Blog Post Length for Businesses: Optimize Your Content

Why does blog post length matter?

You want your blog posts to engage readers and improve SEO, and that starts with choosing the right blog post length. Here's why the average post length of your blog posts is such an important metric.

Reader engagement

If you've ever looked up a recipe, you know how hard it can be to wade through the introduction and get to the actual recipe itself. If there's too much filler, you might even look at another recipe instead. The fact of the matter is, people expect engaging blog posts that provide value.

There's nothing wrong with writing long-form content, but you should avoid extending blog posts just to meet a word count. Engaging the reader is what really counts.

Search engine optimization (SEO)

SEO is one of the biggest things you can do to climb search engine results pages and drive more traffic to your website, but there are a lot of rules. You need to use keywords and provide valuable information in your blogs, but they also have to meet a certain word count. In many cases, longer blogs tend to rank better organically, but it all depends on the content you're writing and your audience.

Improving your search engine rankings involves a combination of keyword research and use, long and short content, and on-page SEO.

Depth of coverage

There's a lot to learn about some topics, but others are simple and straightforward. You can write thousands of words about all the different strategies used in digital marketing, but some blog posts need to be short and sweet. The moment you feel like you're adding filler content, you should start trimming down your blog post to the important parts.

Perceived credibility and authority

Being perceived as a credible authority is a key part of content marketing. Your blog posts should be well-researched and provide valuable information, so readers know they can count on you for reliable information.

Formatting and readability

As blog posts get longer with more detail, they become harder to read if you're not breaking things up the right way. For long-form blog posts, make sure you're using headings, subheadings, bullet points, visuals, and separate paragraphs to make everything easy to read.

What is the ideal blog post length?

Outlining blog posts is a key first step to creating the best content. So, how long should a blog post be? While there are some general guidelines, there's no exact rule about how many words you should write. The ideal length of your content should be determined by several factors, including your target audience, the topic, how in-depth you're going on the topic, and your SEO goals.

As a general rule, blog posts should be between 1,500 and 2,000 words. Simple press releases and announcement articles can be as short as 400 to 700 words, while informational blog posts and how-tos can range from 1,000 to 2,500 words. Pillar pages are the most in-depth blog content with lengths exceeding 3,000 words.

Shorter blog posts vs. longer blog posts

Once you've learned how to start a blog, the next step is learning about the different types of content and when to use them. When you're trying to optimize your blog content, here's what you need to know about shorter blog posts vs. longer blog posts.

Pros and cons of shorter blog posts

Pros:

• Easier to read/keeps the reader's attention
• You may have time to post more of them
• Less daunting to write

Cons:

• Less detail
• May not rank as well on search engines

Pros and cons of longer blog posts

Pros:

• Detailed and in depth
• Perform better in terms of SEO

Cons:

• Potential reader fatigue
• Harder to write and takes longer

Factors to consider when determining the perfect blog post length

We mentioned earlier how there are several factors that come into play when you're deciding on the ideal blog post or article length here. Content creation tools can help you optimize your blog posts, but choosing the right word count is up to you. From your target audience to the topic you're covering and more, here's what you should look at when you're figuring out the optimal length for a blog post.

Target audience

Understanding your target audience is the best way to make sure you're creating valuable content. Are your readers experts who want in-depth information about a topic, or are you trying to explain concepts in a simple way that anyone can understand? You should also figure out how much time your readers spend reading your blog posts.

Once you know a little more about your target audience, you can start looking at individual blog topics and other factors to find the right average word count.

Purpose of the blog post

Different types of blog posts have different purposes, and that's a big part of deciding how long a blog post should be. A simple news update or press release doesn't need to be very long, but that's not true if you're trying to increase authority or provide an in-depth how-to guide. Figuring out why you're creating content is a big part of optimizing blog post length.

Topic

The topic you're covering plays a big role in how long your content should be. Some topics are basic and can be covered in 500 words, while others are very complex and better suited for long-form blogs. It's never a bad idea to expand on simple topics to add a little more depth to your blog posts, but be careful to avoid filler when you're fleshing out simple topics.

SEO goals

Search engines tend to prefer longer content, so go with longer content if you're trying to improve your search engine rankings. You should also consider other SEO goals, whether you're trying to earn backlinks or encourage people to share your content on social media to drive more traffic to your website.

Even though search engines typically prefer longer content, you should never stretch out your content just for the sake of SEO. If you're adding fluff and filler to longer posts, you're actually lowering the quality of your content.

Frequency of posting

At the end of the day, you have to be realistic with your own blog length and post schedule. Some blogs have new posts every day, while others go a week or even multiple weeks between blog posts. Longer blog posts are great if you're spreading your blog posts out a bit, but it's probably better to stick to shorter content if you're churning it out every day. Longer blog posts that are full of fluff can turn readers off and affect your search engine rankings, so don't phone it in.

Your resources

A lot of professional blogs are actually written with the help of a writer, which saves blog owners time and allows them to consistently produce quality content. Do you have a writer or team of writers, or are you writing all your content on your own? If you're writing all your own content or your team has limited time to spend on blog posts, it may be more realistic to stick to shorter blogs.

Engagement and metrics

Once you've written a few long blog posts and a few short blog posts, check to see how they're performing. You might find that shorter blog posts lead to more engagement, while longer blog posts may work better for another blog. Figure out what works for you (and your audience) and create content that keeps your readers engaged.

Leverage content marketing for organic search traffic

Content marketing is one of the best ways to drive organic traffic to your website, but it's not as easy as churning out low-quality blog posts. If you want to rank higher in search engine results, you need to use the right keywords, optimize blog post length, and write without filler.

Does creating quality content sound like a lot of work? The good news is, Mailchimp is here to help. Our Content Optimizer can help you create content that keeps your audience engaged, so you can focus on sharing your knowledge with your audience. Mailchimp can even help you build your website and blog from scratch. If your blog could use a boost, try the suite of features Mailchimp has to offer.