Short-Form vs. Long-Form Content (Which One Do I Use and When?)

We all know, what is the importance of high-quality content. It is the lifeblood of every digital and content marketer. But there are lots of misconceptions in the world of content marketing.

While working as a content writer, you must get advice from your content marketer or strategist that the blogs or article you are going to write a minimum of 2000 words or above OR sometimes you have to write an article lesser than 1000 words.

There are some content marketers and digital marketer experts who only focus on long term content and according to them every piece of content is around 2000-2500 words.

The fact is that it is not true; both short and long-term content has its own importance and both are very relevant tool of digital marketing.

For instance, if you write about celebrity or entertainment news, it could be lesser than 1000 and health blogs and travelling articles could be more than 2000.

You just need to go for fresh, unique and high-quality content.

You can’t say how lengthy should be your article or blog. Neither there is any setting in writing software tools that you have to write a minimum of 1000 or 2000 words.

You just need to produce top-quality & plagiarism -free content that helps to achieve your goal and fulfil the customer’s demand. Here we are talking what is Short-Form vs. Long-Form Content

Short Form vs. Long Form Content

To date, you probably have been through a variety of content niches which include Bio, health, gossip, news, entertainment, real estate, fashion, product description, product reviews and so on.

Here we are going to talk about the Short-Form and Long-Form Content.

Content length and density
Content length and density
Image Credit- Buzzsumo

What is Short Form Content?

Short-form content is defined as articles or blogs which is around or lesser than 1000 words.

Short-format content doesn’t take much time of readers. Here are some examples of short-form content

  • Short Videos
  • Infographics
  • Blog posts
  • Ebooks
  • Event reminders
  • Social Content
  • Emails
  • Ad Copy
  • Photo Descriptions

This type of content is digestible for audiences. It is easy and quick to create. Furthermore, you don’t need your all team’s efforts to create it. It is inexpensive too.

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What is Long Format Content?

Long Format Content is anything which is more than 1000 words. This type of content is highly researched and it covers all the facts of the particular niche step-by-step.

  • Evergreen Pages
  • Webinars
  • EBooks
  • Guest Posts
  • Listicles
  • Whitepapers
  • Blogposts
  • How-to-guide

It is not quick and easy to create. To produce long content, researchers and writers have to dive in the research work and plan a content strategy to produce better quality content.

Benefits and Advantages of Long-Form Content

As per the sources, Ebooks, Listicles, Long Blog Posts, and Whitepapers acquire a significant position in content marketing in past some years. Here we describe its benefits and advantages of Long Form Content

  • Higher Ranking in Search Results
  • High number of keywords
  • Increase time on Site
  • Less chance of Bounce rate
  • Longer Contents Boost SEO
  • Gives a perfect shape to your brand
  • More Social Shares

Sometimes Long Form Content ineffective too.

  • You  need a large part of the investment
  • You have to move through top content strategy
  • Difficulty displaying in smart phones
  • Creates the problem of page performance

Pros and Cons of Short-form Content

Pros

  • It is quick and easy to create
  • Quick consumption
  • Some people like to read shorter posts
  • Mobile Friendliness

Cons

  • It is not fruitful can increase bounce rate.
  • It is harder to cover all topic
  • Sometimes short format content does not attract your audiences
  • Poor Website Performance

Read this: Digital Marketer Salaries: how much they make in 2022-23

Selecting Short Form vs. Long Form Content:

Content strategists should create both long and short-term content according to the needs and demands of their customers.

By taking proper research, involving in SEO writing strategy you should know

  • What are your customers searching for?
  • How many are searching for?
  • In what format do they want the information from you?

Your Goals and Strategy

You must know what are your goals and objectives and set content strategy according to your future goals.

Efficient marketers always select their goals and strategy before creating any content; doesn’t matter it is short form or long-form content.

For instance, if you are going to launch a Men’s Fairness cream product, then you can involve in short-form content which includes short videos, infographics, ad copy, emails and photo descriptions.

On the other hand, if you want to rank your page on Search Engine Result Page, then you must figure out the long form of content strategy.

Here are some prospects which may affect your choice of short-term and long-term content

  • Your resources
  • Your target audiences
  • How much you are going to invest?
  • How good your products and services is?
  • Your customer’s needs and demand
  • The interest of your customers

 Rules of Content Creation

Content creation is an art. It is not like you open you’re PC or laptop and write, write and write. It requires proper strategic plans. You need to write resourceful content that can retain and engage your audience. Here are some points which can be fruitful and effective for you.

  • What is your strategy to strike in the market through your content creation?
  • Be creative; content writing is all about creativity, strong research skills, focused on your work and the ability to meet deadlines drives you to the success
  • Use the correct tools which include HubSpot, Google, Slack, Tello, Google Analytics and Content Tools
  • There is always be error after finishing the content, and, always have something to improve; therefore evaluate and analyze before posting your content.

Last but not Least…

Does the Length of the Content really matter?

It is often asked a question to SEO experts and content strategists, which content is better long or short OR we must write long-form content?

The reply is, that longer content always plays a vital role and boosts your SEO and promotes your product efficiently. However, it does not mean you should write pathetic content, but you should write efficiently so customer sticks to your posts.

If your content is long it gives your readers more options, boosts you’re SEO and eventually it gives you better results.

Here we are not giving more priority to the long-form content. In some case longer content is fruitful and sometimes short form content gives you a productive result. It all depends on your product goals and objectives.

Eventually, I want to say don’t focus to create longer content; you better concentrate on what format of content can meet your goals and fulfil the customer objectives.

Related: Content Marketing in 2022: definitive guide,types, strategy & tips