Short-Form vs. Long-Form Content: Which One to Choose

Content marketing is by far one of the most effective types of digital marketing, but the problem is that it’s not always easy to decide which techniques to use. Content marketing is quite broad and includes anything from social media posts to white papers.

Perhaps this is precisely the reason why marketers are still discussing the old question of content length. When are short posts enough and when do you write something longer? Here’s how you should choose between short-form and long-form content.

Short-Form Content

There are no universally agreed-upon guidelines for what short-form content really is (though some experts consider anything under 1,000 words to be short-form content), but there are still some general traits commonly attributed to short-form content. Short-form content includes short blog posts, news articles, social media content, emails, and infographics. It is easy to digest and usually covers a specific part of a topic rather than going in-depth to explain the topic in its entirety.

Short-form content takes less time to create and consume – it isn’t meant to be heavy. However, you might still want to perform research into the topic before you start writing your piece. Alternatively, you can search for a freelance writer by googling “write my paper for me” which will help you find a professional writing agency that specializes in content creation.

Long-Form Content

As the name suggests, long-form content is longer than short-form content. Long and detailed blog posts and articles, guides, tutorials, whitepapers, e-books, webinars, and others can all be considered a type of long-form content. Such content usually requires more time to create and consume. A lot of research is needed to create a long-form piece of content because you will be referencing past research, surveys, experts, and so on.

The complexity of long-form content is one of the primary reasons why so many marketers avoid creating such content in the first place. However, if you still want to create long-form content but you don’t know how to approach it, you can hire professional writers from the custom writing reviews site Supreme Dissertations and outsource some or all of your content creation and marketing.

Does It Matter?

It can be tempting to just do what’s easier and assume that your content will perform well, but the reality is that content length does matter. Depending on the type of content you are creating, the place where you are publishing, and the goals you are pursuing, you will need to adjust your content length accordingly.

For example, if you want to get more backlinks, long-form content will be a better choice for you over short-form content. Different types of content also perform better than others. List posts (e.g. where you list the best essays writing services for students) get more social shares than how-to posts (e.g. where you explain how to find the best writing service).

Depending on the goals you are pursuing, you will need to create either longer or shorter content. Organic search results don’t always depend on word count but rather on how well the content answers the query a user is searching for. This is why simply writing longer articles won’t necessarily help you get to the top spots in search results.

How to Choose?

One way to choose is by outsourcing your content creation and marketing. You can find an essay writer for hire and task them with researching the market, planning your marketing strategy, and making decisions. On the other hand, you might want to choose yourself. If this is the case, here are some things you should consider:

• Platform: First, consider the platform where you will be publishing your content. In some cases, you simply can’t publish long-form content (e.g. Instagram captions have a limit of 2,200 characters).
• Purpose: Second, consider the purpose of this specific piece of content you want to write. Do you want to get backlinks or social shares? Increase organic traffic? Simply educate your audience about a topic?
• Audience: Third, consider what your audience prefers in terms of content length. If you know that you are targeting a group of people who likes reading lengthy whitepapers, then you will likely have to create more long-form whitepapers.
• Experience: Next, consider your past experience with the content you have already published. How did it perform? Were you satisfied with the results? How could you improve your content’s performance by increasing or decreasing its length?
• Market: Then, consider what the situation on the market is currently like. What are your competitors doing? Do they create short-form or long-form content? Where do they publish it?
• Resources: Finally, consider what resources are available to you. If you don’t have enough time, content creators, or budget, you won’t be able to create high-quality long-form content.

Conclusion

All in all, both short-form and long-form content have advantages in specific situations. The best thing you can do is to understand when to use either one of the two to get the best results from your content. Use the tips in this article to help you decide when to use short-form and when to use long-form content.