How Long Should Your Blog Posts Be?

How Long Should Your Blog Posts Be?
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The one given in online marketing is that you need content. The other is that it has to be unique, interesting and relevant to your particular audience.

The problem is that all takes time – something you’re probably very short of making it difficult to find the hours is needs to produce a constant stream of high quality content.

So if you have all of that to deal with, the last thing you should be worrying about is how long it should be.

To be honest with you, despite the evidence to the contrary, there is no real definitive answer to that question.

Granted, copy that stands the test of time (evergreen content) and that gets the most links generally tends to be longer. The reason why this type of content is successful is because it’s going to contain more long tail keywords and phrases, which will help its searchability.

But, if you’ve said all you have to say in 400 words, padding it out to make it longer will dilute what you’ve just written.

That probably wasn’t the answer you were looking for, but in all honesty the length of your article or post will depend on your subject matter and audience.

The Long and Short Of It

If you decide you’re going to write a long blog post, it’s essential you make sure your message stays strong, you keep the interest levels high and every word must count.

If you fail, stray from the point and start waffling, no one is going to waste their time reading it.

Your readers’ attention span will be a hug factor in the success of your blog, which is why if you go for a longer article, it must be well written, interesting and entertaining. If it fails to satisfy, why would they read it?

Personally, I prefer short posts and articles because I like to get my information quickly and concisely.

It’s very rare for me to read anything over 600 words (other than a novel), which would be why most of my posts tend to be short and sweet. I’m pretty sure I’m not the only person who thinks like that.

Long Blogs Attract More Comments

I don’t have scientific proof to back that up, but if you think about it, it makes sense.

Long articles give you plenty of room to formulate arguments for or against a particular question, so it’s more like to evoke an emotional response in the reader. So, if you write it well, your readers will be more inclined to comment and put their own viewpoint forward.

Short posts that concentrate on a particular feature (e.g. website copywriting, email content, SEO etc.), are more likely to just provide the reader with the information they need, so they can take it away and use it. As a result they may be less inclined to comment (unless of course they disagree with you).

After all that, the answer to whether you should be writing long or short copy comes down to:

  • Who is your audience?
  • What do they want to know?
  • What do you want to get out of your blogging?

The best course of action is to cover all bases and write a mixture of long and short posts with a few videos and infographics thrown in for good measure – that way you’ll be offering something for everyone.

Adding variety to your blog in this way will keep your audience entertained and help you attract a wide spectrum of readers.

About the Author: Sally Ormond is an independent copywriter and owner of Briar Copywriting Ltd. For tips on copywriting, marketing and social media, you can also read her words of wisdom on Briar Copywriting’s Blog.