5 excellent examples of longform content

One of the myths of modern marketing is that attention spans are getting shorter, and it follows that the only way to cut through the noise is by going viral with a TikTok dance.

by Claire Deane

The good news is that this isn't true. As Brendon Hufford puts it, people don't have short attention spans, they have short consideration spans. And these days, they have a lot to consider.

Great longform content still has the capacity to capture and keep the attention of a busy audience. But if we look at what's working in longform content, we see there's a catch: it has to be great.

And the definition of what counts as 'great' content on the web is changing. Audiences now expect longform pieces to combine immersive visual content like multimedia and interactive elements, with excellent writing and UX design.

What does this look like? Read on to find out:

• What longform content is
• Four benefits of longform content
• How to create an excellent piece of longform content
• Five examples of great longform content (and why they’re so good)

Longform content dives deep into a topic and is typically longer than 1000 words (although it’s not all about the word count). Longform content can be a magazine article, a blog post, a piece of investigative journalism, a white paper, trend report, or a long interview that lets readers immerse themselves in a particular subject. 

Traditionally, longform content on the web took two forms. First, it was published in a PDF, perhaps gated and available to be downloaded from a website. Second, it was a long piece of journalism told simply in big blocks of text, with perhaps a few images.

But audience expectations are changing — and to meet them, the best content creators are using modern content creation platforms. With the rise of platforms like Shorthand, content creators can develop longform content that is immersive and interactive, featuring video, imagery, infographics, maps, and more.

What do the BBC, Tripadvisor, and Penguin have in common?

They craft stunning, interactive web content with Shorthand. And so can you! Create your first story — no code or web design skills required.

Get started.

• Longform content is the backbone of your content marketing strategy. When you create one longform content piece, you can break it up into a bunch of short-form content that can be used across a range of digital marketing channels: emails, social media, and your website.

• Longform content sets you apart on the internet. Going deep on a particular topic allows you to demonstrate your point of view to your target audience. People with opinions stand out on the web, showcasing you as an expert and attracting people who want to hear your take.

• Longform content gets you found in search. Longform content is a powerful SEO tool. Google has a number of quality indicators, one of which is time on site. If someone spends more time reading your piece of longform content, the feedback to Google is that your content is valuable. The result? Google is more likely to suggest that page, which can lead to other benefits: more organic traffic, increased conversion rates, and backlinks from other trusted sites.

• The longform format allows you to build a reputation for quality content. Showing your depth of thinking allows you to build authority, and your brand.

Want to learn more about the benefits of longform? Check out our guide: Why publish longform content?

We’ve analysed some of the best pieces we’ve seen at Shorthand, and some of the common criteria are:

1. They provide real value and interest to readers by digging into an important issue, helping to solve a particular problem, providing actionable advice, or giving space for a long in-depth interview.
2. They’re only as long as they need to be. While there’s plenty of metrics on the optimal length for longform content (Hubspot cites between 1500 and 2330 words, while Wordstream believes a seven-minute read time is the sweet spot for content length), the best pieces dive deep into a topic, without adding fluff.
3. They’re beautifully designed, using imagery and video to keep readers engaged.
4. They use multimedia content, like data, maps, video, and images to help readers get an even deeper understanding of the topic.
5. They’re written for humans, not algorithms (but they are great for the algorithm too).

We’ve analysed some of our favourite case studies of longform content created with Shorthand and why we think they’re so successful.

Penguin Books UK’s Lit in Colour program, along with race equality think tank, The Runnymede Trust, produced a report outlining how schools in the UK could make the teaching and learning of English literature more inclusive. While the report could have existed as a (rarely read) PDF, Penguin Books UK created a piece of visual longform content designed to make the findings and recommendations accessible.

RELX wanted to share their collective years of internal communications wisdom while also creating a top-of-funnel resource that would demonstrate their knowledge to prospective clients. The Internal Communications Manual is a beautiful piece of content for internal comms practitioners that also serves to demonstrate their quirky tone of voice.

A research project about restoring the desert ecosystem in the outback of Sturt National Park could be a pretty dry subject. UNSW have humanised the story by focussing on the family behind the study, while integrating imagery and video to help readers understand the scale of the project and the landscape it’s being delivered in.

Honda have recognised the opportunity for longform content creation to work as a promotional piece that feels like a magazine excerpt.

Stuff NZ’s feature editorial on the people of Te Urewera in New Zealand couldn’t have been told with just words on a page. Imagery, video, sound, and interactive elements make this story immersive and are critical to evoking an emotional connection with the reader.