Long-Form or Short-Form: Which Content Type Is Best for SEO?

Ranking your website — your brand’s central hub for its digital marketing strategy — depends on several key factors, one of them being the content it offers. Creating quality and SEO-focused content is essential to persuading customers to engage with your brand and showing search engines like Google that you have what your audience is looking for.

Regarding content, brands must decide whether to create one of two types: long-form or short-form content. Although the former is often associated with having more value, that is not always the case, and it is not necessarily better than the latter. At times, long-term content can be overkill, while in others, it is necessary to get a better chance at ranking. Below, we first discuss the definitions of long-term and short-term content and outline which is best for your SEO strategy.

Short-form content

Short-form content typically has a word count equal to or below 1,000 words, but some definitions may vary. Some may consider 500 words or below to be short-form content, which is fine too.

Long-term content

Long-form content is generally any content that surpasses the 1,000-word count mark. Just like short-form content, this is what most brands consider long-form content to be. There are no hard and fast rules on the word count threshold, so feel free to disagree and set your own definition.

Which type is the better choice for SEO?

In the context of SEO in Hong Kong, this question may be the same as asking if it is essential to write five hundred words or more to rank a keyword. Although it is a fair question, an arbitrary word count should not determine your decision. A better question is how much you should write to satisfy your audience. Here are the five steps to reach your answer:

1. Research what’s ranking

The first step to making the right decision is to check what’s popular for your target keyword’s search results. A quick look at the first page results should give you a rough idea of which type of content has seen the most success among your audience. It is also recommended to leverage your SEO tools or enlist the help of SEO services in Hong Kong to get a better idea of what is ranking and glean more information.

2. Develop a search-focused plan

A search-focused plan or outline is the foundation for your content derived from what you’ve gathered from looking up similar high-ranking content. The idea here is that analysing what content attracts and satisfies searches lets you better understand what they’re looking for.

Making this search-focused plan starts with a content gap analysis, which lets you identify any missed opportunities or “gaps” in your SEO strategy. It mainly determines which content pieces are missing from your existing content that is critical to your target audience’s overall buyer’s journey. Also, you may stumble upon new keyword opportunities that could improve your existing content.

Look more into the high-ranking pages mentioned earlier and check their headings for more inspiration. Doing so helps better understand how to structure your content and which subtopics are commonly explored and should be included.

3. Choose a content format

Your content will not rank high unless it aligns with what searchers want. Hence, this is the most critical requirement, not dependent factors such as word count. It is also the reason why it is better to go with the formats that are already proven to be successful, the popular ones of which are:

• Listicles
• Guides
• How-tos
• Reviews
• Tutorials
• Definitions
• Comparison posts

Going back to the digital marketing example, you’ll see that most high-ranking pages are definitions, so it’s ideal to follow suit. Other keywords that may have a mix of formats, like guides, definitions, and how-tos, classify as mixed intent keywords, and it is up to you which format to go with. Take note, however, that some content formats may be better at promoting your business than others, so choose the one that provides you with better opportunities.

4. Begin writing

With all the preparation, the next step is turning your outline into actual content. At this stage, fully use your creativity and share your knowledge while sticking closely to the outline to ensure you cover everything necessary to satisfy visitors. Don’t pay attention to word count just yet; just prioritise putting your thoughts into words.

Struggling with your writing? Try these handy writing techniques:

• The Pomodoro method

Divide every 30 minutes into 25-minute non-stop writing and a 5-minute break. Repeat the process until you finish.

• Freewrite

You keep writing and moving forward in freewriting until you run out of creative juices. No correcting spelling errors and no rewriting sentences. Freewriting generally helps improve the flow of content should you master it.

5. Cut out unnecessary parts

After finalising the first draft, it will almost always be too long, regardless of the word count. It may have points irrelevant to the topic, long paragraphs, and run-on sentences, all of which add unnecessary “fluff” to the content. This is what first drafts are meant to look like, so worry not, as this step serves to cut them out. Moreover, you’ll realise that refining your ideas once they’re already on paper is much easier and more efficient rather than obsessing over them as you go.

First, perform a self-edit and review your first draft to cut out the unnecessary parts. Don’t forget to rewrite meandering sentences if there are any and polish them to be as concise as possible. Tools like Grammarly can help simplify this process.

Second, get a friend to check your work and offer feedback. A second opinion is the best way to see problems you usually would not spot on your own. Specifically, ask them if they find any parts that should be cut or shortened or areas where further explanation may be needed.

The last step is simply making the edits based on your friend’s feedback, and you should be done. The final word count at this stage is how long your content needs to be. It does not matter whether it is long-form or short-form. What matters is you have penned down what is required to meet your target audience’s expectations.

Conclusion

When making SEO content, the main focus should not be on the word count but on satisfying the searchers’ needs. By prioritising this key aspect, those that choose to click on your site will come out with the knowledge they want and have a good impression of your brand, making them likely to return for future inquiries and ultimately engage with your offerings. Otherwise, they may choose to click off early and go elsewhere for answers.