Thursday, February 18, 2021

Content Writing : Long or Short Form?

Digital Content Marketing Media

We are discussing here pros and cons of forms of digital publications both for readers and the search engines. This write up aims to heighten response of contents meant for digital marketing.  

Contents are the most desired and effective means of social media participation. They should convey the right information or message to the readers who find them on the web.  Basically short or long form of write ups are created on blogs, article sites and visual contenting sites. Other frequently used media are the press release sites and online publications like magazines and news letters.  Company and private ownership portals also publish solicited contents but quite infrequently. Those in to outreach should keep looking for such opportunities and contact the publishers timely.  

Publishing Medium Styles & Formats

The main target of articles, blogs or a visual contents are the audience tuned and hitched to one topic. This is the first nature of content creation it should be well focused and topic oriented. This applies mostly to blogs which are topic oriented. In case of articles and visual contents they can be published pertaining to diverse topics on publishing sites. The eventual aim to find and oblige readers with informative contents. Reader would love to arrive at extra information that would enhance their knowledge and this is the purpose of internal linking as well. Website content writers should keep this aspect in mind.  Remember you will be publishing on diverse platforms on Social Media and hence versatility as writer counts. Keep in mind the styles preferred before you solicit. 

Seo Purpose

Contents with links are used for SEO purpose or search engine marketing. The linked one are also  good source of referral provided the write up generates viral traffic. Remember links are not only for SEO purpose they can also extend information is the object page is relevant and trustworthy. 

For SEO purpose the all contents should be indexed and ranked high for them to generate high traffic and benefit from user response. This can happen if the post satisfies algorithm metrics and thus is able to rank high on many search terms. 

Another SEO purpose a  well written article can fulfil is natural linking which is highly valued for ranking. Contents which contain intense and relevant information, are interesting reads and find visitors who would like to link it to their site for frequent reference. Thus write up which are naturally linked or pass through editorial scrutiny are favored by search engines.  

Pros and Cons

Though we assume the above attributes are most likely to be found in long form content this is fallacious. Apt up to the point condensed or short form content can equally solve the purpose. Hence those advising web masters to write long form content all the time are not being honest. Quality outweighs quantity. 

Long form content though appealing to the web masters because of prevailing propaganda are not without pitfalls. Let me state the negative aspects first. There are many traps that could hinder content performance if not carefully avoided. Read on....     

Readers have short attention span in the cyber space and are likely to skip long form articles and blog. This can happen less in case of visual contents since the images and videos can keep the reader hooked. In case of former the write up may generate a high bounce rate thus spoiling the chances of reaching the top of the SERPs. 

Long form contents if properly written are more likely to be found quickly by search engines. They are more likely to be linked and generate high traffic. They are ideal for online reputation building.  

Add Attributes

In case of write ups with visuals, the long form with images, info-graphics and videos may keep the readers hooked but the sheer length can be discouraging.  Adding attributes makes an interesting read. Always  add relevant attributes that enhance information or clarify the subject. Hence videos pertaining to basics and advance knowledge/technology are most liked.       

Pit Falls

Writing at great length could lead to repeat information, could dilute equity and the verbosity could make the visitor lose interest, and hence lead to high bounce rate which is considered as negative metric by search engine algorithms. 

If you read guidelines of publishing sites with high editorial scrutiny you will find this mentioned. Please do not repeat information. This means avoid repeating sentences and paragraphs even if they are in disguised form usually with help of synonyms. Even sentences with differing structure but with similar meaning should be avoided. 

So whence you decide to write long form please weigh the consequence of an unprofessional job as mentioned above. Write only if you have lot of information to convey and then too do not extend characters just to please the search engines. Naturally written long form is the key. Sit down to write what you wish to describe and do not count characters. Do this only if the publication sites ask for - no less than one thousand words☺☑   

Thus if you wish to oblige the publication site, do not repeat, rather add more information obtained through extensive research online or offline. It is often better to create content on topics in which you have sufficient grasp else do extensive research. Seo content writers may be required to write on diverse topics and research is the best option to create articles and blog.  Do not plagiarize!! Read materials and get familiar with the topic and leave the rest to your style of writing and command over it. 

Proper Formatting 

With long form formatting is imperative. Readers should know what they are going to read next. Sub heading tags tags and paragraphs become important for the long content. Careful structuring does not mean formatting alone the write up should be hierarchical. What comes next? Think before you publish rearrange paragraphs before final publication becomes irrevocable.    

Some reader may like to skip section clear headings will help them reach the relevant section.  

Final Draft

Before publishing please keep the above factors mentioned in this blog article. Let the write up be natural, if it extends to become long form well and good. Generally a long form content would touch 2000 and more words.  Think before you create content.

Contact Me For Seo and Content for Digital Marketing! 

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Uday provides search engine optimization service for digital marketing. He provides website contents and content for authoritative links. 

He also teaches digital marketing in his home town Jabalpur. He can be contacted at: 

pateluday90@hotmail.com

09755089323          

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