Lauren
Blog posts nowadays range from 150-word snippets to articles that seem like they would give Victor Hugo and Ayn Rand a run for their money.
When it comes to the optimal word count for a blog post, there does not seem to be a general consensus. Either that or blogging experts present word count advice that contradicts every other expert’s tips.
For example, some experts argue that if a brand’s blog posts are over 2,000 words long, people won’t invest the time or the attention span it takes to read them. Others say that if a blog post isn’t at least 2,000 words long, then readers won’t be gaining the value and content that they want to see when they visit a business’ website. Even still, others claim that word length doesn’t matter at all.
When you want to get your blog off the ground or to boost your search engine rankings with your blog content, all of this variety can make it tricky to know exactly how long your posts should be.
So what should you do? Where’s the truth in all of these claims? What is the optimal word count for blog posts?
The answer differs depending on your blogging goals. For example, if you’re trying to improve your search engine optimization (SEO), you will want your blog posts to be at least 300 words.
However, beyond that general rule, finding the optimal word count for your blog posts will depend on a variety of additional elements.
Before you start writing new blog posts for your brand, consider these key factors.
Your Target Audience
The main reason why you write blog posts is to connect with your target audience and encourage them to continue visiting your website and engaging with your brand. When you’re trying to decide on the optimal word count for your blog posts, you need to keep your audience in mind.
Consider your target audience, their demographics, and the platforms they use to receive and share content.
If your audience largely uses Twitter or TikTok, shorter content might align better with their preferences and make it easier for them to share what you’ve written within their circles. On the other hand, if your audience is partial to Facebook or LinkedIn, longer blog posts might be right up their alley.
You should also evaluate your metrics and learn more about how your audience already engages with your content. If you have a significantly greater amount of interactions, views, and comments on blog posts that are 1,500 words long than on blog posts that are 800 words long, then you can reasonably assume that longer blog posts are better suited for your audience. If your audience doesn’t seem to engage with posts that are longer than 400 words, then you should keep your blog content short and to the point.
Keep in mind, though, flukes do happen. Just because a single blog post performed well doesn’t necessarily mean your audience favors that specific word count. Try looking for patterns that support your findings to come to an accurate conclusion.
In addition, try to put yourself in the place of your audience. Are you appealing to busy professionals trying to make a quick dinner? How about cramming college students? Dedicated intellectuals? Leisurely readers?
When the first two demographics read a piece of content, they’re looking for answers in a timely manner, so they probably don’t want to read 3,000 words about spending summers on your grandma’s farm before they learn how to make green bean casserole.
When the last two demographics read a piece of content, they’re probably settling in for a lengthy session and they don’t want to be told to tune in next time before they even get comfortable.
Competitors
If you want to beat your competitors, you need to know what they are doing. Just like a football coach will have his team watch past game footage of their opponents so they can learn and adjust their game plan, you need to take a look at the playbooks of your competitors so that you can find ways to improve your own strategies.
Go through and look at the blog posts for your top competitors and take notes. Not only will this help you come up with new topic ideas, stay current on industry news, and find keywords to use for your own blog, but it will also give you a sense of the ideal word count for your blog posts.
If your competition is knocking their online content out of the park with blog posts that are 1,500-1,700 words long, then you should consider keeping your blog posts around this length as well.
If your competition has the greatest amount of comments and positive feedback on blog posts that are over 2,000 words long, then you should try writing longer blog posts like these for your website.
Consider using resources like SEMRush, which can show you the average word count per blog post for each of your competitors and help you see how your blog content and length will stack up against your competition.
Search Engine Optimization
When it comes to boosting your SEO, longer blog posts often reign supreme. This isn’t because longer blog posts are inherently better, but because longer blog posts can often cover more information that helps improve optimization.
Longer blog posts can include more segments that’ll add value for your audience. After all, you can say a lot more in a 2,500-word blog post than you can in one that is only 250 words.
When you have longer blog posts, you have more room for keywords, calls-to-action, links to your other blog posts and website content, and other supporting content that will prove relevant to your audience.
Search engines will rank your website higher if you provide relevant content that your audience wants to read, so oftentimes, longer blog posts are better for brands.
While long blog posts might seem daunting, you can help make them more manageable for your audience by breaking down your content into smaller sections and paragraphs, including images within your blog posts, using headers to separate key ideas, creating bulleted or numbered lists, and adding bold or italicized font to emphasize different points.
In general, if your goal for your blog posts is to improve your SEO, you will want to consider creating some blog posts that are on the longer side.
Content Credibility
Search engines like Google don’t just take word count into account when they are ranking websites. Their algorithm also checks a website’s credibility. Credibility is determined in the following ways:
- Is your content written poorly (spelling issues, grammar mistakes, poor formatting)?
- Is your content irrelevant to your target audience (clickbait, misleading titles)?
- Do you use keywords without purpose to try and boost your SEO (keyword stuffing, nonsensical keyword use, hidden keywords)?
- Does your content lack originality (duplicate posts, copying from other sources)?
If the answer to any of these questions above is yes, then it doesn’t actually matter how long your blog posts are- they will be ranked low on search engine results pages. Search engine algorithms prioritize high-quality, authoritative, accurate content that uses keywords naturally and doesn’t plagiarize other sources.
Ultimately, whether you are writing shorter posts or longer posts, the quality of your content is key.
You don’t want to rush through what would otherwise be a high-quality piece of content to produce a short article that doesn’t provide your audience with anything of value. You also don’t want to type out a long, meandering blog post that has no business being as long as it is just so you can publish something that’s 2000 words long.
When your content is credible, it will help boost your search engine optimization and continue to drive traffic to your blog. When your content is credible and well-written, it will provide value to your audience regardless of whether your posts are 400 words long or 4,000 words long.
If you can quite easily express all the points you want to make in only 400 words, creating a quick, concise blog post should be effective. Your audience will likely appreciate pieces that are short, yet still informative instead of pieces that they feel are intentionally wasting their time.
You might even try creating more than one post to cover a certain topic in order to experiment with your audience’s preferences. Create a long-form blog post on a topic of your choosing and once you’re finished, follow the initial post as a guide and aim to compress the content you’ve created into a manageable, bite-sized post.
For example, here is a sample post that condenses this exact article into a 400-word piece. This way, it can be shared on various social media platforms where short-form posts are preferred.
Finding the Optimal Word Count for a Blog (400-word sample)
When it comes to the perfect length for a blog post, even content marketing experts can’t seem to agree.
While some argue that consumers’ shorter attention spans require shorter blog posts, others advocate for longer blog posts that provide more value.
Although there is no exact length that constitutes the perfect blog post, there are a few key factors you should keep in mind when you’re considering the optimal word count for your blog posts.
Your Target Audience
The main reason for writing blog posts is to connect with your target audience. Make sure to keep them in mind when determining the ideal length for your blog posts.
Ask yourself the following questions about your target audience before you start writing new blog posts:
- Which social media platforms do they use to receive and share content?
- Which types of blog posts do they engage with the most?
- What types of blog posts are they currently sharing with their friends and family?
The answers to these questions will give you an idea of what blog post length best resonates with your audience.
Competitors
In the same way that a coach watches their opponents’ game tape to learn how to adjust their own game plan, you should look at your competitors’ websites to see how to adjust your content marketing strategy.
Visit your competitors’ blogs and see which of their posts perform the best. Keep the word count for these posts in mind and consider using similar lengths for your own posts.
Consider using tools like SEMRush to help you determine the average length of your competitors’ blog posts to help inform your own blog writing practices.
Search Engine Optimization
When it comes to boosting your SEO, your blog post length is key. This is not because length is inherently more important than other factors, but rather because longer blog posts provide more room for you to include keywords, calls-to-action, and other information that search engines like Google rank highly.
When your audience finds your content relevant and valuable, it will help improve your search engine rankings.
Content Credibility
Ultimately, the quality of your content outweighs the length of your content. Whether your posts are 400 or 1600 words, when your content is credible, it will help boost your search engine optimization and continue to drive traffic to your blog.
When you provide high-quality content, your audience will respond.
As you can see, with the right strategy, you can provide value with content of any length.
One of the best ways to improve the credibility of your blog post and get content that will resonate with your audience is to work with professional blog content writers, like the experts at Content Cucumber.
Learn how Content Cucumber can help you develop high-quality content for your brand’s blog when you book a demo today.
