Why Create Long-Form Website Content (And How to Do It)
No matter how impressive your website looks, it is useless if it fails to provide comprehensive and valuable information. Concise information increases the probability of dissatisfied visitors. Since the information is incomplete, users feel the need to visit other platforms.
Online business owners work day and night to perfect their website design, SEO, and customer service. But only a few pay attention to detailed content creation.
If we adopt a long-form content approach, users can get complete information under one roof. In this way, readers know which website they should always visit when searching for information.
Why Create Long-Form Content?
Detailed content comes with several benefits. If competitors are getting all those benefits, your business can lag behind. Let’s have a look at a few of them to know why creating long-form content is essential:
1- To Enhance User Engagement
A short 500-word blog post provides less room for engagement than a 2000-word article. You can explain several concepts in long-form content, share screenshots, and give recommendations. Besides this, you can also shed light on the recent studies and discuss the findings.
Too many visuals in a short post look odd. Likewise, explaining each example in detail is impossible if you have limited word count capacity.
Thus, the chance of engagement in detailed content is higher.
2- To Improve Search Engine Rank
When content is in detail, users will spend more time on your web page. Google is smart, and it keeps track of how long visitors stay on the site. When visitors spend more time, it boosts the web page’s SEO ranking.
Furthermore, long-form content enables you to get more backlinks and rank for multiple keywords. Links from reliable sites also affect your SEO ranking. And as mentioned above, it allows you to add more visuals. A single viral infographic can dramatically increase your website visitors.
For instance, a reader can share an explainer infographic on social media, generating thousands of leads. All of these things bring a positive result to your SEO rank.
3- To Increase Reliance
Creating long-form content is not everyone’s cup of tea. It requires extensive research, dedication, time, and skills. Only a committed brand concerned about its brand image will spend time creating detailed content. Consequently, it portrays a positive business image.
When people spend their hard-earned money, they look for reliable, committed, and professional brands. And one who provides valuable and detailed information is likely to be considered more reliable.
The above points highlight the significance of creating long-form content.
Let us now see how we can produce it:
How to Create Long-Form Content
Creating long-form content looks like a daunting task. But, with the help of a few steps, you can successfully produce in-depth content. All you need is to follow a few steps:
1- Set a Specific Goal and Choose a Topic
You won’t be able to produce valuable content if you don’t know what your goal is. Therefore, decide what you want to share with your readers. See what their queries are and what they want to learn? Check their demographics and background to get more ideas about their interests to aid in your content creation.
Once you know the readers’ pain points, you will get multiple ideas to help resolve them. After a detailed analysis, select a specific objective. A few examples are educating readers about using new software, teaching them about digital marketing, or sharing tips on starting an online business.
After setting a goal, you need to select a topic. Here are some tips for it:
- Observe your target audience on social media channels and notice what they share.
- Check your competitor’s site to get some ideas about the topics.
- Use tools like Uber Suggest, Ahrefs, Feedly, and Content Strategy Generator for picking suitable topics.
- Don’t forget to observe the competition of each topic and pick the one with low competition.
2- Do Extensive Research
Once you have decided on the topic, it’s time to dive deep into it and research it in detail. Remember, the internet is no short of information. Many other sites must have produced content on the same topic. You should try to stand apart by sharing something different.
For this, you need to spend considerable time on research. More research will provide more knowledge, which you can share with your audience. The following sources can help you in the research process:
- Reliable websites
- Google books
- Research papers and journal articles
- Online magazines
- Youtube videos
3- Decide Your Tone
Since you know your audience, you can decide your tone of voice. Selecting the right tone is important to portray a positive image in front of the readers. For instance, if you are a B2B brand and your audience is multinational companies, you need to adopt a professional tone.
However, if your target audience comprises teenagers, you can adopt a friendly tone. As per the tone of voice, you will use vocabulary, examples, and phrases.
4- Create an Outline
An outline helps maintain a perfect flow in your content. Readers won’t engage if you go out of track. Try to connect each heading with the other using header tags. Also, use plenty of subheadings, examples, tips, and visuals to make your content scannable.
Here is an example:
Title: How to Decorate a Living Room
Introduction
<h2> Show Creativity through Canvas Prints
<h3> What are Canvas Prints
<h3> Types of Canvas Prints
<h2> Use Fairy Lights
<h2> Add a Green Look with Indoor Plants
<h3> Which Indoor Plants are best for the Living Room?
<h3> Caring Tips for Indoor Plants
<h2> Share some Memories through a Picture Gallery
<h3> How to Create a Picture Gallery?
<h3> Which Photos are Ideal for a Picture Gallery?
<h2> Add Colour through Cushions, Table runners, and Rugs
<h3> Best Colour Schemes for Your Living Room
<h2> How to Decorate Cushions and Runners at Home?
Conclusion
You can add as many subheadings as you want. But, make sure to explain everything in detail before moving towards the next subtopic.
5- Write Content in Detail
An outline provides you with the right track for your post. You can even allocate word count to each heading if you don’t want to exceed a specific word limit.
Provide information under each heading as per your research and intended audience. Write freely without any fear of errors and mistakes. It is your rough draft, and you can always eradicate mistakes while proofreading.
Put yourself in the reader’s shoes and think of ways they can find a solution from your post. Never be in a rush. Take enough time and write things in detail. Also, try to write in plain and straightforward language so that readers won’t find it challenging to comprehend.
6- Add Visuals
Text without visuals looks boring. Visuals also help in explaining complicated concepts apart from enhancing engagement. Various types of visuals such as images, videos, and animated illustrations are present today. You can use any or combine different ones to make your content appealing.
For photographs, real images are usually the best option for showing the authentic side of your brand. However, not every website owner has a budget for them. Therefore, many online businesses utilize stock images. You can easily purchase high-quality images from various websites online.
Likewise, explainer videos are beneficial for sharing stories about a company or product/services. You can also add infographics and screenshots or display some humor through GIFs to elevate your content.
7- Proofread and Format
Last but not least, proofreading is essential. It will polish your content by removing all errors and mistakes. Besides this, when you read the content from a reader’s point of view, new ideas will come to your mind.
Also, format the content to make it look more appealing. Use the bold and bigger font for the main heading, while a small-size font for the subheadings. You can also highlight key statements in a different color font or underline them.
Final Words
Creating long-form content is essential for competing in this online arena. It boosts engagement, enhances the SEO rank, and creates a positive brand image. Steps like researching the audience, selecting an appropriate tone, and creating an outline help write detailed posts. Besides this, preparing a rough draft, adding visuals, proofreading, and formatting are also important.
Follow these steps and successfully create detailed content to impress your readers.
Best of Luck!
