One long article or 3 smaller articles broken down into logical steps
-
Hey,
So I think the title of my question says it all really. I've written an article which is now 3k words.
Should I :
a.) publish as one article and reap the benefits of a very authoritative page on the subject, social shares, etc, but secondary keywords will be formatted as sub-headings (H2 tags) within the article.
or,
b.) break article down into 3 logical steps, resulting in 4 pages (intro, part 1, part 2, part 3) and reap the benefits of 3 highly optimized pages where secondary keywords become primary keywords (URL, Meta Title, H1, etc)
Thoughts welcome?
Cheers,
Woody -
I publish long articles. It works best for me.
If the three articles that you are thinking about are tightly clustered in keyword space then one article is definitely the way to go. However, if the three articles have a wide spread in keyword space, each with good volume, then three articles could perform better.... but in that case I would write nine short articles tightly clustered around three keywords and publish them as three long articles that go deep and wide around the central keyword.
-
Thanks EGOL,
So you'd definitely recommend a long article for ranking my secondary key phrases even though the page will not be optimised for them, like it would on their own page?
-
I've written an article which is now 3k words.
Nice work! Do you have a bunch of images to kick up the first impression impact, make it interesting and offer short diversions for the reader?
a.) publish as one article and reap the benefits of a very authoritative page on the subject, social shares,
This is what I do. I have found that a long page is better for these reasons.....
!) much greater ability to attract long-tail queries (most of my traffic comes from these and 3000 words on a page will give you more long-tail word combinations)
- if you have one big article then all of the social and link equity will focus on that one page. That will make it much more powerful than splitting it between multiple pages... and one big page with lots of subheads, lots of images will be more impressive and linkworthy, tweetworth and emailworthy to your visitors.
secondary keywords will be formatted as sub-headings (H2 tags) within the article.
YES. Use lots of these and don't hesitate to use tertiary keywords in h3 or h4.
And, consider onpage anchor links at the top of the article that enable visitors to reach a subheading in one click. IMO these are second in optimization power only to the title tag.
Good luck. Let us know how it works whatever you do.
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Good or Bad - Google reviews from the one IP?
Hello, our client wants to place an iPad in their foyer where they invite customers to review via Google / Facebook. My concern is that having too many reviews from the same IP (and esp the business' IP) will look suspicious to Google (be it now, or in the future when the algorithm changes). Do you think Google collect the IP's of reviews? Any thoughts?
Social Media | | E2E0 -
Looking for a specific article by Rand or others
Hi Everyone, I am looking for an article (can't remember the name of it) that has these concepts. I believe Rand wrote one not too long ago but I cannot remember the name. Inbound links from Social Media Sites do not help your SEO. There is correlation but that is it. Traffic generated from Social Media sites may be an indicator to Google and a SEO ranking factor. It is the traffic not the link that Google is consider as a ranking factor. Google plus - so there have been many articles saying that Google + helps your rankings. I believe I saw one by Rand saying this is not true. There is correlation but not causation. I am trying to explain to my students how social media really benefits SEO and make them think beyond "the link". Any other articles suggested are also appreciated Thanks Carla
Social Media | | Carla_Dawson0 -
Facebook - one page or two for local insurance agency with 2 locations?
We have 2 offices within 20 miles of each other, and we are getting ready to launch a facebook page (or pages)... I'm not sure whether we should put up one page or two. One office is our 'corporate office', and the other a 'satellite' office, both are very much open for business, but there will never be a need to post something on one and not the other...the two locations are just too close for there to be a need for that. If something is relevant to one town, it is relevant to the other. I am really leaning toward one page for both offices for many reasons, but it seems like facebook wants me to have 2 pages (ie. I can't put in more than one address). Any help is much appreciated! Thank you!
Social Media | | jgower0 -
Share my Article Email
I am looking for some help an inspiration on a quality email for sharing content. I don't want it to be in your face please share my article but at the same time I want people to act upon it 🙂 Thanks for your help guys and gals 🙂
Social Media | | onlinemediadirect0 -
What are your top 3 social bookmarking and social networking sites for Ecommerce?
I am trying to figure out the best social bookmarking and social networking sites to use for my eCommerce sites. Often in the social bookmarking platforms posting a review or a product is instantly considered spam. I know that having links from these types of sites are important but I don't want to come across as spam. What creative solutions do you use for this challenge?
Social Media | | purch0 -
Roundup of Facebook Share & Facebook Like. Which one is better for SEO?
There doesn't seem to be clear cut advice / data on whether Facebook Share or Facebook Like is more valuable from an SEO standpoint. So I'm asking you SEOmoz fans have you come across conclusive evidence or have your own sites / testes proven that one is stronger than the other.
Social Media | | walidalsaqqaf0 -
Does it make sense to have one facebook/twitter account for multiple websites?
If you have several different websites with related themes, does it make sense to just have a facebook or twitter page for the company to make managing the account more manageable?
Social Media | | thappe0