Long Form vs Short Form Content: When to choose which?
We are all aware of how critical it is to create a strong content strategy and the exponential growth that can result when done correctly. But there are also a ton of false beliefs in the field of content marketing.
You’ve probably heard the suggestion that the longer a piece of content is, the better it will perform. Or that each article on your website should have at least 2,000 words.
Only one can prevail in the conflict between short-form and long-form content, right? Actually, not quite.
Writing content for your company is a tried-and-true method of increasing audience engagement. In fact, it can boost audience engagement, brand association, email click-through rates, and conversion rates.
👇 Let’s learn what is long-form content along site short-form content:
What is long form content?
Long-form content is more specific content that takes more than 1,200 words to define and is more likely to be described as long-form content.
Long-form content includes:
- Lengthy blog posts
- Tutorials
- Whitepapers and eBooks
Because of how thoroughly it covers its subject, this kind of content really draws viewers in. This type of content isn’t meant to be quickly consumed; rather, it’s meant to educate and instruct those who want to find out more information about a subject or get an answer to a particular question.
What is short form content?
Although some marketers set the threshold at 1,000 words, brief content is commonly defined as having at most 1,200 words.
Instead of going too in-depth or detailed, short and simple-to-digest content covers a specific section of a topic and is basically specified as short-form content.
Short-form content includes
- Short articles
- Emails
- Social content etc
This kind of content is often quick and simple to write isn’t very taxing on your readers, and won’t keep them reading for very long. Short-form writing frequently aims to rapidly and effectively convey a single idea. Sharing a single concept and keeping things straightforward is key.
Pros and Cons of long-form content:
Although longer-form material is frequently advised for SEO content purposes, there are a few other factors that make it a potent weapon, along with some disadvantages.
👍 Pros:
Search results are improved
Long-form content is a powerhouse in terms of SEO. Google wants to respond to queries from consumers with the highest-quality answer possible. And as you would have anticipated, elements like length, the number of pertinent search terms in the content, and time on the page weigh heavily.
Your content is anchored by it
Long-form content is the ideal format for delving deeply into a subject, providing comprehensive answers to queries and related subjects, as well as introducing fresh perspectives on the subject. So you may build a pillar page that receives a ton of search traffic.
It’s quite spreadable
Searching for material that has the potential to be shared? According to surveys, long-form content performs better than short-form information in this context.
Actually, BuzzSumo discovered that articles between 3,000 and 10,000 words received the most regular shares. The research contradicts the common perception that short, informal reads are the ones that get shared.
It enhances credibility and reputes
Occasionally, the power of SEO overrides the authority and credibility advantages of long-form content, but not now. By creating long-form content, your company establishes itself as a thought leader and shows your audience that you are genuinely interested in the issue and its solution.
Simple to reuse
Another fast content victory? Long-form content is ideally suited to be updated and repurposed for different marketing endeavors (so long as you take care not to duplicate material).
A photo slideshow or the photographs in a brief, quick-form piece, for instance, could be created using screenshots from a professional webinar.
👎 Cons:
There is a lengthy production procedure
It takes time to conduct thorough research and fact-checking, and it’s difficult to predict whether the work will be worthwhile in advance. Your initial aims may not be achieved by the content writing process.
Additionally, your content production can stall if your marketing staff becomes bogged down in producing too many long-form articles at once. When longer material is in the works, it’s crucial to remember to prioritize daily community involvement as well as quick-hit content.
It isn’t necessarily compatible with mobile devices
Companies previously lacked mobile-optimized or mobile-responsive websites or blog publishing tools. This led to long-form content pieces with broken hyperlinks, extremely small, difficult-to-read text, and off-the-screen paragraphs.
Although it’s less of a problem anymore, it’s still important to examine your content publishing platform’s capabilities (s).
Pros and Cons of short-form content:
There are benefits and drawbacks to producing bite-sized material. Let’s look at some of the pros and cons of choosing short-form content.
👍 Pros:
Consuming it is simple
Even if the reader is engaged in the topic, reading, watching, or listening to it still requires effort. A two-minute read will always be preferred by many visitors to one that takes five or ten minutes.
The demand is rising
Short-form videos are a particularly popular genre of short-form content (typically under 2 minutes and 30 seconds).
Numerous causes, including a quicker media cycle, the prevalence of smartphones, people’s short attention spans, younger generations online, and platforms like Snapchat and Instagram Stories, have contributed to the popularity boom, which is also causing shorter material to become more popular.
It is designed for more rapid conversions
There is value in quickness. Short, snappy texts may be read more quickly, and as you guide visitors through, they’ll get to your CTAs and internal connections more quickly. Visitors who are looking for an immediate fix or a grab-and-go response can convert rapidly.
Production moves more quickly
Short-form material has the additional advantage of generally requiring less time to produce than long-form information. It can be a different scenario if you’re doing in-depth research, sorting through data, or speaking with thought leaders.
👎 Cons:
It lacks authority
Longer works provide content producers plenty of room to exercise their muscles and demonstrate their knowledge. Shorter content can be extensive and well-researched, of course, but it can’t be as complete as something that is 2,000 words.
Less SEO opportunity exists
Word count will always come up when discussing SEO, which is the process of making content better so that it will appear on search engine results pages (SERPs) and increase organic traffic.
In a nutshell, lengthy material often performs better for SEO. In general, the longer the material, the more opportunities there are to link to related content, obtain backlinks from other websites, and establish authority as a reliable source of information.
There are many people in the field
As we have discussed, content may be created more quickly the shorter it is. A surplus of poor-quality, short-form information has resulted as a result. Some businesses can produce a lot of short-form content because of the low entry barrier in an effort to dominate a subject or product area.
4️⃣ quick tips to improve your long form vs short form content:
💡 Tips for Long-Form Content:
✅ Make sure it can be searched and skimmed
In order to navigate through larger works easily, structural components like headings, a table of contents, and properly designed links are essential. Without them, your readers would lose interest or their bearings after a few lines. You can obtain featured snippet placements on Google SERPs by following these methods as well.
✅ Intersperse material with interesting visuals
On the same point, long-form material is especially dependent on visual components like product photographs, stock photos, films, graphs, and charts. They provide your readers with opportunities to pause and catch their breath while also conveying complicated ideas swiftly and sparing you with some writing or filming. Images can also increase conversion rates.
✅ Develop the winning material
Expanding on the popular material you’ve previously produced can be a wonderful place to start when developing your long-form content plan. For instance, if you have a popular 300-word infographic, you can write a substantial piece about the subject or concentrate on a certain set of statistics. Just be mindful to avoid stealing from your own efforts.
✅ Mobile devices can preview posts
Use a mobile-optimized platform to publish content, as this will help you and your viewers avoid a lot of hassle. Check how long posts appear on various screens at all times. A preview option is built into many content management systems, including HubSpot and MailChimp.
💡 Tips for Short-Form Content:
✅ Be as specific as you can
Though individuals are aware they are reading a shorter item, whether it be a product page or a social media shout-out, they still anticipate a comprehensive response.
✅ Make a statement with special facts and insights
Short-form content is a congested market, as we already mentioned. The fact that you’ll discuss the same topics and respond to the same inquiries as your rivals is inevitable, but you may set your work apart with special data, interviews, metrics, and more.
✅ Plan your internal connecting strategy carefully
Consider the internal links you want to include while brainstorming any piece. It will not only capture the interest of your viewers but also improve the quality of your work as a whole.
✅ Combine unsuccessful posts into a single lengthy post
Merging weak or thin content into a more comprehensive resource is sometimes the greatest approach to giving it new life. In our content consolidation guide, we deconstruct this procedure.
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Conclusion
We hope that the above info has provided you with the assurance to set the ideal content length and nail the writing.
Even though it’s easy to get distracted by the number of words and character restrictions, the most crucial factor is whether you’re providing value for your audience. That is what will entice them to return.