Writing the right content? Be short and to the point

Guest blog by Myrthe Kuipers from greencreatives.nl 

Writing the right content? How long should the blog article be? When it comes to the number of words, there are divergent opinions about what would be good for an effective content marketing strategy. Since there are no clear rules, it is generally assumed that more content is better for the search results. More and more is being written and published more frequently. But is this necessary? More content does not automatically mean that the quality of the content is good. Sometimes short and concise content is the most suitable way to educate your target group. No one is not going to read a blog article because it is too short, while the opposite is true. I would therefore like to discuss a number of misconceptions about content marketing with you. Because more is not always better.

Listen to the visitor

Take your web statistics. If you look at this, it will most likely be disappointing how long an average visit session actually lasts. Quite logical actually, because the average internet user is in a hurry. Scan quickly, pick out the most important information and go on. Especially the mobile user has a hand in it and is not waiting for long pieces of text. But then again, the moderate session duration is disappointing. Realize that the online visitor has the power. Everything related to online activities must become more user-friendly and increasingly tailored to the behavior of online users. So in the field of content marketing do not do the opposite by coming up with an infinite amount of content. Understand the user and therefore keep it short and to the point.

Quality and quantity: two extremes

Broadly speaking, it is often assumed that quality and quantities are two extremes of each other. In practice, this means that larger quantities often impede quality. It should be choosing or sharing: quality or quantity. Roughly said then. In the field of content marketing, this does not necessarily mean that quality decreases with longer blog articles. With quantity in this case I mainly refer to the frequency. The internet has to be sent more and more, which means that quality is under pressure. A higher frequency is often accompanied by a lower quality. Therefore, develop a predefined goal and let it constantly refine. At multiple moments, by multiple stakeholders. Only then can you keep the quality high. But especially focus on quality, rather than quantity, on what you are really good at.

Switch off your media glasses

Nowadays everyone is taking part in the trend of content marketing. Every self-respecting company uses a content marketing strategy in a certain way. That is fine in itself, but above all don't get too excited. Do not forget your 'roots' and what your 'core business' is. Writing the right content must suit you, your company and brand. That means writing at the right time and in the right way. When you consider it necessary, when you feel comfortable with it. Do not write content because of the content marketing hype or to have your page indexed by Google as quickly as possible. Also not for the 'shares', 'likes' and 'retweets'. Only write content if you really have something to say.

Guest blog by Myrthe Kuipers from greencreatives.nl