Hewitt New Jersey USA
What is the great blogging debate?
What wins in the short form vs long form content contest?
Seth Godin gets away with tweets basically. Neil Patel publishes titanic guides. Some blogging buddies rank less beefy content. Other blogging buddies only rank highly-detailed blog posts.
Google loves to keep you guessing. The Big G offers clues but hides some ranking factors.
What wins?
Before I share my experience I want you to know that different strategies work for different bloggers. I experienced some success publishing a high volume of 600 word blog posts. But publishing some 1200 word long blog posts – usually 1500-2000 words – did drive greater organic traffic to Blogging From Paradise. Plus, you offered me glowing feedback based on these types of posts.
Screw Google – I mean forget Google – for a moment.
Remember those things called “human beings”?
Human beings visit my 1200 word posts (to 2000 words or longer) frequently compared to the short stack stuff I published eons ago. Or years ago.
But this is my experience.
Different strategies work for different bloggers.
Let your hooomannn readers guide you. Listen to feedback. Pay attention to metrics. Look closely at blog comments. What types of blog posts motivate readers to drop genuine comments?
Publishing the proper type of content for your:
- readers
- customers
- clients
increases both your traffic and profits.
Your community will accelerate your blogging success if you solve their specific problems with content that they want.
Gauge their preferences.
Peep their indulgences.
Serve content according to their desires.
What Is Short Form Vs Long Form Content?
I frame 1200 to 1500 words (or longer) as being long form content based on my observations.
Short form posts tend to typically be 600 to 1200 words per post.
Should you employ short form or long form content to increase your blog traffic and profits?
Let me share my experiences with each type to help you make an informed decision.
Reader Perspective
My readers somewhat enjoy my 600-1000 word blog posts. Short form content does OK for the Blogging From Paradise community. I nab a wee bit of social media shares and a low volume of comments reacting to my short form blog posts. But my readers never offer a resounding reaction in response to my 600 word blog posts.
I feel some readers love the “message” conveyed via a 600 to 1000 word post. Perhaps you need to hear a message loud and clear via a short, punchy blog post. However, building a high volume of blog traffic and steady stream of blogging profits seems difficult to achieve via short form content. From my experience, even volume publishing beneficial, targeted 600 word posts makes for a stout uphill climb in traffic and profits terms. Readers generally enjoy but do not heartily endorse short posts because endorsements grow as blog post depth expands.
Some short form bloggers achieve professional blogging success because their readers vibe with a short, punchy delivery.
Let your tribe guide you.
Readers point you in the proper direction.
Experiment with short form content to observe your reader reactions. Does your community flood your blog with comments and share your short form posts freely across social media. Do these short and punchy boosts increase your traffic and profits? Note if a 600 word post elicits a comment spike and deluge of social media shares.
Be honest. Look closely at reader feedback. Park your personal preferences at the cyber curb. This is not about being right. Nor is it about forcing your will on reader needs. Let numbers guide you. Allow readers to lead you in the proper direction.
Spot your reader’s preferences as a guide toward what type of content best serves these individuals. From there, best serving their needs creates the greatest traffic and profits increase.
Writer Perspective
Admittedly, I thoroughly enjoyed publishing one, 600 word post daily for years. Finding my writing flow plus volume publishing helpful content let me carve out my place in the blogging tips niche.
But my short form posts did not make a seismic impact consistently. The shelf life became consistent with ice cream in the tropics. My 600 word posts generated a quick traffic surge for 12-24 hours after going live. Everything died down after unless I promoted each post aggressively through distribution channels. I found this strategy to be a poor trade off. One who loves freedom from time and location cannot park their ass in front of a laptop and phone for 12 hours daily promoting short and sweet blog posts to make things happen.
I also put pressure on myself to publish one blog post daily. I despised the feeling. Blogging felt like a job. I put employment behind me about two decades ago to escape this soul-sucking emotion.
From my writer’s perspective, writing and publishing short form posts:
- seemed like an easier solution compared to publishing long form content
- did not produce stellar returns over the long haul
I did OK publishing a high volume of short form content but experienced greater success publishing long form content consistently.
Blog comments spiked for these in-depth posts. My traffic increased quite a bit during those days. Profits increased at a greater rate for long form posts versus short form offerings.
I realized this: committing to content draws committed readers to your blog.
At least for me, people hellbent on improving their blogs thirst for 1200 to 2000 word guides filled with practical tips to follow diligently. None want temporary distractions. None desire puff pieces. Committed readers want the blogging meat and potatoes. Yep; the long form content you need to set aside hours to research, write, edit then publish. Sorry. That’s how it goes. But not sorry because that’s how most bloggers become successful.
Do you want readers who glue themselves to your blog? Give these people detailed guides for:
- reading
- studying
- putting into practical action
consistently.
Give.
Get.
Currently, I only publish long form posts to Blogging From Paradise because this content increases my:
- organic traffic
- blogging income
- passive exposure
compared to short form content.
I also update old posts with relevant, new content to maintain credibility. Organically, every long form post remains long form.
You guys told me that you preferred long form content based on feedback – and metrics – so I publish it.
What Is the Chief Benefit of Publishing Long Form Content?
Publishing long form content cultivates:
- clarity
- confidence
- trust
in most bloggers. In essence, you feel good, accomplished and successful by publishing rich, long form content. Feeling good brings good results because where your attention and energy goes, grows.
I never felt abundant publishing 600 word posts. If anything, I hurried the process and naturally experienced diminished results.
I blogged to fulfill a publishing schedule. Bad idea. Readers sensed the hurry then hurried away by and large.
Lesson learned.
As I commit to publishing thorough content you readers commit to reading and sharing the content.
Reader Feedback
Readers prefer my long form content and have told me so via:
- specific feedback via blog comments
- social media messages
- increased social media shares
- increased eBook sales
- a high volume of positive blog comments
Publishing long form content:
- saved my time and energy as I worked less on the distribution side of things
- leveraged my time and energy as I increased my traffic and profits while working less
- allowed my happy readers to promote the post more for me through word of mouth marketing
- allowed the content to promote itself through the value inherent in the post
Detailed blog posts behave like assets which work for you 24-7, 365, through Google and other organic channels.
Observe Neil Patel. He publishes highly-detailed, in-depth, long form content which generates heavy organic traffic.
Neil’s posts pop up on:
- X
- authority blogs
- lesser known blogs
- various other channels
His long form content also passively generates high quality backlinks.
Ultimately, longer posts make every post work for you around the clock. Detailed content convinces readers to share it through marketing channels you may or may not even work. My blog posts pop up on sites like Reddit even though I have not visited the Q and A portal much. Long form content wins again.
Focus on Depth Not Just Word Count Numbers
Before you proceed I want to make one clear point; writing long form content solely to reach a specific word count does not accelerate your blogging success. Bloggers often write 3000 word posts not to publish an in-depth, detailed resource but to stretch out a post with:
- bloat
- excess verbiage
- blogging fat
The end result seems to be a poorly written post turning off far more readers than attracting loyal followers.
Although I adopted a more conversational approach recently you still get the straight dope. Perhaps it is not a “just the facts ma’am” deal yet I share ample practical tips backed by my personal observation.
Readers tend to appreciate an 18 year blogger sharing his personal thoughts.
Anyone who believes that I am wasting their time by sharing nearly two decades of blogging experience is either ridiculously successful or brain dead.
Why?
Sharing it all saves you decades of blogging struggle.
I am the guinea pig.
You show up, read and learn so you:
- do what works now
- do not waste time making the mistakes I made
Keep:
- value
- details
- practical tips
- benefits
- thoroughness
at the front of your mind before publishing long form content. List details. Lay out practical tips. Stress strategies. Dig deep into techniques. Traffic and profits boosting long form content drips heavily with a high number of details. Drilling down into each tip creates expansion which pleases readers and Google.
Share your personal thoughts. Expound. But stay on target to streamline blog posts.
SEO Considerations
I want to discuss SEO considerations by comparing how short form vs long form content performs on Google.
Short Form Content
My 600 – 1000 word, short form posts rarely if ever ranked on page 1 of Google for more than one day.
For 1 day, the post reached page 1 of Google, position 3, for: “how to submit a guest post”. Forbes and one other world famous brand outranked me. But the competitive nature of the keyword along with the thin nature of the post meant that it vanished from page 1 after a few hours. Ranking short or long term for any short form post proves to be rare for Blogging From Paradise content.
Scanning Google page 1 results for both competitive and low competition keywords reveals how short form content rarely sneaks onto page 1.
Google demands more.
Readers generally demand more too.
Some short form content appears on page 1 but usually associated with sky high DA, world famous sites employing armies of skilled contributors.
Yep; this is why Forbes, Entrepreneur and Business Insider rank highly for thin posts. Building a content mill with a large contributor base is one way to game the system, in essence.
It is what it is….
Long Form Content
I am not a big stats guy as veteran Blogging From Paradise readers know.
But this blog has generated steady organic traffic through many channels including Google.
All of my posts are long form these days. Some ranked on page 1 only after I updated each with timely content.
What About the Traffic and the Profits?
The main reason why I do not share specific traffic and profits results as proof or testimony is because I adopt a “take it or leave it” approach to my blogging content. Take it and use it because you trust me or leave it and do not use it because you do not trust me, or because my advice does not resonate with you. Both choices are on you and how you choose to see the world through your mind.
Since I began publishing only long form content to my blog:
- social shares increased
- eBook sales increased
- the number of Blogging From Paradise blog posts ranking on page 1 of Google increase
- blog comments increased
- organic traffic increased through Google, social media and other channels
New Perspective on Long Form Content
Most bloggers – the old me included – overlook two aspects of long form content even if posts never rank on Google:
- increased time on site
- increased profit potential from time on site
For example, readers who consume my long form blog posts:
- spend at least 5-10 minutes on Blogging From Paradise to actually read the blog post
- notice more on Blogging From Paradise because you spent 5-10 minutes reading this post
- feel more comfortable shopping on Blogging From Paradise since you spent more time at this “store”
You do it. I do it. Spending more time in a store goads most to buy more stuff.
I do not want you to make impulse buys on Blogging From Paradise. Invest only in what helps you. But use this concept of long form content and time spent on site to:
- help your readers
- prosper indirectly
Experiment. Publish a few long form posts spanning maybe 1500 plus words. Add practical details to these posts. Give readers a reason to spend more time on your blog. Be a little more helpful than the average blogger.
Don’t be surprised if one, two or five long form posts on your blog:
- keep people on your site far longer
- increase shopping on your blog
- attract new readers through referral marketing
Meditate on this idea of keeping readers onsite for a longer stretch of time by publishing detailed, in-depth, long form content. Help not only more people but help them for a sustained chunk of time. Keep people browsing your blogging store for 3, 5 or 10 minutes versus a quick 60 second glance.
Influence readers to mill around your cyber store-blog versus being window shoppers.
The Verdict
Long form, SEO-optimized content spanning 1200-1500 words (or longer):
- performs quite well on Google
- increases organic, quality blog traffic
- increases blogging profits
- makes readers happier, more content (see the play on words?) and willing to offer highly positive feedback (thank you guys for your helpful blog comments)
Short form content spanning 600 to 1000 words, based on my personal experience:
- does not generally perform well on Google
- requires a highly prolific publishing schedule to slowly increase blog traffic and profits
- does not elicit a high volume of positive feedback from readers
At the end of the day, I offer these observations based on my intimately personal experience.
Follow your intuition. Everybody is different.
However, more often than not, you will tend toward creating long form content to increase your traffic and profits slowly and steadily over the long haul.
Related posts:
How to Create Long Form Blog Content
How to Write Blog Comments that Actually Drive Traffic and Increase Profits
Do You Need an Email List to Drive Blog Traffic and Profits?
How to Increase Blog Traffic without Creating New Content
Should You Publish More Blog Content or More Content Offsite?
Blogging Liberates You from Corporate Profits and Politics
4 Tips to Increase Blogging Profits
Blog Content: Your Asset
