How long should my blog posts be?
I’ve got several drafts in progress right now on various topics.
It turns out it’s really hard to write short blog posts, at least on relatively technical subjects. From some quick research though, maybe that’s OK.
Neil Patel suggests that writing 3000+ words in a blog post is OK, and while shorter posts may gain some immediate popularity, longer-form content also has longer-term value, provided it’s oriented to “evergreen” topics and formats.
Joe Bunting also remarks that content should have a purpose, the goals of which should dictate the resulting format.
As a quick guideline, based on your goals,
- More comments, keep the post under 275 words
- More social shares, target somewhere between 600 and 1,250 words.
- More organic search, aim for more than 2,450 words.
Neil’s remarks on “evergreen” content align nicely with the goal of organic search, highlighting longer formats based on:
- How-to Guides
- Resource Lists + Reviews
- Unchanging stances on industry issues
- Frequently-asked-questions collections
- Industry definitions
So I think I’m OK: my content tends to be fairly technical in nature, and I naturally tend to longer-form, lending to more advantage in the organic search category. I’ll continue to train myself to the thresholds above, based on content goals, when needed.