Although often overlooked, images are an important content element. On a basic level, humans are generally visual beings, and the use of images can — as the data above suggests — make content more attractive to readers. Images help you to enhance and clarify your messaging, make your content more memorable, and keep short attention spans interested. Importantly, images can also be repurposed into a diverse range of media types, allowing you to tailor your graphics to different platforms and audiences.
There are also significant SEO benefits, with the potential to rank in image searches, as well as the possibility of leveraging emerging technologies such as visual search. Images are not the only visuals we looked at; we also wanted to see if videos are worth investing in.
In recent years, the use of video in content has continued to grow. This is unsurprising, given that video is a hugely useful and flexible tool. Primarily, it is perfect for cross-channel distribution, allowing you to share your video across a wide range of platforms.
Indeed, video can be particularly important for converting leads, with over half of consumers using the medium to influence their purchasing decisions. In terms of SEO, using video in your posts can increase engagement too, boosting the time spent on page considerably.
If you host the videos on your own website as opposed to YouTube or Vimeo , you can also potentially attract a lot of valuable backlinks. We picked 1,, articles published on blogs that had 3 between 30, and , sessions. We also discarded the articles published later than June Then, we tried to establish the reference values for the most common characteristics of the content, specifically:.
The findings of our research revealed some interesting trends related to high-performing articles. It also offers a guide to action in the form of a checklist or how-to. Images and videos add value to the textual information you provide, too. Of course, our study presents general observations and the performance of your content depends primarily on its quality, as well as its relevance for your audience. In the meantime, we are continuously working to broaden the scope of our report for next year, and hope that the information we have presented helps your content strategy going forward.
Specifically, these were: Length i. Author Photo Alina Petrova Speaker, blogger and Content Marketing expert with more than 5 years of experience in developing content strategy. Keep aspects of the user interface simple to attract attention to your critical content.
The user experience is the aim of usability in the first place. Close with an invitation to come back more in-depth article on this same topic that they just enjoyed. Someone who is really into your subject will want to follow a skilled writer who offers in-depth, key insights. Artificial Intelligence Awakening.
It is so well-written, it has drawn comments on the first day! Without the comments added, it is 15, words in length. So, you can see that it is a false assumption to declare that no one will read that much on a page. And because it will get you more of what you want: more online visibility social shares, links, visibility in the local pack , more proof of your authority and industry expertise, and more material for altruistic community building and engagement.
Our average piece of content was around 1, words or fewer. We focused heavily on SEO, including keyword optimization. The only problem with this strategy? We were getting a lot of search traffic, but not a lot of return traffic, direct traffic, or brand searches. So we encourage you to start measuring and get data-back facts on how user engagement with your short-form and long-form content compare. Try spending 2 days and see the magic. Expertly and throughly covering one topic pays off.
Today that number is 1 in 8. One way to obtain long-form content on your blog that readers want is to add fresh, unique and relevant content to an old post. It may be best to write something new. Refresh, rewrite and republish. Consider taking the time that you have dedicated to writing multiple blog posts and try investing it all in one best-in-the-world post. Businesses who invest more in their web content see the greatest returns. Add reviews to pages that fit to assure your readers of your project quality.
After 11 years of blogging, I can vouch for longer-form content, smart SEO, and consistency as the keys to success. These key findings definitely support that.
Inspired content takes time. Choose your long-form piece of content with your business goals in mind. Make sure you have a reason and a benefit it offers. Now that you see why and how to create long-form content, get it done!
Most of the time it is best to have someone edit it and be another set of eyes rather than wait till you rethink it. It may never be finished. Spending too much time deciding what to write often creates a frozen state, and then nothing gets completed and goes live.
Unless you do expand your reach with PPC, you probably will have to wait for results to propagate. Consider it like planting a field. Proper rain, sunshine, and time will produce a harvest. Now that you have a new page with content of sufficient length to comprehensively cover a topic, make sure it is available in a content format that reaches mobile viewers and is marked-up with structured data.
This is a key aspect of SEO in and beyond as it helps search engines know what your content is about. Incorporate long-tail keyword variations and search phrases that are related or synonymous to your head keyword. Long-tail keywords often emerge as the real diamonds that boost your business strategy and yield conversions for a very focused search intent from your target audience.
By creating an immersive experience for your site visitors, you take the moment to establish credibility and appeal to their sense of adventure in the purchase.
What a page can accomplish is to illustrate — in a fascinating read — just how your happy customers live their lives. Even a non-enthusiast can enjoy a compelling argument put forth in top form.
Think of your more in-depth content as feature content versus a short in-the-news announcement or story. Start with a concise and compelling summary so that when someone lands on your long-form content page, they can quickly assess your main speaking points.
When you craft your upcoming blog posts, avoid the temptation to produce as much content as possible, rather, it should be to create powerful content that provides Internet users with better solutions and clear options. Highly searched for, quality content requires a lot of effort. Businesses must choose between either paying a respectable wage for skilled outside content creators or support their internal writers by freeing up the TIME that is needed. Well researched, sourced, formated and optimized, in-depth, accurate user-focused content is worth the effort once the ROI is tracked over time.
A study by shows that longer content gets shared more often, which means earning more backlinks. According to data gathered by BuzzSumo, the longer the content, the more the likihood exists of it obtaining or more shares. How much more? They simply go with less-time-and-effort content. Less competition! To play and win in organic search result pages, your business can make real money online and get in Google News with the right content that matches search intent.
If you cover the topic better than others, implement a good topic cluster, and have an internal linking strategy, your content will hold more value for users and you. When proper SERP analysis is done before the content writing begins, the length is not the issue; adequate coverage is. An effective page, whether the word count is words or 7, words, needs simple CTAs, phone numbers, and live chat on-site to help the reader take action. Stay flexible. The natural state of the web is one that is in continual fluctuation.
Content consumption in mobile search results is rapidly increasing and sites must adjust to different types of content. That means that how your marketing and advertising dollars are spent is best if monetized too. To really inherit the benefits of long-form web content, you must ensure that your article is found and consumed by those you meant it for.
After you conduct a consumer behavior analysis , next combine your organic and paid search advertising for maximum effectiveness. Stay focussed. When you begin the process of making remarkable lengthy content, grant yourself sufficient brainstorming time so that every word offers value. That is what true SEO is — getting valuable content found and consumed. Dedicate time to write out as many content ideas as come to mind; jot them down any time of day that you gain inspiration.
The more semantically enriched content choices and related ideas that you have, the better because you can go with the best ones. Find key examples. To find comprehensive, article-length literature, just conduct a Google Search. Note their format and flow of conversation. Foundational SEO includes beneficial long-form content can serve visitors and your business growth. If this is new to you, while you may feel like your first endeavor is similar to writing a few small books for your site, give it a chance.
One of the biggest benefits your business may gain is brand awareness and lead authority. After investing your time in creating detailed articles, not promoting this new higher word-count content piece may ruin your efforts.
Your email address will not be published. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Close Menu Marketing. Healthcare Marketing. Auditing Tracking Pixels. Schema Markup Audits. E-Commerce Cart Audit. Benefits of Semantic Search. Creating an Effective Business Plan.
And in mounting his defence, he unexpectedly calls on the novelist Umberto Eco as his star witness. In a Spiegel Online interview , Eco said this:. Wherever you look in cultural history, you will find lists What does culture want? To make infinity comprehensible. It also wants to create order — not always, but often. So how long should your online article be? Jon Bernstein is an independent digital media consultant and writer, formerly deputy editor, then digital director of New Statesman and multimedia editor at Channel 4 News.
To get weekly news analysis, job alerts and event notifications direct to your inbox, sign up free for Media and Tech Network membership. TLDR: so just how short should your online article be? With so many sources of information vying for our attention across desktop, mobile, tablet and now watches, how long is too long?
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