Long-form articles and blog posts are good for business. Whether your marketing team is firmly entrenched in inbound marketing or a content blog is just one strategy of several, longer posts help establish your authority. But you can’t just have a solid screen of text. No matter how much white space you have around the words and how well you break the content into paragraphs, you need graphics to make the article more pleasant to read.
But using pictures is a waste of space. Pictures are better than nothing, and they can occasionally help illustrate and underline a point. But in most information-heavy articles, they’re just a gimmick to add a bit of color. Ultimately, good web design makes your content stand out. However, here are three types of media you should be using to break up the article instead:
Build infographics that simplify a point.
If your article includes a list or a logical ‘if this, then that’ pathway, make an infographic about it, too. This can help add simplicity and underline key concepts. It’s also a graphic that interested consumers will take with them. You don’t just want your article to be readable; you want it to be shareable. So pepper in infographics and pastable code snippets to make them easy to share.
Add in videos.
Supplemental videos and simple animations are also a good way to break up a long text. People like video more than they like reading, and it’s a fun way to transform your content. These videos should not be lengthy, and they shouldn’t have a lot of information that isn’t in the article. Use them to provide background, an overview, or quick tips.
Tab in content offers or other articles.
About three-quarters of the way down an article is the perfect spot to recommend what the visitor should read next. Make sure it’s a bit graphical and offset from the content. This way the added text doesn’t seem to meld together. You can recommend related articles or offer a download of the current article if it’s a long one.
If you are looking for help with the content on your website or blog, contact us to learn about the many services we offer to help you stand out. We are the SEO leaders in Greenville, SC and can help you optimize your content for search and help you improve your keyword rankings.
