When you have your own blog, there are a lot of things to consider if you want it to be successful. One common question people ask is, “How long should a blog post be?” Unfortunately, there is no cut-and-dry answer. Instead, the length of a blog post should depend on a few things, so I’ve put together a short list of important factors to consider when writing your blog posts.
1. What is the topic of your blog?
Is it fun and playful or technical and formal? If it’s more technical, it will probably require a lot of explaining and therefore have a longer word count. This would especially apply for very niche businesses like law or medical offices. If I am reading a blog about chemical peels, I will probably want to learn about the procedure itself, how it works, and what to expect after the procedure. This would require a pretty lengthy post. On the flip side, if I am reading a blog post about what I should do this weekend in Austin, a short list will do.
2. What good is a blog if no one knows it exists?
A study done by SerpIQ found that the average content length on the first ten search results is 2,000+ words. No worries: this doesn’t mean that every post on your blog should be research-paper length. Instead, try to include a few longer posts here and there. I would do some research and find some more specific topics that readers will want to learn about that require a lot of information.
By writing some longer posts, you will also be able to include the topics you want to be ranking for more often than in short posts. It’s best practice to include the topic once every 100 words, so if you have a blog that’s 300 words, you should make sure the topic is mentioned three times total, which isn’t very much compared to a blog that’s 2,000 words long. Also, with a higher word count, there are more chances for you to include differently worded variations on that topic.
3. Analyze past blog posts.
What blogs do your readers like the most? Once your blog is established, take a quick analysis of the posts. Which ones get the most shares or comments, and how does that relate to the length of the post?
4. Who is your target audience?
What kinds of people do you want your blog to speak to? What is their day-to-day schedule like? Are they stay-at-home moms who might have a more flexible schedule and therefore would be more interested in long blogs? Or are they medical professionals who have a day full of appointments and would prefer blogs that are short and to the point?
The most important thing to remember is that there is no rule on the length of a blog post, so if your topic can perfectly be explained in 300 words, leave it at 300 words. You shouldn’t feel like your blog isn’t long enough or you need to add words just to have a higher word count. If there are parts of your blog post that are “filler” or “fluff” and don’t really contribute, don’t hesitate to take them out.
So how long should a blog be? Now you know the answer isn’t a simple one! The next time you’re writing a blog post, think about these four things, and hopefully you’ll reach a happy medium for a successful blog.
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