articles tend to rank higher in search engines, especially for complex topics.
- Brand authority: By expertly answering complex questions, you show your audience that you’re knowledgeable within your niche. This, as a result, improves brand authority (and can enhance your website domain authority).
- Reader engagement: Long form content can increase average time on site, and depending on your internal linking strategy, you may also reduce bounce rates.
- Monetization opportunities: Use long form content to promote your products and services. You can also embed affiliate links for related products and run ads on your site.
Disadvantages:
- Time-consuming: Writing long form content will probably take you a minimum of 2-3 hours to write, if not more. Allocate enough time in your week and be realistic about how often you can post, based on other commitments. Consider outsourcing your content creation if you have the budget.
- Reader commitment required: You have to rely on the reader wanting to read what you’ve posted. Be engaging with short paragraphs and visuals throughout. Keyword research is also important.
- Information overload risk: Be careful to not overload users with information; if needed, break your content down into a mini-series.
- Promotion: You need to have a clear promotional strategy for your long form content. Examples include newsletters and social media.
How to create a long form blog post in 12 steps?
Follow this 12-step protocol to create a long form blog post:
- Pick a relevant topic: Use keyword research tools to find topics worth covering.
- Research: Conduct significant research before you write.
- Outline: Compile your research into a comprehensive outline.
- Introduction: Start by writing an engaging introduction that sets expectations.
- Main body: Add as much value as possible to your article’s main section.
- Visuals: Use elements like infographics, photos, and videos to break up your text.
- Linking: Use relevant internal/external links. For the latter, consider providing easy access to statistics and other relevant sources.
- Keyword Implementation: Use keywords naturally throughout the article, and avoid keyword stuffing.
- Conclusion: Write a conclusion that nicely summarizes the article. Add a call to action (CTA) for the reader.
- Editing and proofreading: Edit and fact-check after writing. Use grammar-checking tools to expedite the editing process.
- Promotion: Promote your content via your other channels.
- Monitoring: Use tools like Google Analytics and Google Search Console, both of which are available in Hocoos, to measure content performance. Make adjustments where necessary.
Above all else, you need to provide significant value to your audience. While frequent content publication can be beneficial, prioritizing quality over quantity, even with reduced frequency, can yield more positive outcomes. Focus on structure, engagement, and being as informative as possible.
Conclusion
In today’s online environment marked by an abundance of short-form content, long form content presents a potential avenue for establishing brand authority. Consider your content production as a marketing instrument and a means to establish brand influence.
Your long form content could help you generate more organic traffic and build closer relationships with your audience, though results will take time. Although long form content can be time-consuming to produce, it can play a significant role in your marketing strategy.
