We often talk about how quality and quantity are equally important when it comes to content on your website. Generally, we also say that there is no “right” word count for your content as long as you are regularly adding new content to your site.
For the most part, this is true. Shorter posts and pages are still valuable. But long-form content – written content that is between 1,000 and 10,000 words – does offer some benefits for your site’s SEO that makes it worth investing the time and effort – or cost of a content writer – from time to time.
Benefits of Long-Form Content
Long-form content comes in a variety of formats. Many companies will publish pages and blog posts that are over 1,000 words long. You can also write single pieces of long-form content like a report or a guide on something where you have insight.
Whatever the format, quality long-form content on your website offers:
- Ease for Search Engines to Crawl – Search engines like Google have an easier time processing written content than they do graphics or videos. A piece of long form content gives search engines plenty to look at to get a good idea of what your site offers.
- More Opportunities for Keywords – Several thousand words gives you plenty of space to target different keywords, increasing your chances of ranking on a variety of searches with a single piece of content.
- Longer Site Visits – Google gives priority to sites where visitors spend more time. If you have a long and engaging post on your website, visitors will naturally spend more time reading through more of your content.
- Establishment of Your Expertise – Long content must go in-depth on your subject. This can be helpful in showing your customers that you know what you are talking about, and gaining their trust before they make a purchase or use your services.
- Better Chance for Backlinks – Providing expertise in an important topic creates a work that people will want to reference. People are more likely to link to your article as a definitive resource, giving you those hard to get backlinks.
- Options for Evergreen Content – Evergreen content is easily updated content that gives you the boost of new content without having to write an entirely new post. If your long-form content contains sections of current information about your industry, annual updates keep your content relevant.
- A Chance to Stand Out – The average business blog post is well below 750 words, and all those posts soon start to run together. If you are writing longer, quality posts, you are bringing something new to the field. At this time, you also have little competition and a better chance of standing out.
This does not mean that all the new content you add to your website should be long-form. Long-form content requires intense effort and most business owners will not have the time to regularly create expansive writing pieces. If you are spending weeks on a single, long piece of content and not getting any other content out in the meantime, you may even do more harm to your SEO.
Long-form content is also far from the only way to share information. Videos, social media, graphics, and other formats may be a better fit for your content, and they all offer their own SEO benefits. But publishing longer content to your site on occasion is an important part of your SEO process.
For businesses looking for content that resonates with search engines and their customers, Great Leap Studios writes unique, high quality long-form content. We have worked with a variety of industries to create guides, reports, manuals, and other types of content that establish you as an expert in your industry, and improve website rankings.
Whether you already have an idea for long-form content or simply want to learn more about how it can benefit your business, get in touch with our team today.
