An essential aspect of your SEO content marketing strategy now should include long-form content. That’s not to say that every article has to be thousands of words.
But if you plan to rank well for SEO, you’ll need to incorporate in-depth and thorough content into your content marketing strategy.
The reason for this is that the internet continues to have more content. As search engines look for a way to rank content when there are hundreds of articles on the same topic, they will look at the thoroughness of your content.
Let’s take a look at what long-form content is and how to ensure you’re being thorough in your coverage of a topic.
What is Long-form Blogging?
Long-form blogging is generally blogs that are 2,000 words or more. Tools like SEMRush can show you how long the average article is related to your topic. While I like these tools, they only tell one part of the story.
What you have to remember about using tools like SEMRush to show average content length is that you become a follower if you just replicate your competition’s content. Instead, you want to evaluate holes and opportunities in what’s existing on the web now.
So instead of saying that you must publish a 2,000-word article, ask yourself what content is essential for explaining your topic and engaging with your customers and prospects.
Don’t insert filler content into your article just to meet a word length requirement. Content should be as long as it needs to be to cover a topic.
If you’re unsure how to write long-form blogs, consider hiring a freelance copywriter who understands long-form blogging.
How Can I Ensure My Blogs Are Thorough?
For a blog to be thorough, it should answer the many questions your prospects might ask related to the topic. Take some time to outline all related issues and questions related to a topic.
For example, if I were to write a blog all about how to hire a freelance copywriter, I’d start with an outline that looks something like this.
- What to look for in a copywriter
- How to write a freelance copywriter job description
- Where to post your job description to find good candidates
- Interviewing tips for hiring the right candidate
- Tips for working with a copywriter
- How to evaluate your copywriter
- Knowing when it’s time to hire a new copywriter
You’ll see that this article is about more than just the hiring process. It helps small business owners evaluate their needs, build out a job description and ask the right questions to evaluate a possible candidate.
And then, it takes it one step further to help these business owners know when they need to seek out someone new when things aren’t working well.
The Importance of Headers in Longform SEO Content
The longer your article, the more you’ll have to consider how to make it readable for your visitors. A good way to improve the readability of your article is to use plenty of headers.
Open the article with an index where people can learn more about what’s in the article and click to skip ahead to the section that’s relevant to them.
Consider using more than just H2 headings in your article. The more complicated, the more hierarchy you might want to have within your article.
Including headings and a clear hierarchy in your articles also helps search engines read and understand the content. The more insights you can provide search engines, the better chance you’ll have of ranking well for your target keyword.
If you need help with building out an SEO blogging strategy, schedule a free consultation to learn what we offer. We’ll explain our process and help you see how a freelance copywriter could serve your purposes.
FAQs About SEO Writing
Still unsure about the importance of quality SEO content being long and thorough? Read these FAQs.
What Is Quality Content for SEO?
Quality content for SEO focuses on being customer-centric and easy-to-understand for the average reader. The content uses simple sentence structure and vocabulary.
Is Longer Content Better for SEO?
It depends on the medium you’re delivering the content through. Generally video content is better within the 1-2-minute mark, which is fairly short. But written content is better in long form for SEO.
Why is Long-form Content Good for SEO?
Longer content is more likely to answer a customer’s questions than short content. And the more content the more keyword clusters you can naturally sprinkle throughout the content.