Short-form content essentials

Discover short-form content.

Short-form content uses concise wording to quickly convey a message to readers and tends to be less than 1000 words in length.

Twitter is possibly the leader in this field and short-form content is used to catch readers’ attention and draw them into their paid, owned or sponsored media.

Why short-form content is needed

Readers tend to skim short-form content for important information as opposed to absorbing every word. Its short length means it is usually very easy to digest and maintain readers’ interest.

Where short-form content works well

Short-form content is particularly effective on mobile platforms, when readers may be busy or on the go and don’t have time to read something of length. As short-form content is so mobile-friendly, it has the potential to reach more people.

How to succeed with short-form content

Short-form content is often very visually appealing. It tends to feature a mix of words, images and videos. Examples of short-form content that can be consumed by readers quickly include:

• Listicles, such as those produced by BuzzFeed
• Infographics
• Videos as some types of short-form content don’t feature any written words at all, like Vines. Using short-form videos as a form of storytelling is a new trend that is emerging on many social media platforms.

Short-form vs long-form content

There has been much debate about whether short-form or long-form content, which is typically around 2000 words or more in length, is more effective for marketing purposes. Although short-form can be read and digested quickly, it tends to only provide a quick overview of a subject. In contrast, long-form content is written to educate and inform the reader, yet needs to be interesting enough to maintain their attention until the end of the piece.

Rather than being used as click-bait to increase website traffic, as is sometimes the case with short-form content, whitepapers, ebooks and other types of long-form content can be used to build a site’s authority. Insightful, detailed posts hold genuine value for readers, who will return to the site in anticipation of more educational content.

In terms of SEO, long-form content performs better than short-form because it is likely to generate more backlinks, thereby increasing the content’s credibility. Surprisingly, long-form content is often shared more than short-form.

It’s wise to use a mixture of both short and long-form content as part of your digital marketing strategy. Short-form can be used to engage the reader, increase site traffic and reach as many people as possible, while long-form can help to build a site’s authority and demonstrate expertise.

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