As you delve deeper into digital marketing, you might wonder if long-form content is worth a shot. Let us break it to you – long-form content is currently taking the internet by storm.
Despite shrinking attention spans, brands who succeed in hooking their audience with this form of content find more people interested in exploring their products/services. Inevitably, the conversion rate also increases.
According to HubSpot, articles with a word count between 2250 and 2500 receive the most traffic. Naturally, readers take longer to go through extensive details as it covers all the nooks and crannies. And the longer they stay on the web pages, the happier search engines become. The algorithm finds the website informative and engaging, sending more traffic towards it.
Before discussing all the reasons to include long-form content in your virtual strategy, let’s find out what it is.
What is Long-Form Content?
Long-form content is a writing piece that comprises 1000 to 7500 words. It dissects a complex subject and enhances readers’ information about that. A well-rounded post is engaging and insightful. It has an interesting narration and is easy to navigate. Such composition encourages the readers to keep coming back.
A few common types of long-form content are data roundups and reviews, case studies, detailed blogs, and e-books. Businesses choose content according to their site and data requirements. Knowing how big names in the industry keep users engaged will help create content.
For instance, The Atlantic published Ta-Nehisi Coates’ powerful tribute to Barack Obama’s presidency in digital and print formats. It was supplemented with stunning imagery and video content across all six chapters. The chapters created a seamless scrolling experience which kept readers deeply engrossed throughout.
Why Should You Use Long-form Content?
Now that you have a general overview of the long-form content, let’s discuss the benefits. What are the perks of investing your time and resources in long-form content? And how does it pay you back?
1. Improved Search Engine Rankings
Different studies indicate that longer content dominates search engine rankings. But it is essential to acknowledge that Google doesn’t rank a page according to its word count. Rather, there are some factors associated with long-form content that help it to ace others. For example:
- Longer content wins more credible backlinks
Research shows that long-form content has a higher probability of winning quality backlinks. This significantly improves their search engine ranking.
- Long-form content uses long-tail keywords
A lengthy post can subtly use long-tail keywords. The algorithm will bump your website towards the top whenever a prospect enters those keywords in the search bar. These long-tail keyword matches confirm your content quality and relevance to the engines.
When a writing piece adheres to all content requirements, there is an automatic surge of traffic. This compels the search engines to rank it above others in the same domain.
2. Extended Visitor Engagement
If the content is well-written and genuinely helpful, you will notice visitors spending an increased time on your website. Also, having multiple pages in the guide will get more views for the other pages. People are less likely to bounce when they get all information from a single source.
Airbnb has done a pretty fantastic job in this regard. Their annual report is the most exciting thing you’ll ever see. It demonstrates how they have transformed corporate collateral into an exciting and creative venture. The report is a treasure trove of data, allowing you to peek into the innovation of the Company and the challenges they came across.
Likewise, if you post info-rich content, chances are that interested prospects will visit your website and spend some time here. This tells Google you have given your audience what they want, letting Google adjust the search rankings for future similar searches.
3. Gets More Social Shares
Neil Patel of QuickSprout studied how many social shares he won with content longer than 1500 words compared to content shorter than 1500 words. He discovered that the long-form content received 68.1% more engagement on Twitter and 22.6% more on Facebook.
The benefit of more social shares is that your website gets more visitors and qualified leads.
The link between content length and social sharing is the same as between content length and backlinks. An average social media user has the same criterion as the link creators. They want to read and share content that is comprehensive and useful.
4. Gives You a Position of Authority
One of the fundamental reasons for creating long-form content is to establish your authority on the subject. Help Scout shows us how to do it right. They have used this strategy to become an expert in customer service. Their long-form content demonstrates their mastery of the subject and gives them the status of knowledgeable educators.
Therefore, when you provide detailed information about a subject, you bring credibility to your brand. This ultimately leads to better name recognition and increased online sales.
5. Improves Conversion Rate
You will win the conversion game if you focus on creating high-quality long-form content. Forbes discovered that companies like Crazy Egg could improve their conversion rates by using long-form content. Crazy Egg noticed a 30% increase in their conversion!
Why Does Long-Form Content Work?
The following are reasons why long-form content improves conversion rate:
- You get the opportunity to answer more questions.
- More companies vouch for your content value, and you get more links.
- Google prefers long-form content.
It makes sense that long-form content could get monotonous. You could make it more appealing by enhancing its aesthetics. For instance, add relevant stock images from reliable online websites to deliver your narrative through visuals.
Also, try and write in a tone to keep the readers engaged. A conversational tone often helps to connect better with the customers.
Over to You
Long-form content is the key to building a reputation in the market. The process of climbing the search grid will be slow, but a valuable content strategy will help you to obtain a sustainable position in the industry.
Ensure that you aren’t rambling and writing fluff. Instead, do your research well to provide some solutions to your audience. This might keep them hooked, and they will eagerly wait for your next content piece.
Happy writing!