There is a fundamental conflict in today’s world of blogging.

In one corner you have the position that in order to increase your chances for favorability with the search engines you need to post long form content on your blog.

In the other corner you have the inherent need to keep your blog clean, streamlined, and concise in order to attract and keep your super-busy, constantly distracted, and ever-skimming reader.

At times, it can be maddening.

You write a detailed long post providing a deep level of value for your reader but when people see it they either leave right away because it’s simply too much to read, or they skim it and miss all of your goodness.

There used to be a time where you were instructed to simply publish blog posts in the 300-500 word range and you’d be good. Especially if you structured them well and plugged keywords appropriately.

Today, you should probably be posting double that word count…at least.

So in these times of confusion, we should turn to leaders from the past who may have killer insight into the problem.

What Churchill Says

So, let’s look at our boy Winston Churchill.

He was an incredibly intelligent and strong leader. He surely has a position we can learn from, right?

The good news is he does!

In the image below you can see a letter he wrote to his war cabinet in 1940.

Let’s dig into his 4 main points.

Structure

I’ve extolled the virtues of quality constructed content many times in the past. It’s not always what you write in your blog post but how it looks visually to the reader.

If your content is one big paragraph with limited to no formatting, you are going to chase away your reader.

Break out your content into “short, crisp, paragraphs”.

Presentation of Detailed Analysis

His second point speaks to the need to break up your content especially when it comes to very complex topics or detailed analysis.

Instead of burying all of the information in ill-constructed text form, maybe do a screencast and visually show your reader what you are trying to convey.

He mentions the use of an “appendix” as an option but this doesn’t work in an online world.

But what if you created a virtual appendix and provided a link to download a more detailed analysis for free via PDF you create?

Summarize and Present the Important Information

Here he mentions the need to simply provide the most important information and then expand upon it if needed.

For this, you could employ brilliant images to convey your point. Or, develop an infographic that can be socially shared.

Then, to allow for engagement, offer your reader the ability to comment on your post or reach out to you via email or your various social profiles if they have questions.

Make it Simple and Direct

Stop using long-form content just because you can.

Trying to make your blog post read like a dissertation will quickly turn your reader off.

Get to the point and use casual writing style, language, and format to engage with your reader. Your blog should not be like a textbook. It should be more like a casual conversation with friends.

Even Churchill mentions, “Let us not shrink from using the short expressive phrase, even if it is conversational.”

Stop trying to dictate your brilliance upon others. Instead, start to engage with them on a peer level and initiate truly valuable communication.

Your Takeaways

At the end of the day, it’s important to write as much as it takes to provide the value you intended.

Nothing more, nothing less.

Try to take some of these tips from the great Winston Churchill and think of it from the reader’s perspective. Write with the intent of addressing the point of the post not with a vision for a word count goal.

Following this advice will enhance the quality of your blog content and improve the reader experience.