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Help me, please!

Short and Sweet vs Lengthy and Complete?

HealthfulMD
Posts: 52
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on 06/07/2011

Since my background is in medicine and education I tend to fall into the Lengthy and Complete category.

My hunch is that Wizzley pages are supposed to be more "Short and Sweet" based on the length that I've seen on some of the other published pages.

I am working on one that might be better split into several with links (creating a 'hub' page).

I am realizing that the part of the Experience a Labyrinth page could be split off into Using Labyrinths as Memorials.

Obviously best to split before the page is published. What happens to Google indexing if we split after the page is published?

 


The doctor of the future will give no medicine but will interest his patients in the care of the human frame, in diet and in the cause and prevention of disease. ~ Thomas Edison
chefkeem
Posts: 3100
Message
on 06/07/2011

I wouldn't split up anything now, Kirsti. You can always make more articles out of your topic - perhaps more focussed on individual sections.

We welcome any article length, but it's often more reader-friendly when you can keep it in easily-digestable chunks.


Achim "Chef Keem" Thiemermann is the co-founder of a pretty cool new platform called...um...er...oh, yeah - Wizzley.com.
lakeerieartists
Posts: 769
Message
on 06/07/2011

Kirsti, I would recommend writing your articles in groups of 5 or 10 related articles.  Think of them as writing a pamphlet instead of book.  You could have a central directory article with broader explanations and break down the details in sections which would be separate articles.  Then link them all together.

I would say keep articles in the range of 700 to 1500 words more or less.

I know that I just disagreed with the boss's comment above.

Part of my reasoning is that each article acts similarly to a chapter in a book.  Some people may only be looking for one specific symptom and then they will find all of your articles through that search.  They will probably then read more than one article in the series.

It also gives you more keywords to draw people in from.  Additionally, the system will most likely link some of your other articles from the series in the sidebar.

You can link them through the link module, and/or through creating a list in a text module.


Paula Atwell (aka lakeerieartists) is the owner of an online art gallery, Lake Erie Artists Gallery and a freelance writer
chefkeem
Posts: 3100
Message
on 06/07/2011

I don't think we disagree that much, Paula. An expert article with 700-1000 words can still be easy to digest, if it's designed well. I just wouldn't pack 2000-3000 words on one page.


Achim "Chef Keem" Thiemermann is the co-founder of a pretty cool new platform called...um...er...oh, yeah - Wizzley.com.
HealthfulMD
Posts: 52
Message
on 06/07/2011

Since I tend to write or at least create lengthy pages, I thought it would be good to check.

I am trying to figure out what the Google changes are going to do to longer articles, so perhaps looking to write shorter ones.

In looking around Wizzley, with the exception of the wizzleographies, it seems that the page length is shorter than I've seen with Squidoo and with Hubpages.

I tend to start with one idea and then end up with a couple of others as I am doing the research.

I think my new rule of thumb will be to take a step back when I go to publish and see if there are some logical areas that can be pulled into new pages and do that before the first is published.

I'm working on splitting off the Memorial Labyrinths into their own page and putting them under Grief and Bereavement rather than Alternative Therapies.

Thanks for the insights.


The doctor of the future will give no medicine but will interest his patients in the care of the human frame, in diet and in the cause and prevention of disease. ~ Thomas Edison
lakeerieartists
Posts: 769
Message
on 06/07/2011

Panda really has nothing to do with the fact that if you "broaden the target" more people will find you.

If you imagine your single article as the center of the target, and your group of articles as if you have added more of the outside rings on the target, you can visualize why more articles will actually do better than just one.  You can give out the same amount of related information but in a series of articles instead of one long one.  Then if someone searches on your topic on Google, you will have 5 or 10 results on the same page.


Paula Atwell (aka lakeerieartists) is the owner of an online art gallery, Lake Erie Artists Gallery and a freelance writer
tandemonimom
Posts: 144
Message
on 06/07/2011

Paula, that's a very helpful visualization - thanks!


Carma aka tandemonimom
Kylyssa_Shay
Posts: 15
Message
on 06/15/2011

Here's where I speculate and disagree with people. 

Think about the Internet searches you do.  Think about how you feel about the results you get.  Google is trying to please the end users, the readers.  Think about what pleases you in a search result.  Google is trying to get  its top search engine results to be good writing by authoritative sources. 

I think your article should be tightly focused but as long as it needs to be to cover the information to some depth.  If your article is shallow, it will irritate searchers.  If I look up information, I want some substance.  I despise articles that are just what I call teasers; they just say what is common knowledge about a topic and leave one needing to search further to find what one is looking for.  One must search through pages and pages and pages of those shallow articles to find anything of substance, anything with new information.  Google will eventually (if they aren't already) try to address that issue, too.

I think that short articles work for short attention span topics like "which product is best" or for some types of "how to" articles but not for topics which are more serious like medical topics.  If I have a medical condition I won't be satisfied with a 300 to 500 word piece which just shallowly covers a description of the ailment and neither will most other people motivated enough to make a search on that subject.

My rule of thumb is that if my article doesn't provide something that can't be found on a Wikipedia entry on the same subject I need to either choose a new topic I know more about or find a way to provide that something more. 

chefkeem
Posts: 3100
Message
on 06/15/2011

I like your "rule of thumb", Kylyssa.  Smile


Achim "Chef Keem" Thiemermann is the co-founder of a pretty cool new platform called...um...er...oh, yeah - Wizzley.com.
tandemonimom
Posts: 144
Message
on 06/15/2011

 

Kylyssa_Shay: 15. Jun 2011, 11:41

My rule of thumb is that if my article doesn't provide something that can't be found on a Wikipedia entry on the same subject I need to either choose a new topic I know more about or find a way to provide that something more. 


Excellent rule of thumb!


Carma aka tandemonimom
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