Another key to successful blogging is to write like Goldilocks: not too long, and not too short, but just right. But how long is that?
Although writers often grumble at my answer, I’ve never heard one complaint from a reader. Readers are who we need to please: posts should be 200 to 300 words long. That’s right, just a couple hundred words. Shorter is okay, but aim for at least 100. Longer is risky, but definitely keep it under 500. I get nervous if my posts pass 300 and edit ruthlessly when they approach 400. Having penned 1,500 posts, I’ve only exceeded 500 words once—because I was asked.
Here’s why we need 200 to 300-word posts:
Attention Span: Readers have short attention spans. They’re likely to become a distracted halfway through a lengthy post—and bail. Or they might never even start.
Time: When a reader has ten things to do and only enough time for five, they make choices. A shorter post has a better chance of being read.
Quality: It’s easy to write a long post; it’s harder to write a short one. Long posts often ramble; short posts make every word count. Rabbit trails get deleted; extraneous phrases have no place in the land where brevity is king.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO): Search engines need a couple of hundred words to form an opinion. Anything under 200 and there’s not enough to evaluate. Yes, some successful bloggers write short posts, but they don’t rely on SEO.
Consider This: USA Today found success with shorter articles because that’s what people wanted. By the way, this post is 294 words.
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Peter Lyle DeHaan is an author, blogger, and publisher with over 30 years of writing and publishing experience. Check out his book Successful Author FAQs for insider tips and insights.
8 replies on “How Long Should Your Blog Posts Be?”
My post today was not search engine worthy. I will make adjustments when I return to more regular blogging. Thanks Peter for your 294 word post.
Jerry, I think your post is brilliant and a great example that less is more. It also proves that “rules are made to be broken.”
Hi Peter! This is very interesting. I promised my readers recently to keep it below 500 words. But maybe even that is too much. Thank you!
Myrna
On my autism blog, most liked posts are about 600 words. On my other blog, probably 300-400.
Myrna, it will be interesting to see if shorter posts result in more readers and increased reader engagement.
[Check out Myrna’s blog: https://myrnafolkert.blog/
I suspect readers of your autism blog crave information and camaraderie, so they have a propensity to read longer posts.
[One blog is https://odeal59.wordpress.com/; feel free to post the other one in the comments.]
Thank you for referring my blog Peter! That was very kind of you. I keep trying to learn about blogs and your posts sure are helpful!
It is my pleasure!