Debate continues to rage over
the proper length of a web article. Should your next article
be a 250-word teaser? A 500-word overview? 800-word tutorial?
What
if you have so much to teach about a particular subject that
even 1,200 words doesn't quite cover what needs to be said?
I'm going to tell you the real
secret as to why shorter is better when it comes to writing
web articles. Keep in mind that this is NOT an article on
what keeps humans interested in what you have to say. I'm
talking about driving people to your site who ALREADY WANT
what you sell. This is accomplished by publishing shorter
snippets of content.
Now, by shorter, I do NOT mean
that your "How to" and "Reasons Why" articles
should consist of 2 paragraphs of 4 sentences each, or a list
of 6 one-line bullet points with a feeble introduction and
weak conclusion tacked on. I'm of the opinion that quality
trumps quantity when it comes to the sell - and that means
delivering real value to your reader via information they
can use.
Keeping this in the back of
your mind, there is one trick that I've managed to glean from
smart site developers: the use of keyword links to gain top
placement for your search terms. Now, I know some of you are
about to nod off at the mention of that horrible, mind numbing
word - keywords - but stick with me here. You must select
a "commonly searched phrase" to emphasize in your
copy - and then include that phrase in the headlines or titles
of your website articles.
Later, when each article is
neatly presented on its own page with that keyword-loaded
title at the top, you will link TO each article page in a
list. And you will include keyword-rich titles in every link.
The keyword phrase should relate
to your industry, of course (you wouldn't think I'd have to
spell it out like this, but you'd be surprised). That means
if you're a hemp salesman, then you should use the Google
Keyword Tool to find the most commonly searched hemp terms,
like 'hemp oil,' 'hemp seeds,' 'hemp fabric' and so forth.
Next, select ONLY those phrases
that relate to your industry and whatever you sell. Start
building your collection of articles based around these phrases.
You're probably wondering what
this has to do with long versus short articles. Here it is...
I'm literally giving away trade secrets, so read carefully.
In the world of online marketing, it's all about exponential
link value. So if you can, split up one article into 2 (or
3, if possible). It will pay off by bringing increased QUALIFIED
visitors to your website. That means that if you're working
with 6 articles of 1500 words each, it's high advisable to
break those up into 18 articles of 500 words each. Or at the
very least,
