What You Need To Know About Long Form Content

Chad Faith
Chad Faith

Director of Content

What You Need To Know About Long Form Content

Nowadays, not a lot of people are willing to read through long pages of content on the internet. Hand ups if you agree. You might be surprised to know there is compelling evidence out there that proves that wrong. In fact, this type of content – the long ones – not only gets read, but also converts and ranks well! Sometimes after offering great information, you might still have trouble attracting an audience to your site. Also, you might struggle to rank some keywords that should have been easy to do so in the first place.

If you are experiencing such issues, it is highly recommended that you consider adding more long form content. This type of content does not only solve those issues but ensures everyone views you as an expert in your field. Let’s find out more about long form content so you can get on your way to creating better brand awareness!

Long Form Content Explained

While the term has received varied definition, there’s one thing for sure. There is no long form content if you are just trying to get past the 500-word mark to capture the attention of search engines. Experts have recommended that website owners should aim to exceed the 1,500-word mark instead. If not, 1,200 words may suffice. However, it is always better to have ‘extra cushion’ if you want to maintain a competitive advantage. If you are feeling adventurous, you can consider setting a goal of 2,000-3,000 words for your long form content.

In the past, digital long form content was feared because of the inevitable death it could cause. However, more and more people are now realizing that those predictions were overly exaggerated. Long form content has begun to gain a foothold in the digital sphere and is becoming extremely valuable for both search engines and users alike.

Long Form Content is More Shareable on Social Media

One of the reasons why social media values long form content is that the latter outperformed its shorter counterpart. How? It has been observed that lengthy articles had better chances of drawing in a larger audience and increase engagement.

Long Form Content Ranks Well

Because of this, long form content ranks well. While Google’s algorithm for making pages appear at the top of SERPs still remain a mystery, it’s worthy to note that detailed content is ranking very well. What’s more, research shows that a significant percentage of users’ daily information needs involve learning about wide-ranging topics. This means that they are looking for in-depth articles to read, even when Google usually deals with quick questions.

Long Form Content Gets More Backlinks

Now that you know that there is an intrinsic attraction between long form content and search engines, you should also know that it provides additional SEO benefits such as garnering quality backlinks. Yes, you can enjoy this benefit just from writing a couple of thousand words! The more backlinks you have, the better your rankings are in the SERPs. If you are unfamiliar with backlinks, they are known as the core of Google’s page ranking system and you should definitely find out more about them.

While you are increasing the word count of your content, you should always make creating great content one of your top priorities. After all, creating quality work still counts.