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Content marketing is a double-edged sword…
On the one hand, you want to say enough to stand out as a provider of value content, but on the other hand…
Well, have you heard the expression of a salesman “talking himself OUT of a deal”?
It’s a tricky balancing act. Let’s dig a little deeper.
What constitutes Value Content?
Well, it depends on who you ask. Fair enough, it also depends on the question the content wants to clarify. There are a number of different perspectives:
1. Google’s perception of value content.
Google – in its “infinite wisdom” – has decided that one of the key elements of high value content is the content length. For just about any topic explained on a website or blog, the top results on Google are usually 2,000 words or more.
While it makes sense to Google, it has also infuriated many people searching on the web. Why? Because half – or sometimes more than half – of the page is dedicated to explaining what the problem is, before providing the solution.
From an SEO point of view, it makes sense. After all, if you want to rank for “how do I solve problem X”, you – in Google’s view – have to spend some time talking about “problem X”.
Unfortunately, Google clearly hasn’t caught on to the fact that people’s time has value. Personally, there is no way that I am going to read through 1,000 words or more before I find out IF you have a workable answer to my question.
2. The consumer’s perception of value content.
Given the value of people’s time, and given how busy some people (especially business people) tend to be, the (content) consumer’s view of value content is likely to be this:
“Give me the information I want, as quickly and as clearly as possible.”
Depending on what the person is searching for, having to wade through 1,000 words or more of “filler content” is probably not what they were hoping to find.
Side note: A few years ago, a client’s website was hijacked (forwarded to a different website upon loading a second page). The information that helped us solve the problem was contained in a video of around one and a half minutes.
That is way below 200 words.
Fair enough, you need to establish a few things:
a. The level of awareness or capability of the person the content it aimed at. The lower the level, the more detail you will need to add.
b. The platform you are publishing the content on. If you are publishing on your own blog or website, cutting the content too short will alienate Google. If Google contributes a large percentage of your visitors, you will need to take that into account.
However, if your blog posts are quite long, you can consider adding a table of contents, with in-page anchors linking to each section. Give your visitor the option to skip the stuff written for Google.
When you are posting on social media, look at other high value posts that received lots of engagement. See which content lengths work best – but remember to specifically look at content aimed at the same audience as yours.
You will find – in most cases – that high-performing content is not too long, and brutally to-the-point.
Zero fluff.
In conclusion:
On the one hand, search engines want (word) volume, or (longer) video length.
On the other hand, visitors to your website – and videos – want to spend as little time as possible to find what they need.
On social media, the length of your content can have an impact on its visibility – but its “to-the-point” nature will determine whether people will engage with it, which in turn will determine its future visibility.
Whatever you do, make it possible for the consumers of your content to get to the “meat” ASAP, even if you are forced to add some fluff.
It is ironic how Google has been focusing on offering “the best possible user experience” – while the results they dish up often don’t reflect that.
On a web page or blog post, that means clickable items in a table of contents, and in a video, it means adding chapters, and even a chapter breakdown in your description.
On social media, you can always get to the point (and CTA) first, and then add some “additional insights” to make it easier to show up in search.
The bottom line is this:
When creating marketing content, think of your readers or viewers first – and then consider how you can make it more attractive to algorithms.