The author's views are entirely his or her own (excluding the unlikely event of hypnosis) and may not always reflect the views of Moz.
Long-form content can often be overshadowed by other forms of execution that may be “shinier” or more visually engaging. We see it all the time in blog posts, case studies, conference decks, and on Twitter: the big, flashy content is often what our attention is drawn towards. Of course, with the right expertise and resources, you can do both[1]. But it’s hard for many of us to execute at this level over and over again.
The truth is that the value of long-form content shouldn’t be overlooked because it can do so many things for a brand:
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Drive traffic
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Build authority and credibility
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Add value to a website as a whole
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Generate links and brand awareness
The final point is one that was recently reinforced in our survey[2], which asked digital marketers what they felt the best form of execution was for a link building campaign:
When it comes to the execution of your idea, which of the following do you find to be the most effective in generating links?
These results were a little surprising because, as mentioned, it’s usually the larger, more visually appealing content pieces that generate attention. Clearly there is much more to long-form content than meets the eye.
Let’s take a deeper look at this method of link building, why it works well, and how to execute it successfully.
Why long-form content works well
There are many reasons why long-form content can work well for a business, and brands rarely take advantage of all of them. We can often get so caught up with writing the actual content, that we forget about the