No one needs a 1700-word lasagna recipe

Recently, I wanted to try to cook something new for dinner.

Instead of breaking out one of the few cookbooks I own, I did what any tech-savvy millennial would do and started Googling recipes on my smartphone. I decided I was going to take a stab at making lasagna, but I didn’t want too much of a challenge, so I punched in “easy lasagna recipe” and hit “search.”

I was immediately greeted with mouth-watering images of melted cheese and steaming noodles. I was even provided recipe reviews from other home cooks, estimated cooking times for each recipe, and a few lasagna variants, including meatless, vegetarian lasagnas — this, all thanks to Google’s algorithms and the top-notch formatting of their search engine results pages (SERPs).

I clicked on one search result expecting an easy lasagna recipe with an ingredients list and clear instructions. What I was not expecting was a treatise on the significance of lasagna from the personal perspective of the author.

I don’t doubt that the author truly believes her recipe is “perfect for busy weeknights.” She told me so twice in her article — once in the introduction and again in the third paragraph after a giant lasagna image.

I just don’t believe an “easy lasagna recipe” requires over 1700 words, nor do I think it’s fair that the only way to get the recipe in any usable format is to scroll all the way to the bottom of the page, passing by paragraphs of personal exposition and enormous watermarked images of lasagna in the process:

I do, however, know why a page that should contain a simple lasagna recipe instead contains a 1700-word essay. I also know why it contains multiple high-resolution images and a sign-up form for a free “email cooking course” (whatever that is).

The reason stems from the many established “best practices” of the content marketing industry and, more specifically, the tendency for businesses to provide value to themselves first and to their customers second.

The Arbitrary “Rules” of Content Marketing

When I found this recipe, it reminded me of when a friend from graduate school posted to Facebook complaining about the very same problem:

“Why do people need to write an entire article about how their recipe reminds them of summers at grandma’s house when all I want is the damn recipe,” She said.

I explained to her that, according to what many content marketers believe, any post with 300 words or less doesn’t contain enough content to rank in Google search results, and longer posts tend to rank better than shorter posts. Therefore, even if you’re posting a recipe that can be summed up in a few bullet points, you need at least a few paragraphs of exposition if you want Google to consider your content relevant.

I continued to explain that the tendency to write for search engines is also reflective of how these websites are monetized. Their true purpose is not to provide you with a recipe; their true purpose is to generate ad revenue based on visits, impressions, and clicks. So, they’ll do anything they can to rank in search results and get you on the page, even if that means ruining the usefulness of their content in the process.

Focusing on search engine optimization (SEO) isn’t necessarily a bad instinct here. The recipe ranked well on a SERP and I clicked on it, after all. Furthermore, the author is competing with every other “easy lasagna recipe” on the internet, so she needs to deploy every trick in the book if she wants to get on page one.

But it also highlights a distinct problem with today’s marketing content.

If your reader’s first impression of your content is that it is frustrating and obtuse, you’re probably not trying to provide them with value; you’re probably just trying to get clicks so you can score points in your analytics.

In the case of this web page, the author clearly created the article for search engines. Indeed, she followed through with her promise of providing a lasagna recipe, fulfilling her pact with the reader (me), but not before serving her own interests first.

If I type “easy lasagna recipe” into Google now, the first organic search result I get is a recipe from Allrecipes.com:

(Source: Allrecipes.com)

The only exposition on this page is a short quote from the person who provided the recipe (probably a user). It’s followed by a clear list of ingredients and directions, as well as the recipe’s nutrition facts.

At about 370 words in length, the fact that this ranked #1 in Google search results says more about how much users love the Allrecipes website than it does about how well the page follows SEO “best practices.”

Putting an End to “Useless” Content

While it’s true that the average content length for Page 1 results on Google is about 1,900 words, this doesn’t mean everything you publish needs to be a college term paper. Most marketers would agree that the length of your content should be wholly dependent upon context — that is, the complexity of the subject matter and the nature of the audience you expect to read it.

Unfortunately, most marketers don’t seem to be putting this particular “best practice” into practice — not even B2B marketers.

A Forrester survey from 2018 revealed that 57% of B2B buyers find much of the content they receive from vendors to be “useless”:

(Source: Forrester)

VP, Principal Analyst Laura Ramos puts it this way in her analysis of the survey results:

“B2B firms are engaged in a content arms race, trying to achieve competitive advantage by producing any possible content that any possible buyer could possibly need at any possible time. However […] battling for numerical content superiority means nothing if your content isn’t relevant or interesting to buyers.”

Of course, some of us must be picking up on this problem and doing something about it. Ramos goes on to say that “top marketers are surrendering the content volume battle and are instead choosing to deliver less content that more buyers value: content that is authentic, credible, and empathetic.”

Creating Authentic Content

Self-serving content strategies are no longer viable. Focusing on the needs of readers and delivering on their expectations are the only true ways of earning their trust, whether you’re creating content for B2B buyers or consumers.

If I download a report entitled “Supply Chain Management Trends to Expect in 2020,” I expect an analysis of recent and future supply chain management trends, not an insider’s perspective on the history of supply chain management. If I search online for a lasagna recipe, I expect a lasagna recipe, not a memoir.

At rand&rand, we know that creating value with content means providing readers with something useful to their specific context that they can’t find elsewhere. For our B2B clients, this usually means providing their readers with well-researched insights or original, industry-relevant data and analysis.

If you’re thinking about your next campaign – or if you’ve got a great recipe idea that’s perfect for a busy weeknight – talk to an analyst today.