There is no handbook to follow when it comes to limiting or expanding a blog post. However, it’s easy to see which ones work and which ones do not. So how many words should a typical blog post be?
Some contend that blogs should be shorter in length. However, that is not necessarily true. The average adult is able to read 300 words per minute. Based off that number, a 250-word blog post would attract a reader for less than a minute. That means that blog posts that are shorter in nature are not guaranteed to be more successful.
Nevertheless, the longer the blog, the more it must follow integral rules which will engage a reader.
The first rule is that the blog must have substance. If your point is able to be articulated in 150 words, then leave it at that. But if you are going to move on to the 600-word and beyond territory, make sure you are saying something meaningful for all 600 of those words. Just don’t start typing words with the purpose of filling space. Readers will likely become bored and click off your site just as fast as they clicked on it.
Regardless of how long or short your blog post is going to be, be aware of formatting. You could have the most meaningful information on the web but if you just lump it all together into one giant paragraph, you will drive many readers away. Breaking up your blog post with spaces and short paragraphs is more pleasing to the eye.
Adding in photos, charts and any other visual aids also helps out immensely. According to MarketingSherpa, videos attract 300% more traffic to sites. Blogs have also become a major part of social media. When it comes to social media, photos play a huge part. Slideshare.net reported that 63% of all social media is comprised of images.
And don’t forget the importance of links as they will increase your page rank.
What is a page rank? It is an algorithm used by Google which analyzes links in an effort to rate a website’s relative importance. The more important your blog ranks, the more hits you will receive. However, page ranks are not based on the length of posts within a blog.
It is important to keep in mind that the longer your content, the better chance you have of getting it shared. Social media outlets such as Twitter and Facebook generally link blog posts that are longer. The term ‘link-backs’ is used to define this type of medium. The more useful information you have within your blog post, the more people it could wind up reaching through link-backs.
The frequency of your posts will usually have an impact on the length of each one. There are bloggers that routinely post just once a week, although their content is usually thorough and lengthy. Other blogs churn out content with multiple daily posts, which are generally shorter in length. There are advantages in both methods. But it is more important to provide quality content than just mass quantities of useless information.
There are many factors to take into consideration when attempting to generate interest or traffic from a blog post. Coincidentally, length is only a minor factor in that equation. Knowing the purpose, audience and medium is equally important, perhaps even more so.
People are online today with a general desire to read. So don’t be so quick to limit the amount of words in your next blog post. Remember that keeping a constant eye on word count is not going to be at the top of a successful blogger’s priority list.
Search engine response
LegalContentWriters.com has worked with over 4,000 law firms and regularly tests various copy lengths to determine search engine performance. Currently (post Google’s Panda 4.0 update) that length is between 600 to 800 words.
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