Pros and Cons of the Short-Content Approach to SEO

Many content writers don’t dare questioning the notion that Google loves long content. They hear that same mantra over and over again ad infinitum. But what if there is evidence to the contrary and nobody has noticed it yet? What if a company like 411Locals excels at benefiting from balancing short and long content while the rest of you still dream of reaping the rewards of long articles, which may never come? Is short better than long content or vice versa? Perhaps, they just have different pros and cons, and in capable hands, they can both be very efficient.

The Effects of Syndication

Long content brings long-tail SEO traffic easily – that’s the most frequently heard argument in favor of using it when you want more traffic, more shares, and engagement. However, there’s one tactic that often gets ignored – short articles can be syndicated for better exposure. The latest analysis of Jamesclear.com shows that social shares can be increased with 70% by only syndicating to one site.

Time Is of the Essence

Short articles take less time. You can write multiple short posts instead of a big, ultimate guide. When you have built your own audience, your subscribers will check out and read each and every article you post, no matter how small it is. This actually leads to more shares, hence more traffic. Two short articles instead of one long will get slightly more social shares. This means more total shares with fewer words written.

What About the Cost?

If you work with freelance writers, you should consider the cost of the article. The average content marketer makes a decent amount of money, and a writer that specializes in long articles can charge you double. What is more, the attention span of users worldwide is shorter than ever. In order to maintain a high reading rate, you will need the short-content approach.

Quantity Doesn’t Mean Quality and More Traffic

Writing short content gives you the flexibility to test new ideas faster and easier before you switch to long content. And one more thing – oftentimes, longer articles are in one way or another comprehensive guides. And those guides are now crowding the search results. You cannot expect that 3000 words will make your groundbreaking analysis of the Brexit voting results climb to the first page for its target keywords, when its content can’t be very different from any other topic-related article.

What Strategy to Use for My Blog or Site?

Considering the pros and cons of the latest content strategy examples, 411Locals suggests that the best approach is to use a hybrid strategy. It is an evergreen master plan since there will be always people who respond to short content while others enjoy spending more time reading and thinking over long articles.