Short-form blog posts vs. long-form blog posts
With hundreds of new blogs launched on a daily basis and thousands of posts published every single day, it became increasingly hard to create value and to capture the readers' attention.
And creating value-packed long-form articles and blog posts is even harder. Still, this is what I am trying to do, because in my opinion blogging is NOT about creating 300-word articles that are barely scratching the surface on hackneyed sub-topics ...
And according to Curata long-form blog posts generate 9 times more leads than short-form blog posts.
Recently I've launched a new blog with free A-to-Z marketing tutorials. I'm talking about chapterized, LONG and content heavy tutorials ... For example my Wordpress tutorial has 20 chapters, and each chapter is a stand-alone post (article) containing between 3,000 - 5,000 words.
I am firmly convinced that creating long-form blog posts is good and viable strategy, but I would really appreaciate hearing your thoughts on this issue.
So, what do you think? A really long article with a clearly emphasized 60-120 minute estimated reading time can be a discouraging, deterrent factor?
Recent Comments
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Although I enjoy reading long tutorials and training my opinion is that most don't. Having said that, the goal is ranking not that everyone reads every word and in that space from what I have read and experienced longer posts do better and create more authority.
Zed, I am going back and reading all of your posts here and just joined your mailing list. I love your detail and cohesive presentation. It is exactly what I am after.
Damo
It all depends if the content is interesting and captivating enough. If it is way too long, I think I would not bother to continue reading as I'm not a reader myself. Cheers, Bel
Aloha my friend.
IMHO 60min and over is a long time for someone (i'm taking me for example) to invest in a subject nowadays. The only way I would do that is if I am 100% sure that the content will benefit me BIG time. So I would go on and invest this amount of time if:
a) I had already read shorter articles of the blogger and felt/saw the value provided
b) There was a very accurate summary laying out the benefits I would get out of it
Hope this helps.
Cheers
I've read that short articles are more in keeping with today's frenzied lifestyle. But I don't buy into it.
IMHO, if something is well-written and provides valuable information people will read it. If someone's too distracted to pay attention to something for 10-20 minutes then they are not the people I want to reach anyway.
I applaud your efforts and can't wait to read them!
I think if the article is covering information the reader wants/needs, and it’s rich with usable content, the reader will stay with you to the end. I read a couple of your tutorials yesterday. The layout makes it easy to move through, so it doesn’t feel overwhelming. (It was also quite helpful!). You’ve inspired me to write longer material...who can argue with 9 times more leads?
You can get a lot of good content into a meaningful short post. This will always be an issue though as it is recognized you are putting in a lot more work in a long post.
Length of a blog is one thing -- it's also what captures the readers' imagination and interest that will keep them engaged to continue reading -- so the quality of the writing is vital as well as the subject matter or niche in this case... enjoy ! ... all the best for every success, cheerio... :)
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Hi Z,
Hope you are doing well. Obviously, I am no expert on this. I don't even know the difference between a post and a blog. I think we agree on one major part of your question and that is that the little "I am just in it for the money" 1 paragraph site just don't cut it. I feel that if it is not worth putting enough valuable information into to be a help to the reader, it is not worth doing at all. I find the little blogs or posts or whatever they are to be the real deterrent. I have just the opposite problem... I write too much. Everyone says so, therefore, I am wrong. I feel that to make the facts and my opinions clear, giving the readers enough info to make their own decision as to whether or not it is of value, is the very reason I write. I want to help people. Now I can take my monstrously long posts and break them up into much smaller pieces but then I feel I lose the flow of the subject and the attention of the readers. I guess it is a dilemma I must live with until I understand this process mo' betta'.
Also, how does one choose a blog or post? What is the difference?
Finally, why does the text tool like this one grind to a near halt on the support site as I write more? Is that a built-in don't-write-us-so-much design feature?
Now I must go dig deep into this wonderful list of how-to's you have worked so hard on.
Take Care Friend,
David
aka Hygrade
Hi David,
It's extremely simple: a blog is nothing else but a website which contains a constantly growing collection of posts (articles).
Yes, it's a very common "limitation" ... Usually any web form (text input field) has a defined max limit of accepted characters. So yes, it's a built-in don't-write-us-so-much feature :)
So given my inability to say anything in just a few words, which way should I go?
It's also simple David ... Just be yourself and stop worrying about these "details" ... I have 13,000 word long articles on my blog ... While you are providing value the'll pay attention ...