What is the best length for a blog post? If you think about the blogs you read, there are very successful posts of many different lengths, but that doesn’t mean you can just write a blog post with zero regard to word count. It’s also highly possible to sabotage your post by making it too long or too short for the intended audience and purpose.
Basically, there’s no one-size-fits-all answer. There are pros and cons to each length. Anything from 200 words to over 5000 is acceptable, but only if you consider the full situation. Is that a little too confusing? Let’s dig in a little further and learn more about the proper blog post length!
When to Write Short Blog Posts
The Pros
Perhaps the most obvious pro of a shorter blog post is that it’s good for readers with a short attention span. Long blog posts may scare off some readers before they even get a chance to start reading. With a short post, readers are more likely to stay on your site and read your post.
If you have a short and simple question you’re trying to answer with your blog, there is no need to write a lengthy blog post. A lower word count, like 300 words, may be perfect! Likewise, another reason to write short posts is to start a discussion. Short blog posts tend to get more comments than longer posts. So, if that is your end goal, keep things around 500 words or less.
Google also pays attention to the average word count of blog posts that have the same topic as yours. You don’t want to stray too far from this average word count. If the average word count for blog posts with the same topic as yours is 300, there’s no reason to write 1000. You can write more than 300, but you shouldn’t write significantly more.
So, check out the competition by Googling your main keyword and checking out the length of the top results. If your topic is a low-word-count topic, write a short blog post.
The Cons
The problem with short posts is that SEO often favors longer posts. It used to be that word counts of 200-300 words were considered the best length for a blog post, but that is no longer the case.
When to Write Long Blog Posts
The Pros
Long blog posts are perfect for complicated subjects. You have more room to explore and explain something that might be difficult for readers to understand.
If your post is thorough and in-depth on its topic, readers don’t need to check other sites besides yours for information. You will make your reader’s research process easier and drum up your readership and SEO ranking in turn!
If you write more words, Google can easily narrow down what your post is about. You have the opportunity to include more links, more headings, and more content. Google also assumes that longer length means more detail, which means higher quality content. All of this results in a higher ranked site.
Long blog posts are great for SEO, because you are able to naturally include many keywords. At the same time, you have more content in which to disperse these keywords. Keyword stuffing is unnecessary.
Longer posts are likely to get shares on social media. These shares can mean more visitors, which will get you a higher SEO ranking.
The Cons
The problem with writing so many words is that it can also get harder for your audience to read it. Sometimes things that are longer are harder to focus on and comprehend. However, if you are writing well, more words can also make the topic easier to understand.
If you’re writing a post that is extremely long—think upward of 2000 words—you need to think about making it less intimidating to readers. Include an index and some links. Don’t forget lots of subheadings, bullet points, and images to break up the text! Headings and subheadings also allow readers to skim over the content for the parts that they’re most interested in.
Consider The Future of SEO
It’s important to keep in mind that SEO changes frequently. The thing that makes your blog rank highly today may make it rank lower in the future. Google uses over 200 ranking factors, and their algorithm is changing all the time. One change that will be happening in the near future is that Google is switching to a mobile-first index that favors mobile-friendly sites. This means that shorter blogs may be the best length for a blog post in the near future.
In short, write a short blog post to
- Answer a simple question
- Start a discussion
- Emulate other short blog posts
And write a long blog post to
- Raise your SEO ranking
- Write about a complex topic
- Get shares on social media
And Finally, Consider Your Unique Audience When Deciding the Best Length for a Blog Post
There is one reason why you might want to break these rules: pay attention to your audience. If your following favors short, 200-400 word blog posts, then the best length for a blog post is obviously short. If they seem to prefer in-depth blogs of 2000 words or more, then that’s what you should be posting. Give your readers what you know they will want to read!
If you’re trying to keep your business blog consistently up to date, Strong Estate’s expert blog writers can help! Just contact us using the form below, or click on “SEO BLOG POST” on our Order Your Writing page.