To respect the topic, let’s get started straight.
For someone who runs a blog either as a personal choice and hobby or a main business or a business blog as an addition to their main site, one of the most frequent question is “how long should my blogpost be?” Before we answer that, it is good to know which type of posts appeal to different readers. Things that generally grab them by the eye-ball are;
- Different or done differently
- Controversial
- Something new that was never heard
- Something in crazy demand
List Posts – shorter or longer, they work
One of the most successful post style is list posting. They are universally popular with readers because they are easy to quickly scan down to the salient points that a reader is most interested in. One of the list posts I wrote on 10 SEO Myths received a good response because it was easy and quick. You can go on and on without thinking of the length of your blogpost or hit a post with just 3 bullet points. And it still works!
What about the wordcount?
Post length has also become something of interest lately. Long posts, sometimes called pillar posts, can pull readers in because of how fully a given topic is covered in a single post. They are also more likely to get into Google’s In Depth articles if written with appropriate source mentions and facts. Adding “table of contents” is a great idea to make these long posts more readable and less boring (scary). I personally like Neil Patel’s QuickSprout for long thorough posts.
Short posts also have their place when a quality piece can be posted that straight to the point, highly usable, with no fluff. Time-pressed executives may also appreciate brevity too. I fell in love with NewsInShort when I got to see somewhere few months back and these guys are doing such an amazing job.
The SEO & Keyword density Myth
Remember, search engines would love what its users love. If you’re optimizing the content with the right phrases they are for without bothering about repetition, it will work.
Simply put, write and post what you find people need and get value from while ensure you post with a profitable purpose of your own.
Lastly, [tweetherder]length of the content doesn’t really matter, depth does.[/tweetherder]
What kind of posts do you enjoy the most? Would love to hear your thoughts.
Sunita Biddu is a digital business coach and power blogging mentor helping coaches and small business owners. She helps with building a strong and profitable online presence and reputation that creates a self-sustaining business. Sunita writes on this blog once a week about easy-to-use guides and articles about business, coaching, social media and blogging. You can grab some of her free resources and ebooks from the resources section.
Hi Sunita,
It was short and crisp. You were straight to the point rather than just beating around the bush. However I personally feel that writing longer post helps in more engagement. Even Neil Patel says that long form post will always have the highest engagement. But all in all very well written and easy to understand.
Cheers!!
I do not dismiss the value of longer posts, Rachit. But unnecessarily made longer posts just for the sake of padding up word count isn’t worth losing the readers. The post should justify the topic and subject irrespective of the length. I have seen shorter posts convert into business. Interestingly, this very post has given me 3 clients for individual blogging coaching program. Because they felt aligned with clutter-less expression.