Long-Form Content Writing Best Practices
Long-form Content
Simply put, long-form content is content that ranges between 1,000 – 7,500 words. It gives readers a deep dive into specific, complicated subjects like industry topics, products, and brands.
Ultimately, you should create long-form content because it will get you more of what you want: more online visibility (social shares, links), more proof of your authority and industry expertise, and more material for altruistic community building and engagement.
Long-Form Content vs. Short-Form Content
Long-form content is often compared to its opposite, short-form content. Short-form content is, as it implies, shorter than the long-form version of content and tends to be under 1,000 words.
Short-form content is more common to have, as it is easier to create and takes less time and research to put together.
How do you write long-form content?
Start with a focus keyword.
This keyword or phrase acts as a cornerstone when you create marketing content of any length. Research your word and see what others have written about your topic. You want to pick terms that have a relatively large search volume, with relatively low competition from websites with high domain authority. Often, you’ll have more success using a specific phrase than one word, to hone in on the interests of your target audience. So use “dogs playing in the snow” as your keyword, rather than “dogs.”
Add a strong topic sentence.
What are you going to tell us, and how will this knowledge improve our lives? Or at least achieve someone’s search intent. Does it entertain, inform, or compel us to make a purchasing decision or other transaction? You want an engaging introduction that tells your audience how much better their lives will be after reading your digital article.
Provide evidence from other sources that supports your thesis.
This is the part where you let the readers and search engine algorithms who are looking for links to well-established sources know that you know your stuff. Link to academic studies and statistics from credible sources.
This step can be fairly straightforward if you’re doing a more academically-oriented blog post. You might even want to provide points/counterpoints to let the reader know you’ve explored different options that inform your overall conclusion. You can also sprinkle evidence throughout the article in your supporting sections if that’s a better fit for your overall marketing goals.
Wrap things up with a conclusion.
If you have more serious web pages or educational content, you might want to wrap things up with a more sophisticated analysis of the material you’ve presented. So frame your conclusion accordingly “In light of all of the material presented these our findings . . .” You could use a bullet-point list here, but it’s probably better to use your own analysis of the data.
Call to action.
Why did you write this article or white paper? Why did you make this massive slide deck? The call-to-action can often be part of the conclusion or tacked on a bit at the end.
Your call to action might just be one sentence. But if you’re creating content without giving people an actionable way to follow up on the content they’ve just received, what’s the point?
Don’t forget to include photos and/or infographics.
It can get pretty overwhelming when reading a long-form digital post that only consists of black and white print. Add some colorful visuals to your topic that can help illustrate ideas in your core sections. They can also help the reader better visualize complex ideas and make sense of a broad topic.