Today’s blog post is about what we are doing at Jorbins.com. Specifically the note format we use and why we use it.
Questions: Have you searched for anything on a search engine recently looking for an answer to a question you have? Have you noticed that much of the results you see tend to be long format articles where your answer is typically buried in a wall of text?
Typically you will arrive at an article or blog post that will be anywhere from one thousand to five thousand words!
The reason for this is that search engines tend to place more “value” on this type of long-form content over shorter content in their rankings. This has forced writers and bloggers to stuff as much as they can into one article or post just to meet the 1000-5000 word “quota” search engines are looking for.
Now, there isn’t anything wrong with long-format articles and posts. They are chalked full of really good well thought out information. But, there are a few problems with it.
- There is too much information to fully absorb it all in one sitting. Writers tend to try to completely cover everything about a topic in one article or post just to rank in search engines. But by doing so they don’t fully address a single concept and all of the sub-concepts they present to their readers in full.
- Writers and bloggers tend to use a lot of needless fluff that isn’t necessarily needed. A reader may bypass this fluff and miss important nuggets of information and concepts. Readers tend to experience information fatigue as well.
- Long-form content tends to be linear. You will find that this type of content is written through a single point of view that tries to “convince” a reader of that point of view. This does not make much room for the reader to create alternative points of view and form differing concepts of their own.
What we are doing here at Jorbins.com is to break down concepts and information into manageable chunks into an interlinking note format called atomic notes. These notes are small chunks of information (around five hundred words or less) that address one single concept or question in a manner that is direct and to the point. Reducing information fatigue and overload.
Short (atomic) interlinking notes allow our readers to explore and quickly discover concepts along a knowledge path they choose based on their current understanding of a concept or need. Similar to a pick a path book where you get to choose the path through a story. Our readers get to choose their own experience here at Jorbins.com. They get to decide when they acquired enough information or to continue to acquire more without having to wade through a bunch of needless fluff.
More importantly, interlinking notes act as association bridges (relationships) between concepts. These association bridges benefit our readers by helping them quickly and easily create simple, yet highly effective, mental associations. These mental associations help to deepen our reader’s understanding and turn newly acquired bits of atomic information into long-term knowledge. The caveat is that our readers use their newly acquired knowledge in some way as well.
Another benefit of using interlinking notes is that it aids our readers in the discovery of information and resources. Our readers can quickly and easily bounce from note to note (concept to concept) allowing them to discover things they didn’t know and find answers to questions that may arise. Our notes will often include external resources and sources that they can explore as well.
I know we are taking an untraditional approach to blogging and content creation and are going against the grain of current internet trends. I also know search engines won’t favor Jorbins.com as much because of it. So it is extremely risky. But, I have noticed a trend among the many people I have talked with. They are saying that they are getting tired of having to wade through walls of content just to find what they are looking for. (Like a two-thousand-word article just for a simple recipe). Not only that, they are wasting time that they can be using for deeper exploration of a topic.
We are trying to address these issues and I truly believe there is a need to do so.