Content marketing is one of the most widely-used digital marketing tactics. And while each industry and business size have different ROI benchmarks to go by, most marketing strategies heavily rely on the production of different content types.
Let’s compare short-form and long-form content and explore which you should be using for which types of goals.
Short Form vs. Long Form Content: The Basics
Short-form content is generally 200 words long at the most, although some marketers draw the line at 1000 words. It is meant to deliver bite-sized information and be easily digestible. Think of it as social media updates, short newsletters, brief videos, and infographics. Alternatively, consider it your shorter, 800-word blog post.
Short-form content should be centred around a single idea. You don’t need extensive research to create it, and you can produce it rather quickly.
Long-form content, on the other hand, is at least 1000 words long. In fact, it should probably be well over 2000 words long if you truly want to cover a topic in-depth. It requires more research and understanding. Typically, it’s more expensive to produce, but it’s also an inevitable part of your content marketing strategy.
Pillar posts, how-to guides, and roundup posts are all a type of long-form content. Longer videos also fall into this category. Ebooks and webinars are also a form of long-form content.
In order to achieve the best results, you need to combine both of these content formats. They serve different purposes and need to complement each other strategically and logically.
Short-Form: When the Answer Is Straightforward
Long-form content tends to rank better. As search engines favour more comprehensive, detailed, useful blog posts, writing short-form content seems to make little sense.
However, not every topic will require a comprehensive article. There is, in fact, a tipping point to everything you write, where cohesion and sense give way to keyword stuffing and fluffy, empty content.
The goal for any piece of content should be to rank well and match the intent of the searcher. If someone is just looking to get an answer to a simple question, you don’t need to give them the ultimate guide to the subject.
The more words you write that have nothing to do with the topic at hand, the less likely your post is to perform well.
Take this post on refrigerators for example. It’s less than 800 words long, but making it any longer would make zero sense. The post answers the question at hand, provides plenty of additional information, and wraps up at just the right time.
Another 2000 words could easily have been added: how to move a fridge, how do fridges work, what the best fridges are. But since none of that actually matches search intent, chances are the post would not have nearly as much time on page as the shorter version does.
Short-Form: To Head Your Long-Form Content
You can also combine your short-form and your long-form content. In fact, inserting a short summary-type element into your long-form content (a TLDR, essentially) is a great way to boost the value of your longer pieces.
The issue with long content is that it’s sometimes too long. Unless it’s broken up intelligently and the headings make sense, chances are readers will get bored at some point. They are also not likely to be interested in every single element of a 4000-word piece.
Take a look at this guide on medical alert systems. The post is very long, but it is prefaced by several short-form elements: There are product ratings at the very top, followed by a short summary of each product below.
The reader can easily skip to reading only the parts they actually want to learn more about. That way, they can benefit from all the positive aspects of short-form content, too: less time-consuming, easy on the attention span, direct, and informational.
Short-Form: When Your Audience Demands It
Finally, short-form content should always be used when that is what your audience demands. If they are not interested in learning more, if they want to be given top-level information only, you shouldn’t force long-form content on them.
Social media is a prime example. While there is certainly room to go long on socials, it’s best used to provide bite-sized information that will get audiences interested and point to your website, where they can learn more.
It’s also a great way to share complex information and teach. Remember that your audience is bombarded with as many as 10.000 ads per day. They simply don’t have the capacity for long-form content unless they actively seek it out.
Believe it or not, NASA provides a great example of short-form content. Their Instagram encompasses everything this content format is supposed to be: informative, easy to understand, and delivered casually.
Source: instagram.com
Their blog posts follow a similar pattern. NASA doesn’t have a conversion-oriented goal, but you can learn a lot about short-form content from the organization’s digital presence.
Long-Form: When There Is a Plethora of Information
Long-form content works well when you need to serve a large amount of information because that’s what the topic itself demands.
However, you shouldn’t obsess over word counts. The aim is to give a topic its due space. If that’s 1000 words, so be it. But if you need to explain different concepts, share different statistics and analyse complex processes, long-form content is the way to go.
You want your post to be the only resource your audience needs. If you don’t provide all the answers, they will need to look somewhere else, and that will not favor well for your bounce rates.
Look at this post on valuing online businesses. It’s just the right length: not so long that it gets boring and unreadable, but not too short to leave you wanting more information. Note how it is also cleverly interspersed with short-form content: tables and bullet points that summarize key points.
Long-Form: When the Competition Is Extensive
Another important factor to consider is who you are trying to beat when writing any piece of content. If your competition is weak, you can probably get away with a shorter piece. But if there are plenty of similar articles out there, you will need to be more detailed if you want to get those clicks.
Before you start writing, check out the top 10 rankings posts. See what their average length is, and then compose your own outline based on their work. Aim to be more detailed, better organized, and to provide more value.
This post on finding cheap flights is a great example. It targets a difficult keyword, but it’s based on comprehensive research. Also, it lists tips other similar posts have already mentioned, but it goes into additional detail and is organized in a logical way. Notice how it’s easy to skim through and provides plenty of valuable resources.
Long-Form: When You Aim to Rank Well
Finally, long-form content is the way to go when you are trying to rank for a high-value, high-demand keyword. This is where you need to bring out the big guns and write the best content on a subject.
This is usually true of all “best of” lists and “how to” posts. Many others have likely already covered them, and search engines know these types of searches demand the best possible results, as users want in-depth answers and a plethora of information.
Take this post on adjustable beds. It’s detailed and pays extra attention to detail. Not only does it analyse each product, but it also provides some more general tips and advice on choosing a bed based on the different needs of readers.
Before you choose your content format, always take into account the competition, user intent, and ranking difficulty. It should quite quickly tell you just how long a post should be.
Wrapping Up
Both short-form and long-form content need to be a part of your content marketing strategy. Ideally, you want them to intertwine and complement each other. That way, you’ll be able to engage different audience members and properly cover different topics.
