Long Form Content Viewpoint_Off Madison Ave

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How to Make Google and Your Readers Happy with Long-Form Content

by guest blogger: Kim Higdon

© 2015 Off Madison Ave. All Rights Reserved.


01How to Make Google and Your Readers Happy with Long-Form ContentAs Google continues to improve its search algorithms

to deliver the most valuable content to the searcher,

content recommendations in terms of types,

frequency and, most notably length, tend to shift and

change. In Google’s most recent algorithm update,

Panda, long-form or in-depth content took center

stage. This type of content, generally 2,000 words

or more, has been given increased prominence in

search results because of the long-term value it

brings to the end-user.

For broad search terms, users may now find that

Google is serving up content that may be a few years

old, comes from an unrelated source and much,

much longer than what would be previously seen.

The “In-Depth Articles” section that appears on some

broader search terms includes content that comes

from a reputable source, is seemingly timeless and

is thoughtful. This content provides interesting and

descriptive information that encourages readers to

stay longer and return again.

Instead, this content is so important and useful

that it becomes, “epic content” as Copyblogger


02puts it. This type of content is resource-intensive,

informative and thoughtful and may take a long

time to produce but is so valuable to the reader

that it lives far longer, reaches more readers and

becomes a credible reference.

Former best practices dictated that brands,

organizations, publishers, etc. should be pushing

out as much content as possible, ideally around

400 words to make it “readable.” While this tactic

remains relevant, and may produce strong results

from a search perspective, the ideal content mix has

changed drastically. Particularly when it comes to

what the consumer is interested in reading, and

more importantly, sharing on social media.

According to NewsWhip, a review of top content

shared during a given month in November 2013

wasn’t, in fact, short snippets of information, but

rather articles averaging more than 1,000 words.

Understanding in-depth article search results

These search results take a little more sleuthing.

While it’s great to see the results for “milk” are fairly

credible, upon deeper exploration, they actually may

not be as relevant as what you’d think. The titles that

appear span everything from the reason for human

consumption of milk, the market for breast milk and

milk trafficking gangs. One could argue there are

probably far more relevant articles that Google could

have served, so how does this ranking even happen?

While nothing Google does is an exact science, or

even generally understood by those outside of the

search powerhouse, there are some common traits

amongst these results worth noting:

- Articles appear to be more than 2,000 words in length

- Content is from already-established brands and publishers with high authority in Google (E.g., The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The New Yorker, Wired, etc.)

- That’s it.

Really. It appears these results are still early and

optimizations will likely come over time when Google

better understands user intent to best match up this

detailed content with what’s actually being sought.

With the update, Google’s technical spokesperson

claims that searchers will see “lesser-known authors,

blogs and publications” within these results, but this

remains to be seen.


03What long-form content means to readers

While this may seem defeating, what’s important to

note is some of the successful case studies that have

risen to the top after this latest announcement.

For example, WordStream, took a look at these

changes and measured against not only existing

search metrics of new traffic to its website, bounce

rate and time on site but wanted to understand how

this impacts more meaningful metrics such as return

traffic, branded searches and deep user engagement.

What they found was once they deployed a long-form

content strategy, time on the website tripled and

its top content was more than 2,300 words. This

demonstrates that long-form content isn’t just

something for search engines, but really is a strategy

that resonates with actual readers.

Countless other sources including serpIQ and

Medium have published findings that the most

popular content and content with the highest

search rankings aren’t those short, 400-word

snippets we’ve become accustomed to producing.

Instead, content appearing on page one of Google’s

search results is longer, researched and valuable,

averaging well over 2,000 words in length.

Long-form content best practices

It’s pretty clear that readers are demanding and

seeking out content that thoroughly explores

their topics of interest. However, what’s less clear

is how Google is determining what content to serve

to whom.


04What we do know is there are a few best practices

to follow in anticipation of future updates and based

on recommendations from Google and search engine

marketing professionals across the country.

Following are optimizations recommended for

all brands, whether or not long-form content is

a part of the current content strategy or not, in

order of importance:

1 Invest in a strong content strategy that incorporates thoughtful, long-form content to answer customer questions.

2 Incorporate rich images, logos and embedded reference links just as you would with short-form content. (Source: Google)

3 Follow Schema.org Article markup so Google can better understand the metadata of your content including: headline, alternativeHeadline, image, description and more. (Source: Google)

4 Consider First Click Free (FCF) for content behind a pay wall. Many publishers want to hide content and make it visible only to paying subscribers, but this inhibits Google’s ability to crawl and index this content. Following Google’s FCF policy helps with this issue. (Source: Google)

These best practices seem a little technical but

many are quick and easy to do with a savvy

website or digital partner. What’s not as quick

and easy to do is to incorporate this rich, valuable

and interesting content into existing or new content

marketing efforts.

Ensuring there’s a strong strategy in place along

with the skills to implement, create and deploy a

content strategy that incorporates these findings

into a marketing strategy can mean the difference

between success and a drain on valuable

resources. Brands that have embraced this

change and implemented it into an existing

strategy are reaping the benefits of driving a

consistent amount of traffic for a longer period

of time: search engine marketing gold.

This isn’t just for publishers, either.

Brands such as IBM, Airbnb, Chevrolet and others

have incorporated this strategy into various marketing

programs, including case studies, eBooks, campaign

sites, annual reports and more.

Long-form content is a long-term strategy that has

the potential to increase visibility, shareability and

virality of thoughtful content. While the “In-Depth

Articles” section on page one of Google’s search

results aren’t fully clear, what is clear is the intention

by the search giant to continually optimize and

refine these results to benefit brands and publishers

05investing in developing the content users truly want

to consume.

At Off Madison Ave, we have full capabilities to

assist with the planning, strategy and execution to

incorporate these best practices into a full-fledged

content strategy and content marketing program

within an organization. Please contact us at any time

to discuss this in more detail and determine your

organization’s best course of action for incorporating

this vital aspect of search and content marketing.


visit:www.offmadisonave.com

contact:[email protected]

By:Kim HigdonContent Marketing

Long Form Content Viewpoint_Off Madison Ave

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