Short-form content rules in today's fast-paced digital world, in the social media feeds and the attention spans are shrinking. Hence, the idea of crafting long-form content may seem like a daunting task for both creators and readers. However, the truth is that long-form content is becoming increasingly essential for content marketers, offering a multitude of benefits that go beyond the surface. Contrary to popular belief, it's not just about impressing top executives (CXOs); it can significantly enhance your brand's online presence, from improving SEO rankings to fueling social media engagement and boosting lead generation.
Long-form content marketing: 5 reasons to consider it
If you haven't considered incorporating long-form content into your marketing strategy, here are five compelling reasons why you should:
1. Enhanced SEO
Long-form content plays a crucial role in improving your website's search engine ranking. Google's complex algorithms consider various factors, and one of them is the E-A-T parameter, which stands for Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness. This parameter ensures that recommended pages provide valuable and trustworthy information to searchers. Longer content allows creators to delve deep into a topic, offering comprehensive solutions to users' queries. When search engines recognise that your content effectively addresses search intent, your content climbs the ranks and gets more visibility.
2. Longevity
Unlike short-lived trends, long-form content has a longer shelf life and can maintain its relevance over time. Pillar posts or cornerstone content, which provide an in-depth perspective on a specific topic, tend to remain evergreen and rarely become outdated. They continue to attract traffic throughout your blog or website's lifetime. To keep them fresh, periodic updates with relevant information are all that's required. Moreover, long-form content can be effectively repurposed, allowing marketers to extract smaller portions and share them in various formats, extending their reach.
3. Improves social sharing
Longer content often requires referencing high-authority articles, blog posts, and websites to support the provided information. This practice strengthens the link-building efforts of multiple authors and publishers, fostering an environment of shared content promotion. The more you cross-reference other high-quality sources, the more likely they are to reciprocate. Additionally, longer content, enriched with insights, statistics, quotes, and images, inherently becomes more shareable. Readers discover valuable nuggets throughout the content that they're eager to share with their network. Moz, a renowned expert in search engine optimisation, found that long-form content receives higher average shares and significantly more links.
4. Lead generation and funnel creation
Comprehensive content pieces offer an educational experience for your target audience, delivering more value in a single reading. Long-form content is especially beneficial in creating highly converting landing pages. In the B2B sector, many marketers use long-form content to funnel site visitors towards critical pages, such as product offerings or services. By adding a well-placed Call to Action (CTA) that guides users to the next step, whether it's downloading a resource or starting a free trial, you can effectively nurture leads. Long-form content provides numerous opportunities to direct users toward these important actions.
5. Building reputation, authority, and trust
Long-form content serves as a platform to identify emerging trends, provide analysis, and present unique perspectives on popular topics. It caters to the interests and concerns of your target audience while offering solutions to specific challenges they may face. By consistently delivering well-researched, thought-provoking, and authoritative content, you can position your brand as a trusted resource in your industry. This enhances your brand's authority and expertise not only among your core audience but also within your broader competitive landscape.
How to craft long-form content effectively
The ideal length of long-form content typically falls between 1200 and 4000 words or more, but word count is only one aspect. The topic should warrant the length and contain rich information, data, examples, and multimedia elements like images and graphs. Address frequently asked questions and delve into the complexities of the topic. Balance deep-dive analysis, storytelling, and relevant keywords to create informative yet engaging content without becoming dull or repetitive.
Incorporating long-form content into your content marketing strategy is a wise move, offering a plethora of benefits that can significantly impact your brand's online presence. It's time to embrace the power of long-form content and leverage its potential to enhance your marketing efforts. Ready to unlock the potential of long-form content for your brand? Partner with The Big Pitchr, your content solutions agency, and craft compelling long-form narratives that resonate with your audience.
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