4 Website Boosting Benefits of Long Form Content

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4 Website Boosting Benefits of Long Form Content

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Do you want to know how writing long content can massively improve your website SEO? Do you want hundreds of thousands of readers to continuously return to your website and have all of your posts shared in of the social media outlets? Do you want to be ranked high on Google, so you can be the best source for information?

Produce long, comprehensive, massively informative content that will have readers stuck to your website longer than any other website.

Does this really work?

Yes, it does, and it’s one thing most company websites seem to neglect.

You should be aiming for more than 1,800 words a post and more than 7 minutes to read.

I know that is huge. It may take someone 2 or 3 hours to write an article that long, still packed with information.

But, don’t worry. I’ll tell you WHY this tip is so helpful in SEO, boosting website traffic, and gaining the loyalty of readers.

I’ll also show you the formula that you should follow so you aren’t writing aimlessly with no structure.

So let’s begin.

4 Website Boosting Benefits of Long Form Content

Studies have shown that there is a huge correlation between longer content and higher Google rankings. Long posts are king.

The first result on a Google search typically has 2,416 words and the 10th result has 2,032 words. Obviously showing that Google prefers content-rich sites.

We aren’t saying that a long post automatically equals a high google ranking, of course, you need useful information that people like, but it certainly gives you a leg-up on your competitors. Here are 3 ways that longer posts can help with your ranking.

More Information

Having longer posts, of course, means you have more information. And, when you have more information, you are providing more value.

When you search for anything on Google what usually happens? You click on the first five or ten results on that appear and now you have five or ten tabs open.

What you should be aiming for is to have your posts long and with enough useful information that the reader doesn’t need any other tab open. You should always want to the hub of information, especially in your specific niche or topic that is being searched.

Do you also notice when you search for something, you always end up on the same sites? Many of which also have long content that may even go into the smallest details, have backed-up data, resources, and credentials?

This is because those sites have mastered long content. They are perceived as authorities on the subjects and thus have the respect from Google to become ranked higher. When a topic is being searched, Google ranks them because they are continuously providing the most value.

Also, let’s keep in mind that longer content allows posts to have more backlinks, which is a surefire tactic for SEO optimization in and of itself. This adds to your site having more value because now users don’t have to click on ten different results because your post has all the information needed on the subject and can clearly explain everything by also connecting to other sites and posts.

Google knows users don’t want to search for smalls bits of information. They want everything in one place.

As Brian Dean said, “They’ll always be space for the “Top 7 Ways to…”-type posts. But insanely long list posts will forever standout based on the volume factor. There’s something inherently more shareabe (linkable) about a list of 100 items than a list of 10.” 

So, it would be your company’s best interest to have research-backed information and to provide readers with as much informative content as possible. The more information you provide the better it will be for your website. This is because the value will be shared by your readers to others. Which leads us to…

More Social Shares

This is a huge advantage for longer posts, especially in this day and age of technology. Articles, blogs, and other types of information can be shared instantly in one click. In one click, your article can reach a brand new audience of people that’ll take in the value and can also potentially share the article as well.

Neil Patel of Quicksprout did a study that concluded with longer posts have 68.1% more engagement on Twitter and 22.6% more on Facebook compared to shorter posts.

 

Social shares are huge for SEO because Google will reward sites and posts that have a lot of views and exposure. The more people go to your site and posts, the more Google will make sure that people will continue to do so. This is a case of the rich gets richer, so become rich with valuable content.

Using social media outlets like Twitter, Facebook, and the likes allows users to share with anyone, and it’s up to you to highlight the shareability. I suggest that you use a number of Call-to-Actions to entice your readers to share your information. Be sure to add the following:

Click-to-Tweet functionality

Twitter is used as a massive news source nowadays. Many people, especially young people, roll over in bed when they wake up and instantly go to Twitter to see the biggest headlines. Think about if any one of your readers decides to share your article. It automatically reaches a brand new audience that you can potentially influence to visit your site and backlinks.

Highlight to Share

This is another amazingly useful tool that you can use to influence readers and show that you have useful information. Readers can highlight certain parts of your article and share it with their readers in their respective posts. Not only does this, again, reach new audience members but only shows the best of your article from the opinion of one of your readers, which automatically gives you social proof due to having respected readers. This makes you more attractive to new members and will lead more people to your site, and thus increasing your ranking on Google.

Use Loads of Infographics and Charts

Show your legitimacy by having copious amounts of information that is backed up and supported by infographics and charts. This makes the information that you’re teaching way more understandable and gives you more credibility. People love visual information so having an article that has all kinds of graphs, charts, and infographics will allow readers to learn more about you’re teaching. Thus, increasing loyalty, legitimacy, and the chances of sharing with other people.

Higher Ranking On Google’s RankBrain

Other than backlinks, and social shares, there are different ways to understand and use Google’s preference to reward long-form content with higher rankings.

Google’s RankBrain algorithm – a machine learning algorithm tool can sort out the best search results and better understand search queries.

RankBrain is Google’s third most important ranking factor and has a huge impact on searches and rankings. It uses a number of factors that can determine the rankings. Rankbrain focuses on user satisfaction and considers the following:

Dwell Time

Dwell time is simply the measure of how much time users spend on your site.

It’s a massively significant metric because it tells Google that your website is valuable and is worth checking out and spending time on – which really means its what readers need.

A short dwell time means that it isn’t useful and doesn’t bring any value to readers. So, Google will adjust accordingly.

And, of course, long dwell times correlates with LONG CONTENT.

If your post is useful and long, then readers will read and stay on your page, meaning you have massive dwell time.

Studies have shown that long content should take no less than 7 minutes to read, so keep this in mind when you write your next article.

Organic Click-Through Rate (CTR)

CTR is the measurement of the number of clicks a page gets in relation to how many impressions it receives (how many times it is seen in a search on SERP).

This is to see whether a page really appeals to users.

CTR is defined in large by relevance to what users are looking for but also is strongly influenced by the effective meta-titles and meta-descriptions.

This is when good copywriting comes in. Having a good, creative copywriter who can write enticing titles and descriptions can increase the chances of having your site being clicked on because it’ll be relevant to the user.

How?

Writing long-form content can be a daunting task. For many, it would take hours of research coupled with hours of writing, editing, putting in graphs, etc. It would be in your best interest to be meticulous with your research and to be organized with your information. Here is a simple section-by-section template you can use to organize your information to write long-form content.

Intro

Here is where you explain the idea or topic of the article. First, you must hook them in with a compelling headline and keep them with an enticing subheadline. Explain why this topic is important and how it can benefit their business. You can mention your own experience with this idea and supplement it with any backed-up research.

Who, What, Where, When, How

This is the overall body of your content. Here is where you answer all of these questions above. You must go into comprehensive detail and thoroughly explain the content the best you can. As you can see in this article, I have answered all these questions: What is the topic, who does it benefit, when can you use it, and now I’m explaining how to go about using this idea.

Details and Quotes

This is where your legitimacy and your research comes into play. It would be helpful for yourself and your users to see your information and ideas being supported by others. Going further into details and using backlinks does wonders for helping you have credibility and teaching your readers more than they thought.

Final Bits

This is where you bring all the information together and make your readers see the big picture. Reiterate the benefits and features of your idea. Make them see that this is a useful idea and is worth trying out.

Call-to-Action

End the article with a suggestion to do something. Whether it be to contact your company, learn more, buy something, it is always smart to convince your readers to do take on an action.

Conclusion

It’ll be massively beneficial if your site was the authority and the hub of information on a specific topic or niche. By creating long-form content you showcase your company’s legitimacy by showcasing the knowledge and value you can give. Not only does this prove valuable to your current users but it can influence them to share it with their friends and fellow employees on social media, who may not already be in your audience funnel, and thus increasing your popularity and social proof. People will visit your website more, refer to you more, and you’ll become synonymous with good, useful information. And because your content is long, people will stay on your website longer reading it and thus creating a higher ranking for you, via Google’s RankBrain. As you see, long, useful, valuable information can do wonders for your website.

If you need more information SEO, copywriting, content marketing, or any facet of digital marketing, contact us at ClickDo for a free consultation and see how we can grow your business to reach a new level of success.  

Author Profile

Francis Nayan
I'm an expert in copywriting, content marketing, and SEO. I help businesses rank higher in Google searches to help turn website traffic into conversions. Reach out to me to find out how to be ranked 1# in your city's Google search.
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