The Difference Between Wide and Deep Content Explained

Content marketing has become a vital component of online marketing, and there are several things to consider while producing content:

• What is the conversion-goal related to the particular piece of content?
• Who is your target audience?
• What type of topic will push readers to your call-to-action?
• What content format will be well received?
• Should you create wide or deep content?

That last point is one that many overlook when planning their content strategy. Let’s first briefly explain what each one is.

Wide Content: This type of content will usually touch on a broad topic, something similar to this article on how to create influencer marketing relationships, which features a lot of tips related to establishing mutually beneficial influencer relationships. It is a piece of content that has the potential to appeal to a very wide range of readers.

Deep Content: When content focuses on one subject and gets very specific about the details of that topic it’s referred to as deep content. An example would be this article on what happens after a DUI arrest in Los Angeles. It is very detailed and focused on a single topic, thus appealing to a much smaller audience.

There are benefits of both wide and deep content. Let’s break those down now so you understand how each can benefit your content marketing strategy.

Benefits of Wide Content

Much easier to create content (or outsource): Since the topics are of a much broader nature, less research is typically needed. You can produce wide content at a faster rate in-house, and for those who outsource, it's much easier to find writers who can create adequate pieces of wide content.

Unlimited topic availability: There are virtually unlimited topic options for every niche and industry, giving you the ability to always publish fresh topics and give your readers a wide variety of topic choices to consume.

Appeals to a very large audience: Wide content allows you to cast a very large net and pull in readers that have a wide variety of interests and objectives. While not everyone will necessarily be interested in what your business offers, it's a great way to get more eyes on your brand.

Benefits of Deep Content

Builds authority: When you create very detailed pieces of content around a specific topic it can become an authoritative content asset that other websites link to when referencing said topic. This is a great way to earn links, which can drastically improve your SEO. This is a great example of how content marketing is designed to work.

Attracts high-quality targeted traffic: Deep content is very topic-specific, so the content titles and article bodies will typically feature several search terms and phrases that will trigger it to show up in Google's organic search results when someone makes a search query related to the content. When you start to publish a large volume of content you can see your traffic number snowball, even if each piece of content is just attracting a handful of visitors month-after-month.

Converts more website traffic into customers and buyers: Since deep content topics are very specific, traffic that hits your website via organic search is going to be highly targeted. Conversion rates are always much higher when you have targeted traffic, rather than broad traffic that wasn't actively seeking what it is that you offer. Deep content should have a very specific call-to-action built in, as these readers have a high probability of converting.

Final Thoughts

While both formats of content serve a different role, most businesses will find that they need a mix of both deep and wide content to satisfy their content needs. Over time, you will need to dive deep into your analytics and conversion data to see what pieces of content your readers respond the best to and adjust your content marketing accordingly. Content marketing isn’t any different from other forms of online marketing – constant testing and optimization will be required to be successful.

Want more? Download The 7½ Deadly Sins of Content Marketing (And How to Avoid Them).

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