As an editor, there's one question I get more than any other — and it's the same one that grinds my gears more than ...

Long Form vs. Short Form Content: Which Is Better For Your Business? By Ramona Sukhraj, Monday, January 3, 2022 7:48 AM As an editor, there's one question I get more than any other — and it's the same one that grinds my gears more than anything else  — "How long should my blog post be?" Did Shakespeare ask for a word count? Did F. Scott Fitzgerald or Jane Austen? I'd bet money Ann Handley doesn't. At the risk of sounding like a pretentious writer, my response to this question is often "as long as it needs to be," but I realize this isn't helpful to anyone new to content marketing or They Ask, You Answer. You've got someone owning your content. You're committed to publishing on a consistent basis. You know what topics you need to cover, but are your articles where they need to be to accomplish your goals? In my eight years behind IMPACT's content and nearly a decade in content marketing, I have never held myself or others to a word count — a minimum or maximum. Rather, I consider pieces complete when they answer all of the natural or obvious questions for the potential reader. As marketers, we should aim to have a potential buyer to walk — or I suppose click — away feeling like they have enough information to take a next step, to feel like they can make an informed decision about what they just learned about. In other words, your content should be as long as it needs to be to match what the reader was looking for when they landed on your site and answer the question at hand thoroughly and completely. This is also one of the foundational ideas of They Ask, You Answer and is essential to building the trust needed to close a deal. Sometimes it can be done quickly; at others, not so much. It's subjective and, unfortunately, you can't put a specific word count on subjective, but I realize this is frustrating, so I'm here to offer a bit more guidance. In a fast-paced digital world where people just need to cry "Alexa!" to get answers to many of their questions, content creators often find themselves debating long-form content versus short-form content. Which is more effective? Which should they be creating? And why? Today, content takes many forms, but for all intents and purposes of this length discussion, we're going to focus this article on just that — blog articles. In this article, I'll dive into: What is long-form content? What is short-form content? The benefits of long-form and short-form content How to decide your content length Let's get started. Read more »     Schedule a call with an advisor → Join IMPACT+ for free → Long Form vs. Short Form Content: Which Is Better For Your Business? By Ramona Sukhraj As an editor, there's one question I get more than any other — and it's the same one that grinds my gears more than anything else  — "How long should my blog post be?" Did Shakespeare ask for a word count? Did F. Scott Fitzgerald or Jane Austen? I'd bet money Ann Handley doesn't. At the risk of sounding like a pretentious writer, my response to this question is often "as long as it needs to be," but I realize this isn't helpful to anyone new to content marketing or They Ask, You Answer. You've got someone owning your content. You're committed to publishing on a consistent basis. You know what topics you need to cover, but are your articles where they need to be to accomplish your goals? In my eight years behind IMPACT's content and nearly a decade in content marketing, I have never held myself or others to a word count — a minimum or maximum. Rather, I consider pieces complete when they answer all of the natural or obvious questions for the potential reader. As marketers, we should aim to have a potential buyer to walk — or I suppose click — away feeling like they have enough information to take a next step, to feel like they can make an informed decision about what they just learned about. In other words, your content should be as long as it needs to be to match what the reader was looking for when they landed on your site and answer the question at hand thoroughly and completely. This is also one of the foundational ideas of They Ask, You Answer and is essential to building the trust needed to close a deal. Sometimes it can be done quickly; at others, not so much. It's subjective and, unfortunately, you can't put a specific word count on subjective, but I realize this is frustrating, so I'm here to offer a bit more guidance. In a fast-paced digital world where people just need to cry "Alexa!" to get answers to many of their questions, content creators often find themselves debating long-form content versus short-form content. Which is more effective? Which should they be creating? And why? Today, content takes many forms, but for all intents and purposes of this length discussion, we're going to focus this article on just that — blog articles. In this article, I'll dive into: What is long-form content? What is short-form content? The benefits of long-form and short-form content How to decide your content length Let's get started. Keep Reading  ⟶ Free Course: Technical SEO Basics for Inbound Marketing This free course will help you learn the terms used such as HTML basics, meta descriptions, top navigation, breadcrumbs, H1, H2, and much more.    Watch now  ⟶ Inbound Marketing Strategy: 7 Steps to Success The right inbound marketing strategy can bring ideal customers right to your doorstep. 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