13/02/2022
PARTIAL MYTH!
The stats do tell us that longer articles of several thousand words DO rank higher in Google search. Longer articles have more social shares, more engagement and more traffic. They also have more backlinks (other sites linking to them).
• The average result on page one of Google contains 1,447 words.
• Articles between 1,000 - 2,000 words get 56% more shares on social media.
• Long reads of 3000+ words get 21% more traffic than articles around 1,000 words.
But long-form content seems like a waste of time & resources to a lot of people.
Why?
Because research, writing, and editing are long processes. If no one ever ends up reading it, all that effort is wasted.
Content length isn’t the only factor search engines are looking at. There are other factors such as your site’s overall authority, loading speed, mobile performance, keywords quantity & quality, and user behaviour.
So, simply writing a 2,000-word piece won’t mean much if you haven’t maximised your site in lots of areas that search engines care about.
And, your 2,000-word piece MUST check these 2 key boxes:
1. Comprehensive: covers the topic in detail and touches on relevant topics and sub-questions.
2. Contains keywords: mentioned repeatedly but naturally, and doesn’t read like “keyword-stuffing”
Your ultimate goal should be creating amazing content, consistently, that shows your expertise in your subject matter.
What is your take on long-form content – is it always better? Comment below!
