Why and How SEOs Should Use Long-Form Content
Long-form content is continually overshadowed by other more attractive or visually engaging forms of content. This is true on Twitter, conference decks, case studies, and blog posts: Flashy and exciting content draws more attention. Of course, you can make long-from content flashy and exciting with the right resources and expertise. But executing at this level of skill repeatedly is challenging to achieve.
You should not understate long-form content's value because it can do so much for your brand:
- Generate brand awareness and links
- Add overall value to your website
- Build credibility and authority
- Drive user traffic
Our experts on web marketing in Orlando offer a deeper look into long-form content and why it works.
Why Long-Form Content Works
There are various reasons that long-form content works for a business, and they are rarely all taken advantage of by companies. But unfortunately, we often get so wrapped up in writing the content that we fail to recognize the related work required and its benefits.
Long-form content is rich with copy and simple for Google to understand.
It is easier for Google to categorize than more complex content like interactive infographics or data visualizations. There is no doubt that these executions can look fantastic, but Google cannot always understand their content because they are powered by JavaScript, data files, and images. Google can crawl and index these elements, but it is challenging to interpret them as a human would. Because of this trouble with interpretation, it can be more difficult for visual-led or interactive content to rank high in organic search results or reach its full ranking potential. In addition, your website's value declines because you add content that Google cannot understand fully. Contrasting this with copy-led, long-form content that is far easier for Google to understand adds great organic search value to your page.
Long-form content allows you to generate organic traffic and target a range of keywords.
This process makes it possible to rank your content and generate traffic long into the future. It can expand your audience and ranking potential by targeting keywords across an entire topic by incorporating several headings and sections, unlike short-form content. Especially with changes Google has rolled out to help users jump to page sections that benefit them the most and their progress in understanding a page’s specific passages, long-form content can generate traffic by covering a wide range of topics. In addition, long-form content allows you to dive deeply into a topic and increase the opportunity for organic traffic since Google is getting better at interpreting small details.
Long-form content can become reference material and attract links from 3rd party sites.
If your content ranks well, it may be used as a source by journalists, bloggers, and writers, especially if it has statistics or data points that other writers can later reference. This generates links to improve your organic rankings and exposes your brand to a broader audience.
Long-form content can be regularly updated and evergreen.
If your topic is evergreen and you effectively plan it, you can easily update long-form content and release it repeatedly. For example, if you present a study on a critical industry topic in 2022, it is usually entirely relevant to update it again in 2023 with new data or study information. This is not as easily achieved with video or visual content production because the resources are more costly and time-consuming to update.
Long-form Content Execution
Now that you have a pretty clear understanding of why long-form content can benefit your brand, it is essential to understand how to use it effectively.
Determine the topics you want to write about
Knowing what you want to focus your writing on is essential. Start with what you can write about with credibility. Think about your company’s collective experience, wisdom, and knowledge and the topics you can credibly discuss that very few others can. Try to stay true to what your brand does and not veer too far off course. You might have an issue if a user looks at the topic and wonders why you would be talking about it.
It is also critical to think about topics your audience can connect with and learn about. What challenges or problems do they have that you can help them solve? Think about your target audience and what they want to read about when visiting your site.
Finally, are there topics that your company wants to be known for? This question will help you discover topics you are credible to write about that resonate with your audience and you want to be seen as an authority on. This is a vital consideration if your brand is expanding into new product lines or areas or wants to change its public perception somehow.
Proper execution
Sometimes long-form content is not the most ideal way to execute an idea. The process of finding out if long-form content is the optimal method of execution is to plan the piece’s structure. It does not take long to get a picture of what you want to express to your audience, and if it multiplies into many different angles and points that fit well within the proposed topic, long-form content may be the best way forward. In addition, think about your audience again and determine whether long-form content is what they would expect when looking for info on your topic. If you know they would rather see something more concise, the long-form copy is likely not the best fit.
Research what’s out there already
Building on the previous recommendation, you should take time to see what Google shows on the first page of results on the topic. Google is highly successful in understanding what users want and designs results to meet their expectations. Next, think about whether you can produce content that exceeds the available information. If you look at the existing content and find that it has been well-covered, you may do better to look for new ways to add value to the topic or focus on a different matter entirely.