Brevity is the soul of Wit - William Shakespeare
The Craze of Long Content
The Craze of Long Content.
These days, marketers have focused their attention on long-form content. They are producing blogs and articles of several pages containing 2 to 3 thousand words. While it is good to have long content for the ranking perspective, how many readers have enough time to read lengthy content? Not many: online readers are busy people looking for a simple hack. This is why they like short-form content.
People Want Short and Simple Content.
If you want to keep your readers engaged and interested in your business, produce short content that gives them only the necessary information. Long-form content marketing doesn’t work well, as the goal of a business is to please the customer, not the search engine. Long-form content is good for search engines but not for readers. Long-form blog posts tend to do well on search engines and get social shares as well, but they don’t fetch as many conversions as short but targeted content. Moreover, while writing lengthy content, you may get distracted from a topic or commit mistakes, resulting in the loss of readers. But if you can provide value and keep your audience engaged from the beginning to the end, then it is a real talent; otherwise, you are simply wasting your time and energy.
Since you are expected to write for humans and not for bots, you should keep human nature in mind. As per several studies, the attention span of an online reader is short, and if you don’t hook him in a second or two, he will get away from you. You can attract a customer with a good introduction, but getting him to read your entire blog is a difficult task, especially when it is long content.
How Does Short Content Work Better?
You don’t need long-form content to fulfill your business goals. If you use short content precisely, it will get more conversion than the long content. You will need two necessary things for it—first, a catchy title, and second, a killer first line.
A Catchy Headline.
By the catchy title, I don’t mean clickbait; you cannot convert a customer by simply misleading them to click a link. If the title doesn’t fulfill its promise, then be ready for a high bounce rate. A catchy title is a representation of your content in an attractive way; it doesn’t misguide anyone but tells the benefits of reading valuable content.
A Killer First Line.
Now, when a customer arrives at your site following a link, you need to fulfill their expectation by giving what you have promised. The first line of your content needs to be arresting so that a reader would like to proceed further. You can ask a question, present a figure, or simply state an interesting fact to start your article.
Cut the Clutter.
Every word of your article should count and add value to your content. Instead of beating around the bush, get straight to the point and save your reader’s time. Cut the clutter, use simple language, and keep in mind your writing goals. You will directly connect with your audience and build trust. Give complete information, but it doesn't need to be longer. Complete information doesn’t necessarily mean an 8-page lengthy article. You just need to filter your content and provide only value to customers.
If long content is the only way to satisfy your customers, make sure your content is engaging with useful information. Quality content is really important, and this is the pain area of content creators. They put in hard work in producing a masterpiece of content, but many people just read the headings and subheadings and leave.
The Final Thought.
So the bottom line is, you don’t need to write novels to convey your message or promote your content. Short and targeted content will also do the same thing without consuming your entire day. The key is to understand the needs of your readers and give them what they are looking for. It could be simple information on the title tag or the calculation of a pay-per-click campaign. Now it's your turn; express your opinion in the comment box.
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