The Benefits of Short-Form Blogging

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Does your marketing agency produce blogs for its website or your clients? Have you  ever wondered about the benefits of short-form blogging versus blogs of a significantly  longer length? Here are several things to keep in mind about shorter blogs compared  to their long-form counterparts. 

Shorter blogs are easier to read 

Most people tend to skim when they read. While some may absorb every word, the  average reader tends to words. 

Did you notice we skipped the word “skip” there? You probably still realized what we  were trying to say. That’s because our brains are trained to read fast. Headers tend to  help with this, drawing attention to the key points even if they don’t catch every word. 

Short-form blogs are more likely to be shared 

This may raise a few eyebrows, as long-form blogs are more authoritative. However, if  a person finds your content helpful, they’re more likely to share it. This is true of your  social media posts, free downloads, and yes, your website’s blogs. 

Long-form blogs can absolutely be helpful, and we’ll unpack that usefulness shortly.  However, if you’re always producing longer blog posts, it’s unlikely that every one of  them will hit the mark. A shorter blog has a higher chance of doing so regularly and  therefore increases the likelihood of a social share from your website to the reader’s  social media profiles. 

Engagement levels are higher 

It’s a simple fact that many enjoy video content. This might dissuade some from  blogging altogether. 

However, a shorter blog makes the content easier to consume. For example, a given  header should have no more than 300 words between it and the next header. If you go  much beyond that, it lowers your readability and makes it harder for your audience to  grasp the important details.  

This, in turn, lowers the engagement on your blog (known as “Time on Page”). It could  potentially lead to a bounce rate, which Google then notates within its analytics. The  higher your bounce rate, the lower your engagement score — which lowers your  brand’s authority. 

(In case you were wondering, not counting this sentence, this section had 110 words  — far below the maximum recommendation). 

A few pros of long-form blogging 

This isn’t to say that long-form blogging has no place. Blogs that are greater than 1,000  words demonstrate your knowledge of a given topic. And blogs of a 2,000-word length  (or more) are known as “pillar content.” These have a higher likelihood of becoming the  authoritative answer on Google when a user searches for a particular query.

In addition, long-form blogs have significant SEO value and can help boost your overall  rankings within search engines.  

Long-form versus short-form blogging 

Our purpose today wasn’t to discredit the value of long-form blogs. Rather, it was  simply to highlight the value of shorter blogs. There are significant benefits for both  styles of writing, and the important thing is that your company publishes new blog  content consistently. 

Do you need assistance with this particular task? Learn more about our premium  content production here or contact us for more details.

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