How Do I Increase The Bit Depth Of An Image

Inquire two content marketers about long-grade content and you'll probable get 2 completely unlike responses. The first might say that long-form content is a gamble, given audiences' supposedly minuscule attention spans. The other might say that producing longer articles is an splendid mode to engage with readers and offer them genuine value and a rewarding feel.

Which of these content marketers is right? Yep, you guessed information technology – the long-form content evangelist. In this post, yous'll learn:

What Is Long-Form Content?
Why Does Long-Course Content Work?
5 Long-Grade Content Examples

What Is Long-Form Content?

It might seem obvious, but there are many different definitions of what long-form content truly is. Some people consider articles longer than 700 words to be long-grade, whereas others call back that articles have to exist in excess of 1,800 words to exist considered long-form. For the sake of argument, let's presume that long-form content refers to articles of around one,200 words or longer.

Despite what some content marketers might retrieve, many readers require meatier articles – and publishers are delivering. For example, business news site Quartz refuses to publish articles in the typically news-friendly 500-800 word range, because Kevin Delaney, Quartz's Editor-in-Main, believes that too many sites adhere religiously to this format. Delaney even developed a model (known as the Quartz Curve) based on commodity length that forms the basis of the publication's approach to content:

long-form content

Why Does Long-Form Content Work?

We used to be skeptics, too. Our boilerplate piece of content was around 1,000 words or fewer. Nosotros focused heavily on SEO, including keyword optimization. The only problem with this strategy? We were getting a lot of search traffic, but not a lot of return traffic, direct traffic, or brand searches, and our user appointment metrics – stuff like bounciness rate and fourth dimension on site – were pretty low.

And so we switched upward our tactics a bit and started incorporating more long-grade articles into our content strategy. The goal was to increase user engagement – and it worked extraordinarily well.

content promotion benefits

Every bit you can see in the figure above, the average visit duration for our blog rose steadily from late 2022 – effectually the fourth dimension we started producing long-grade content. Of course, there are several other factors that contributed to this rising, including amend content promotion and a good for you dose of contrarian content, merely creating longer, more than in-depth content that provides tons of value to our audition has been a very successful function of our content strategy; one that resulted in tripling our average time on site from i:33 to 4:35.

In fact, some of our longest posts have been our about successful. For example: Our most popular post of the by yr, "Detect Your Onetime Tweets: How to Meet Your First (Worst?) Tweet," clocked in at over two,300 words. It'southward been viewed over 100,000 times just in the by few months, with average time on page of almost viii minutes!

Long-form content tin also take a positive touch on a page'southward rank in the SERPs. In the figure below from serpIQ, you can encounter that the top-ranked content is around 2,450 words – definitely not light reading!

Long-class content isn't just rewarded by the search engines – it also resonates with readers.

Blog platform Medium compiled data on its virtually successful articles by measuring the average time on page in relation to post length and the amount of fourth dimension information technology takes the average reader to finish the mail service. Based on this data, the ideal weblog post takes seven minutes to read and is effectually ane,600 words long:

Content length can as well exist determined by the subject matter. Marketing blog ViperChill put together some data on the average word length of a random sampling of blog posts categorized past industry, which makes for interesting reading:

5 Examples of Excellent Long-Class Content

Then, now we're (roughly) on the same page, let's dive into what keen long-form content looks like. Most of the frequently cited long-grade content out at that place tends to exist journalism (think the image-rich features you tin run across in The New York Times), simply these examples show how brands and marketers can apply this type of content to their advantage, generating traffic, leads, and brand value.

i. IBM – 'Memphis P.D. Case Report'

"Big Data" has go one of the tech sector'south almost beloved (and often abused) buzzwords. Although everyone and their grandmother seems to exist "into" big data, few people can provide a solid instance of how large-scale information analysis can really be used. IBM, one of the major players in big information, realized this and set out to show, not tell, how big data can make people'south lives better in a case study focusing on the Memphis police section.

Rather than waxing lyrical about its impressive applied science, or bombarding the reader with technical specifications, IBM took an alternative arroyo by telling a story; in this case, the struggles experienced by Larry Godwin, Director of Police Services for the Memphis P.D (PDF).

Just as effective PPC ads appeal to prospective customers' desire to solve bug, the IBM case study outlines Godwin's difficulties in fighting offense in light of a dwindling budget, ascent crime rates and an increasingly cynical populace, before explaining how the awarding of IBM'southward predictive analysis engineering science helped the Memphis P.D. go more effective by identifying areas in which criminal activity was more concentrated – but not necessarily related in a way that officers may have been able to piece together.

Why It Works

IBM understood that producing a banal, corporate puff slice wouldn't win them any customers or pique people's curiosity almost predictive data analysis. Most people don't care about how the engineering science works – they're more than interested in what it does. Past showing how its technology had a direct touch on on the lives of Memphis citizens, IBM highlights the potential of predictive analytics and grounds the story in the lives and struggles of real people.

two. Chevrolet – 100 Years of Icons

Some of the best examples of long-form content come from brands. Case in indicate, Chevrolet's "100 Years of Icons," a journey through time with one of America's about instantly recognizable brands.

Get-go in 1914 with the Royal Mail Roadster, the article chronicles not only the development of new automotive technologies during the past century, but also the unique position the Chevrolet brand occupies in American civilization. The piece features striking images of Chevy's well-nigh iconic vehicles to back-trail the surprisingly modest copy, including photos of archetype models like the El Camino, Camaro and Corvette.

Why It Works

This example is specially clever, as it not only provides gearheads with lots of information about the specifications of each vehicle (including horsepower, the number of cylinders each engine had and the sticker value at the fourth dimension of release), it likewise reinforces the concept of longevity – not just of the Chevrolet make, simply of the manufacturer'southward individual vehicles. By taking the reader on a journey through the brand's history, Chevrolet appeals to consumers' desire for a reliable and stylish machine in an entertaining and informative way.

3. Patagonia – Climbing in Iceland with Loki the Deceiver

Patagonia is i make that really "gets" long-form content.

Although Patagonia is essentially just some other activewear apparel brand, its content strategy sets it apart from its competitors. Posts like this example perfectly demonstrate how providing interesting long-form content can exist genuinely compelling and a peachy way to build a brand.

In "Climbing in Iceland with Loki the Deceiver," Kitty Calhoun, proprietor of women's ice and rock climbing organisation Chicks Climb, tells the story of how she and three other climbers embarked on an adventure to the middle of the Icelandic wilderness. The post reads like a professional person travelogue, and is accompanied by photos taken by Calhoun and her traveling companions, each revealing a glimpse of Iceland's grandeur and mystery to the reader.

Far from a self-indulgent tale of a glamorous wintertime sports expedition, Calhoun's post reveals the difficulties she and her boyfriend climbers experienced during their trip, including cruel weather weather condition, unsafe climbs and the trepidation that comes with braving the unknown – all archetype ingredients of a compelling story.

Why It Works

Patagonia knows that creating an immersive experience for the reader is an excellent manner to found brownie and appeal to their platonic client'southward sense of adventure. This postal service doesn't try to sell anything; not once is Patagonia's apparel fifty-fifty mentioned. What this mail service accomplishes is showing readers how Patagonia customers alive their lives; it appeals to their competitive spirit and desire to tackle heady new challenges. The post itself likewise happens to exist a fascinating read, even if you're not an outdoor sports enthusiast.

Even the author'south bio makes a statement. Calhoun is referred to as a "Patagonia ambassador," reinforcing the idea that Calhoun (and others like her) are bold explorers who stand behind the quality of Patagonia's products – not only people who buy downwardly winter jackets.

four. Quick Sprout – The Definitive Guide to Growth Hacking

Neil Patel, founder of KISSmetrics and Crazy Egg, knows a thing or two near how to launch and abound startups. In our fourth example of long-form content, Patel and co-author Bronson Taylor substantially give away everything they know about growth hacking.

This eBook is divided into 10 capacity, each focusing on a different aspect of growth hacking. Available equally an online resource or downloadable PDF, this guide covers a range of topics in cracking depth, from pull/push tactics and the growth hacker funnel to driving engagement and user retention. The guide doesn't just explain what these concepts involve – it provides actionable examples of how readers can apply these techniques to their own ventures, making information technology a remarkably useful resources.

Why It Works

Patel and Bronson fabricated a witting conclusion to share their knowledge freely. They could accept easily placed the downloadable guide behind a web form to generate leads – but they didn't. This uncomplicated act makes the guide tremendously accessible, an important consideration for content producers.

As 1 of the lengthiest of our examples of long-form content, this guide also demonstrates that Patel and Bronson also gave a bang-up deal of idea to their content's ideal format. They didn't hamstring themselves by forcing everything into a weblog post, or cutting corners to reduce its overall length. Instead, they chose to give the content equally much room as information technology needed – something many content marketers neglect to practise.

Finally, both Patel and Bronson are experts in their field. This lends the content an air of authorization, and farther establishes them every bit thought leaders in the startup world.

five. Airbnb – 2022 Almanac Report

Few pieces of corporate collateral are as deadening as the almanac report. However, Airbnb decided to take a fresh approach to showcasing the company's impressive growth past making an interactive annual report that shows even the blandest corporate documents can be transformed into exciting and compelling long-form content.

At beginning glance, Airbnb'southward annual study doesn't look similar long-form content. Delve a piddling deeper, though, and you'll be rewarded with a treasure-trove of fascinating data about the company's expansion.

In addition to data that investors would want to see, Airbnb's almanac report besides features real stories from people who have used the service, including travelers and hosts. Sound files and images of Airbnb users telling their own stories are embedded direct into the page, allowing readers to gyre through the company's growth from 2022 to 2022 and experience how guests and hosts akin have benefited from the remarkable cultural exchanges made possible by Airbnb.

Why It Works

The success of this piece of long-form content lies solely in how Airbnb's creative team made a traditionally boring document into an interactive story of growth. Visually, the report is bright, engaging and presents a great deal of information in an hands understandable way, but information technology doesn't skimp on the difficult data that an almanac study needs to accept, either.

The inclusion of user stories provides a much-needed human element to the report – for a business organization centered around people and travel, a list of statistics (no matter how impressive) only wasn't going to cut it. Airbnb decided to show investors how people'due south lives have been changed by the service, not simply tell them.

Hopefully this postal service has given yous some ideas for your own content projects, and why long-form content should exist an integral part of your content strategy.