There are many gurus who claim to have the answer on how many words a blog post should have. But, the truth is that there is no true and proven answer. There are good reasons to have long, short, and intermediate blog posts, so the best answer to this question is likely to have a mix of all types of posts.
1. Short blog posts
Keeping blog posts short, say less than 500 words, is great for readers who have short attention spans and for updating your readers on something exciting. Bite-sized content is great to read while waiting in line, at the doctor’s office, or when your reader is on a short break. You get to the point quickly, so they can move on to your call to action.
- Cured – Collect the content that you think is relevant and that your audience should see and write a short blurb or introduction to the content.
- Product announcements – These don’t always need a long post. You can just say the product is ready or a good product, and link it to where they can buy it, which is often a longer sales page.
Many people are very successful with this type of blogging. A true advocate of short to the point posts is Seth Godin and no one can deny his success.
2. Medium length blog post
This is the type of post that many gurus trust. Writing between 500 and 1000 words is considered fairly standard for the industry. Some blogging platforms actually suggest keeping posts to no more than 600 words because you’re being too long and maybe off topic if you go longer. Limiting your writing to a certain word count can help you stay focused.
- How – This type of blog explains how to do something very unique. Sometimes he uses pictures to get the message across.
- Informative – Sharing information with your readers is often done in medium-length publications.
Most blog posts fall into this category. They are the perfect length to tell a story, share information, and include a call to action, while including enough keywords without overwhelming readers. HubSpot.com is a huge proponent of the medium-length blog post.
3. Long blog posts
This is a post that is over 2000 words long and is often considered more authoritative and the fact is that they are great for SEO. Google respects authority pages more than specialized blogs with thousands of short pages of content. So creating some longer posts, even up to 3,500 words, can be great for your audience and search engines.
- Case studies – These, by definition, must be long because you are telling a story about something that is deeper. Case studies that are too short will not tell the whole story.
- Annual reports – If you have a business large enough to be able to create an annual report, posting it to read on your blog is a great way to put up content that will interest your readers.
Neil Patel, founder of KISSmetrics, is a lover of long-form blog posts and it works for him and many other bloggers. However, it is important to stay on topic, not drift and change the subject, and to be able to write well enough to hold the reader’s interest.