Why Writing Long-Form Content Is Worth The Time (And How To Do It Right)
Writing long-form blog content can be incredibly impactful for businesses. It’s an educational and SEO powerhouse and it makes you, the writer/business owner, look like a total pro. The only downside? It comes with a pretty heavy time investment.
A lot of businesses wonder if they really need to commit the time it takes to write a long-form blog post, and we get why! Short-form blog posts are less time-intensive, easier to write, and often, easier to read. But, when it comes to benefits like SEO and user experience, short-form ain’t got nothin’ on long-form.
People used to think that digital media had to be short, sweet, and to the point to match our goldfish-like attention spans (hellooo character limits!), but turns out that was basically all wrong. Now, we know that long-form content is super beneficial to readers and writers alike. It tends to rank higher on Google, increase conversion rates, and it genuinely helps readers who are looking to learn about new topics in-depth, online. (Sorry Twitter! Looks like long-form content is here to stay.)
Here’s how to write high-quality, results-driven, long-form content for your business blog — and why long-form content is something your business can’t afford not to do.
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What Is Long-Form Content?
Long-form content is any digital content longer than 1,500 words (ish). It covers things like ebooks and PDFs, but for this post, we’re focusing on long-form blog posts alone.
Because of the length, creating a high-quality, long-form post requires a lot more research and time than a short-form post would. And that makes sense! In order to provide real value for 3,000 words or more, you’ve gotta know your stuff! But don’t let this deter you, because A) it’s well worth the effort and B) you do know your stuff!
Why Long-Form Blog Content Is Worth It
Long-form blog content gives you the potential to create higher-quality content that’s more in-depth and benefits your business.
Here’s how:
It Makes You Look Good
It helps you establish credibility, it sets you apart, and it gives you the space to go into detail about a given topic. (Since you’re already an expert at what you do, chances are you can do this no problem!)
It Lets You Share Your Expertise
Long-form content also gives you the chance to really immerse your readers in whatever subject you’re passionate enough to write 1,500+ words about. It lets you let them in!
It Rewards Your Readers
Long-form content is more rewarding for your readers than short-form content. With it, they gain more information and understanding about a topic than they could in 1,000 words or less.
Business benefit: This means you’re keeping readers on your site longer and increasing your chances of conversion!
And speaking of keeping things longer, long-form content is a great way to establish evergreen content (content that stays fresh and keeps producing results on your website for years to come!).
It’s Great for SEO
Since SEO is one of our specialties, we can’t not talk about the SEO benefits of long-form content.
As opposed to short-form posts that focus on one keyword, long-form blog posts let you target multiple keywords at once. Just be sure to stick to related keywords, and remember to never stuff them in.
Tip: See if you can add related keywords to your post in your sub-headers!
The Downside of Long-Form
So what’s the deal-breaker? The pitfall of long-form content is that it requires a big time investment from you AND your readers. A time commitment is fine if your readers are raving fans, but it’s not-so-great if you’re just getting yourself established.
If you’re like most businesses, and your audience hasn’t reached raving-fan status yet, that’s okay! Long-form content is still for you. You are just under a little extra pressure to create long-form content that keeps people engaged right to the end. (In other words, you’ll want to make sure you’re taking extra care to create long-form content that doesn’t suck.)
How To Write High-Quality, Long-Form Content
So, how do you make sure your long-form post is pleasant and readable and memorable for your readers? You make it as conversational, entertaining, and digestible as you possibly can by implementing these tips:
Use a clear structure.
Ensure that your post has a logical and clear structure to keep your reader’s attention. Do this by organizing your content by using headers and sub-sections.
Avoid the dreaded word wall!
Make sure your hard work isn’t lost in a dreaded word-wall: a large and continuous block of text that causes readers to become skimmers or window-closers! Break down your text using subheadings, formatting variations, lists, how-tos, pull quotes, and throw a few images in there to break things up!
Use a table of contents.
Your readers might not want or need to read every word of your post. At least, not all at once. Allow them to easily skip and navigate through your content by including an anchor-linked table of contents.
Add personality and flair!
If someone wants to learn about child development in a dull, passive, monotone voice — they’ll buy a textbook! Remember that blogging is a fun, casual, conversational medium. Write accordingly!
Consider your reader.
Who is reading this, and what do they need from you? Are they a vulnerable new mom? A busy executive? Do they need reassurance, clarity, answers, hope, support? Remember to deliver your words in a tone that supports and serves your target audience. (Refer to your brand voice guide for help with this if you have one!)
The Best Long-Form Content is Quality Long-Form Content
Bottom line: long-form content is great, but only if it’s GOOD long-form content that serves your reader. Make it well-researched, value-packed, and aesthetically-pleasing, and you’ll be off to the races!
Want Us To Write It For You?
Get in touch if you need to streamline your content strategy, get more out of your content creation, and get back to focusing on the parts of your business that you actually love!
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