How Longform & Shortform Can Work Together To Benefit Everyone

A war is raging on in the publishing world for readership in a densely populated market. A seemingly never-ending battle pits longform and shortform advocates against one another. Should publishers stick to shorter, more frequent posts? Or should they go back to their roots in longer, in-depth pieces? Well, forget the in-fighting and raise a white flag because one is not greater than the other. In fact, shortform and longform should (and most definitely can)work together in articles of all types.

To really understand, consider each form’s strengths. Shortform is incredibly valuable in enhancing awareness and converting browsers to readers. Often found in the forms of blogging, lists and social media curation, it offers a vague understanding of the material. But only a basic understanding.

Meanwhile, longform can delve deeper and examine said material at greater length, providing detail and careful discussion in longer journalistic pieces and books. The problem with longform, sadly, is that people aren’t scrolling down the page to read: 80% of readers spend their time above the fold—the visible part of a web page before one has to scroll— and only 20% scroll beyond the fold. People are too ‘busy’ for long-form commitments.

How can publishers expect anyone to read below the fold then? Top publishers like the BBC, the Daily Mail, and Bloomberg are increasingly using shortform at the top of longform to captivate readers and pull them into the longform. It works like this:

Bullet points, a slideshow list, and aphorisms can take the key points of the longform article. If a reader feels compelled by the information, the reader will scroll on to find greater credibility and authority in the piece. Quietly lists, for example, can act as a summary for an article, as seen at the top of this piece.

The best way to implement this into your own writing is to think of how you can use shortform for your longform. Can you listify it? Should you just use bullet points? Then think about social media: can you use social media creatively? What about more visual content, like infographics? How you use shortform for your longform should reflect your brand. If you use it correctly, you can get all kinds of readers to come to your site.

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Image credit Hoira Varlan via Flickr