How Long Should a White Paper Be?
Each type of content serves a motive that is inspired by the needs of the content’s target audience.
Because the average person today craves credible information, producing solid content is also one of the ways that businesses stay relevant in the information age.
White papers have become a common find in many brands’ stacks of content marketing tools for this reason. But since they have more unique features than other types of content –blogs, web content, videos, etc. –they demand a higher level of mastery to get them right.
One of the biggest questions regarding delivering top-quality whitepapers is how long a whitepaper should be. This blog will dive into that question along with other elements that determine a white paper’s length.
What is a White Paper?
A white paper is a persuasive and reliable piece of extensive information on a specific subject that offers a solution. The information is presented in a straightforward manner that helps solve challenging business problems while enhancing a brand's trustworthiness.
The first whitepaper was called the Churchill White Paper –written in England in 1922 as a government response to the Jaffa Riots that occurred in 1921. The document was a strong recommendation for policy reforms built on well-researched data.
Marketers began using the term white paper in the 90s to describe articles that included logic, backed up with facts and stats to boost integrity or persuade leads to buy products.
As digital marketing became common and unavoidable, white papers became useful in drawing customers to businesses they previously knew nothing about.
They are especially helpful in the B2B space, enabling B2Bs to build brand awareness, place the brand as an industry thought leader, and build lead volume.
What are the Industry Standards for White Papers?
There are no limitations for the kind of documents that people call a white paper –even some detailed brochures have been called white papers. However, there are requirements to follow if you want to write a good quality whitepaper that deserves the name:
1. Length
White papers used to be up to 50 pages long when they were first introduced, but people had longer attention spans then and presumably more time to read. Today’s audience is more time-pressed, forcing writers to keep white papers to 6 to 8 pages.
They can be longer depending on the audience. For example, the ideal length for executive audiences is 6 to 10 pages with a maximum of 12 pages. For technical audiences, you can have between 6 to 12 pages or up to 15 pages. This means for a typical whitepaper, you should be aiming for about 2500-5000 words.
2. Structure
Most written content pieces such as blogs and web content only require a title, a short introduction, the body, and a wrap-up made up of a conclusion and call to action.
White papers thrive on details and require a title page, table of contents, an optional and brief executive summary, an introduction, a couple of pages delving into the topic at hand with a hypothetical solution, pages that detail examples of businesses or entities that have used the solution and succeeded and lastly, a compelling conclusion.
3. Content Density
Because of their detailed nature, white papers are denser and hard to skim. In other words, you can’t get to the author’s point by just scanning or skimming through the pages.
4. Format
White papers take the format of a portrait PDF with a pleasant design without making it as loud as a brochure. They are common as soft copies and are typically accessible online but they can also be found in hard copies for trade shows, sales calls, etc.
6. Style
White papers keep off from playful language and colloquialisms, opting for serious, authoritative, well-researched, and error-free writing.
Is There Such a Thing as a Two-page White Paper?
When you call your content white paper, readers expect in-depth information with matching irrefutable facts. They expect that your paper will address their need satisfactorily and save them the online trips from one resource to another looking for more information on the topic.
That’s why experts recommend 6 to 8 pages for most white papers and room for up to 12 pages for those written for business heads and 15 pages for technical papers.
Considering that these lengths include the illustrations and cover pages, a two-page white paper just doesn’t meet the threshold of a proper white paper.
Correcting Wrong White Paper Length
In case you have a white paper that checks all the boxes on detail, style, structure, density, and format but the length is wrong, you can work your way back to the right length.
When the length exceeds the recommended size, you can shrink it back by doing the following:
- Find out which two related topics you can get out of your current white paper topic. For example, a topic on determining the right time to expand your business can generate one topic on what experts call the right time and another one the first phase of business expansion.
- Opt for topics that have fewer details. This limits your scope of the information that is relevant enough to add to your white paper thereby making it shorter.
- If you have the financial muscle to produce a series of white papers, concentrate on doing that so that you have a sequence where one white paper gives ground for the next one until you’ve exhausted the topic.
- Choose the most important challenge to explore and focus on the important details about it.
Assuming the problem is having a short white paper:
- Go over the topic again, dive deeper into earlier research, and find additional research.
- Once you’ve gathered enough information, divide it into relevant sub-sections and talk about how people used to solve the problem.
- Next, include recent trends that set the stage for new methods of solving the problem and why they are important.
- Afterwards, build your case for why the solution you’re advocating for deserves consideration. Find the most credible resources to support your narrative.
- Show why alternative solutions won’t cut it and back up your claims with facts.
Key Takeaway
The length of a white paper is determined by its name –which eliminates short pieces with little detail or without credible resources –and the audience for whom it is written.
The moment you cut corners with any of these factors, you eat away at the basis that makes content a white paper.
The shortest yet guaranteed route to writing a great white paper is by engaging Zoey's high quality whitepaper writing services. Get a white paper that speaks your mind while placing you squarely as a trendsetter in your industry. Feel free to talk to us today and we'll be more than willing to assist!
Photo by Diana Polekhina on Unsplash
