By Amine Rahal, entrepreneur & author. Amine is the CEO of IronMonk, a digital advertising and marketing company specializing in Search engine optimisation & CMO at Regal Belongings, an IRA firm.
There was a time within the Search engine optimisation business when “extra is healthier” at all times rang true. This is not essentially the case anymore. Today, “longer is healthier” is extra correct.
Earlier than Google Search’s Penguin update in April 2012, weblog web sites would pump out article after article loaded with key phrases and rank with ease. Since then, quick and over-optimized articles have largely fallen out of favor with Google’s PageRank algorithm. As an alternative, it privileges lengthy and meticulously researched items of authentic content material.
As a multi-decade Search engine optimisation entrepreneur, I’ve helped my purchasers develop their on-line presence with content material advertising and marketing and, lately, long-form content material specifically. On this article, I am going to clarify why I feel long-form content material needs to be a vital ingredient of your Search engine optimisation technique, too.
What Qualifies As Lengthy-Type Content material?
I think about “lengthy” content material to be written content material in extra of two,000 phrases. Granted, this determine will range relying on the subject material and area of interest. It could require extra phrases to elucidate monetary derivatives buying and selling strategies than, say, itemizing the best-selling cat meals manufacturers.
Lengthy-form content material can consult with infographics, podcasts, movies and all types of multimedia that goes past the usual size. Once I consult with long-form content material on this article, nevertheless, I am particularly referring to written weblog posts and pages.
For me, “long-form content material” is shorthand for any content material that generates vital informational worth for the viewer and requires devoted and sustained consideration.
Advantages Of Lengthy-Type Content material
The advantages of this content material sort are manifold for an Search engine optimisation marketing campaign. Google’s PageRank algorithm prioritizes pages by their “web page authority” (or “area authority”), which refers back to the rating power of a web site based mostly on the perceived reliability of its content material.
Lengthy, well-researched content material is among the best and cost-effective methods to construct authority to your web site. With it, you may set up your model as a thought chief and a supply of dependable info inside your business or area of interest. In complete, long-form content material provides the next key advantages to site owners:
• Improves area/web page authority scores (i.e., “DR” on Ahrefs or “PA” on Moz)
• Improves virality of content material, growing the probability of P2P sharing
• Generates extra natural visitors
• Generates high-value hyperlinks and earned media citations
• Improves consciousness of the model
• Establishes general credibility and repute of the model
Lengthy-Type Content material For Producing Backlinks
As all digital entrepreneurs know, backlinks are half of any Search engine optimisation technique. That is the promise of long-form content material.
In response to one study, long-form content material generates 56% extra social shares and 77% extra hyperlinks than shorter media. In different phrases, longer articles are perfect for buying these all-important backlinks.
There’s not far more to it than this. When you put collectively longer, extra effortful articles, your work will, on common, be handsomely rewarded with Search engine optimisation-boosting hyperlinks. In flip, these hyperlinks will enhance your rating efficiency, enhance visitors and make your web site extra worthwhile.
Ideas For Constructing Aggressive Lengthy-Type Content material
To assist get you began on the precise foot, I’ve listed just a few of my high ideas for constructing long-form content material that has the most effective probabilities of rating:
• Share your content material extensively on social media, message boards and neighborhood hubs (e.g., Fb teams, Discord servers, Reddit threads)
• Cite peer-reviewed analysis articles to substantiate your factors utilizing Google Scholar
• Embrace not less than one statistical quotation (i.e., citing a numerical determine) for each two paragraphs
• Embrace visible components corresponding to graphs, tables and charts wherever potential, and not less than as soon as per article
• Fluctuate the size of your long-form content material (i.e., one article at 1,750 phrases, and the following at 2,500)
• All the time embrace a desk of contents
• Get rid of the fluff; as an alternative of padding your phrase rely with lengthy descriptions, preserve the content material data-driven and to the purpose
Placing It Into Apply
Low cost content material is a dime a dozen as of late. To face out on the planet of content material advertising and marketing, that you must go the additional mile to publish top-notch content material that gives extra worth than what your rivals are publishing. To this finish, there are not any shortcuts or “hacks” — you merely have to put within the work to draft well-cited, well-researched writing that gives actual options to your readers.
When you’re always delivering quick, one-page weblog articles full of key phrases, think about dropping that technique. As an alternative, prioritize long-form content material that requires a higher quantity of effort, analysis and data to provide. I wager you’ll see a marked enchancment in your rating efficiency.