Key Reasons To Adopt a Long-Form Content Strategy

One question that our content marketing team often gets from business owners in virtually all industry verticals is: “How long should my business content be?” Our answer is: Long enough to build trust and credibility and position your thought leadership.

Technically, you need to create 400-word article in order to get your content indexed by search engines. When it comes to digital marketing in today’s evolving online world, short-form content (may be easy to create and publish) is not enough to add value to your brand in the long run. Perhaps, that’s why marketers are incorporating long-form content into their content marketing strategy. Should your business include long articles in your content strategy? Here we have mentioned six reasons why longer content is an excellent way to engage with readers, rank higher, get better & return traffic.

Reason #1 – Increases User Engagement

Often you would see that some websites have blogs, how-to guides, educational articles, case studies and whitepapers that are way too long – there’s a reason behind this. The longer you can keep users’ attention, the more chances are there that they’ll make meaningful clicks, such as on a “subscribe” or “buy” button.

If the content is well written and is genuinely helpful, you’ll see increased time and engagement on the site. If there are multiple pages in a guide, it means you’re likely to see more page views too. There exists less possibility that people will bounce back. What does this mean for you as a website owner or marketer? Increased time in front of your prospective and current customers’ eyes. More time spent on your website = more trust.

Reason #2 – Improves User Perception

In-depth articles are always good, comprehensive and easy to understand. Going into the in-depth details of any subject gives the reader the impression that you know what you’re talking about. Long articles are perceived to be as valuable and trustworthy.

A great content does not mean long-form content. But your content length (word count) should be long enough to answer the questions of your visitors, help them complete their goals, provide them the right information and give them pleasurable experience across multiple devices and browsers.

Reason #3 – Brings Repeat Traffic

It’s a known strategy that when the content is posted on a regular basis it helps to keep people coming back. This assertion is typically associated with producing lots and lots of content of shorter bits because you have to publish it on a daily basis. Well, that isn’t necessarily so. Marketers who follow smart SEO goals includes long-form content in their digital marketing strategy because they know it will really help to boost repeat traffic and conversions.

Long form content features every detail of the subject that tends to bring in the repeat traffic, especially if it is educational in nature. Often times people keep on reading the same article again and again till they have brushed up some technique or other. Long-form content takes time, the reader reads it repeatedly to understand and digest, and that’s good for your engagement. Also, remember that long-form content gets more shares on social media channels.

Reason #4 – Positions Your Brand as an Authority

Another main and obvious reason as why you should create long-form content is that it positions your brand as an authority. Many companies specializing in content marketing services use this strategy to help you become a total expert in customer service like retaining your existing users and bringing in new users to your website to read. This strategy will really prove effective in establishing your brand authority in the online marketplace.

The lengthy guides which feature detailed information about the subject matter not only make your position authoritative but also they educate the readers by enhancing their knowledge.

Reason #5 – Helps the Reader Understand Better

In continuation with the last point, it is your duty to make your company to understand the content in a better way. The short form content because of the limited space is often guilty of promoting simplistic descriptions of complicated concepts. But when it comes to long form content, it gives you the space you need to truly explain the circumstances, problems and what is the reason behind handling things in the way you do.

Reason #6 – Proves Effective for Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

It’s a known fact that longer articles get ranked better on Google. Search Engines in general always strive to provide the most relevant content results to search queries because they want to give people exactly what they are looking for and is beneficial to them. It’s good for businesses, so you must invest in content marketing services that include both long-form and short-form content.

In today’s search engine optimization, there is a resurgence of long-tail keywords. Longer articles give marketers more opportunities to rank long-tail keywords, and such keywords get discovered more by search engines. Another great advantage is the traffic they bring in. You should most definitely go check that out. In addition to the many SEO benefits of content marketing, it can be used as a means to connect on a different level with your customers that other digital marketing tactics cannot.

It is not about whether short-form content is good or long-form articles. Your content length should be determined by customer’s journey, how much they know, what type of information you want to convey, what your repeat visitors are interested in, and what are your goals for marketing.

Creating extra-long articles needs thorough research, careful planning, lots of creativity and an understanding of your business objectives and audience. Source Soft Solutions is highly committed to creating unique and engaging content (both short and long-form) as per your business requirements. As a leading content marketing services provider, we appoint the best professional and skilled content writers to ensure creativity and uniqueness in each content we create.

To know how Source Soft can help your business grow!