Aha! After thoroughly searching the webs for the article on a topic you’ve been wanting to read about, you finally find it, you quickly skim it and realize it’s more than what you bargained for. The content looks like it could belong to a page on Wikipedia. So much text with very little paragraph breaks.
You foresee the headache you’re about to get from reading this content and you think, “Nah! I’ll look for something like this somewhere else, the internet is so full of information anyway.” So you click on the “Back” button and look for similar content somewhere else.
This describes what every user thinks when they encounter long-form content that fails to catch their attention. “But I thought long-form content is supposed to get me higher rankings? Isn’t that what readers want? Informative articles?”, you might ask.
Many case studies out there will show you that long-form content performs significantly better than the standard 600-word article. We’re here to debunk that and teach you how to tweak your content so that no matter what length it is, short or long, it’ll get you the traffic it deserves.
So let’s bust the myth that long-form performs better than short form content. Here’s a little checklist:
- If you’re using a high word count as the measure for your content’s quality, you’re wrongly conducting your Content Marketing.
- If you’re explaining an idea using 3000+ words when you could easily explain it in a few paragraphs, you’re wrongly conducting your Content Marketing.
- If you’re having a long-winded discussion about a topic that doesn’t address your customer’s interests or pain points, you’re wrongly conducting your Content Marketing.
Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, let’s talk about the simple tweaks that you can do to make your content more effective.
Look at your reader profiles
This is similar to a buyer persona where you market your content based on your ideal customer. If you don’t have a clear set of reader profiles yet, ask yourself, what kind of person should be reading your content? What is their age, gender, occupation, hobby, interests, etc.? The more specific you are, the better. When you have a specific set of reader profiles, it’ll be easier to write content that your reader needs.
Make your text digestible
Avoid using jargon in your content and break your text into small paragraphs. Users have very little tolerance for bulky looking text and will exit your page if your ideas are not broken up into small digestible chunks.
Link to authority figures
When asserting an idea in your article, be sure to link to a supporting study or an authority figure. The more recent the study is or the higher the authority of the person is, the easier it will be to persuade your reader to buy the idea you are trying to sell.
Include multimedia
Including multimedia such as an image, infographic, quotable, or video is a great way to break up the text monotony. Take this opportunity to include supporting materials that are in image, video, or special text format.
Craft a killer introduction
Take the time to write an introduction that catches your reader’s attention. It can be a short anecdote, a relevant quote, or a bold statement with supporting points. This may require a few revisions but it’s worth it. When you have a good introduction, your reader will be more drawn to read and hear what you have to say.
Invest in split testing
Once you are done creating your content, have your company’s key people as well as your team review it. They might just be able to provide you with valuable insight or correct mistakes that you overlooked. Use this feedback to tweak your content for the better.
Content is the reason why search began in the first place and it still holds true today. Content marketing, if done the right way, can bring you traffic that could potentially become your leads/customers. Take internet marketing norms you read on the internet with a grain of salt and only use ones that truly apply and will benefit your business. Users will be more drawn to you when you listen and create content that meets their needs.
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