5 reasons longer blog posts are best to generate leads

Longer blog posts rank better in search engines, and they produce higher search rankings.

SerpIQ made a study back in 2012, charting the top 10 results in search queries by content length.

The graph showed that all three top results were more than 2,400 words. And in all of the ten top results, none of them reached below 2,000 words. 

It is clear, Google and the other search engines prefer longer content because it is usually quality-rich and contains more value for readers. 

Try to make your content longer, but don’t fall into the mistake of just making it longer. Because Google doesn’t just rank on word count. It is a key factor, yes—that’s why I’m writing this post—but it isn’t the whole thing. If you’re going to make the blog posts longer, make sure to make them more valuable and enrich them further. For every word added, there has to be more value-added.

Also—as research conducted by Backlinko shows—since long-form content tends to be more useful and valuable than short content, it earns more quality backlinks.

More backlinks and the increase in readers dwell time that results because of the long-form content, helps a ton on pushing your content to rank higher on search engines.

Longer blog posts rank better in search engines, and this means that the posts will reach more people, and more traffic usually equals more leads.

What’s the point of content that doesn’t get shared? You could produce great high-quality blog posts but only hear the sound of… of… crickets.

Creating shareable quality content should be a high priority for any content marketer. Engagement is your friend here. Because simply put, the more social shares a post gets, the more traffic and engagement it gets. And, as you already know, more traffic will probably get you more leads. 

Neil Patel made a study on how many social shares he earned with content longer than 1,500 words against content shorter than 1,500 words. He found that longer posts received an average of 68.1% more engagement on Twitter and 22.6% on Facebook. 

But why do longer blog posts usually get more social shares? For the same reason as those who give backlinks for longer content do. Longer content usually is richer with value, comprehensive, and wholesome. 

That’s what people typically look for when searching for content online.

The more you know about a subject, the more you would have to say about it. 

And longer content will signal to your readers that you know what you’re talking about—that you’ve done your research—and that you’re an expert in the topic. 

These things are quite essential if you want to generate leads and earn their trust to turn them into customers.

Long-form content, which is rich in value, will reinforce your authority and knowledge on the subject. It will build trust in your readers that you do know what you’re talking about, and you know how important it is to earn the readers’ trust if you want to turn them into leads.

One of the biggest mistakes companies and marketers fall into is not putting the customer first, or in this case, the reader first. 

A lot of marketers and brands just post content because they have to do that to generate leads and get more customers. They don’t pay much attention to it, especially when they’re outsourcing its creation. 

A lot of companies realized the importance of the quality of the content they post on their website, and many of them are now hiring editors to help them make sure that their content is always sharp and on-point. 

Though it’s not only the quality of the blog posts that show the reader you care, the length of it is also something to consider. Because long-form quality content signals that you’ve put more time on it, and who would put decent time on something they don’t care much about? Probably no one. 

This goes along with the third reason. Because appearing that you care about your readers and putting in the effort to produce high-quality value-rich content for them to solve a problem or answer a question, will also build trust in them for your brand. 

Whoever is producing the content for your company or brand, make sure they do a good job. Not by just making the posts longer—readers notice jargon, and I bet they like it not—but also in providing value and caring about the reader.

The main reason longer blog posts and content are best to generate leads is because they are proven to generate more leads!

Long-form, in-depth blog posts have been found to generate nine times more leads than short-form blog posts, according to Curata’s 2015 research. 

This is because of all of the other reasons I listed in this post and other ones too. The first one being that they rank better in search engines, which helps in getting them more traffic and exposure, which helps in getting them more leads. 

Long-form blog posts get more social shares that help in boosting traffic which leads to more leads, and the trust it puts in your audience that you know what you’re talking about and that you do care about them also helps in turning readers into leads.

Most marketers and bloggers get confused about how long their blog posts should be, and truth is, there is no perfect word count. But there are, however, ranges advised to help you get more sense of the word count that best fits the content of your brand.

According to research from many different sources, here are the ideal length for blog posts I’ve found:

• According to the SerpIQ study I mentioned at the beginning of this article, the ideal length of blog posts is around 2,450 words.
• In September of 2016, Backlinko released its research finding that the ideal word count for first pages Google results is around 1,447 words.
• According to Hook Agency, the best blog length for SEO in 2020 is 1,760 words.

As you can see, the ideal word count of each of these studies varies. Though, it’s still quite clear that longer blog posts are and perform better. 

I would advise you to aim for anywhere between 2,000 and 2,500 words and try not to go below 1,400 words if you wish for maximum results out of your blog posts.

Look at your blog content as an asset to your company. Blog posts are not just something you put out there to make the brand’s website look pretty and wholesome. They have a purpose, and to serve this purpose well, you need to pay more attention to them.

Because if your blog posts are in-depth, valuable, and comprehensive, they will perform well and serve their purpose. They will generate you more leads and pay you back for the effort put in creating them. 

They will become a resource, and over time, more websites are going to link for your posts—because they’re extremely useful—and this will attract more potential leads to your site without the need from you to put more work to generate those leads. They will become passive leads.