So how long should a blog post be?I used to ponder over this when I started blogging. I figured blogging people were busy people and that few of them had time to wade through masses of text.
I think a lot of us are skimmers when it comes to blog posts. By this I mean that we quickly look through what is written to see if it's worth the effort of reading it all. Sometimes perhaps we just pick out any obvious highlights or points of interest.
My own conclusion is that for an average blog post 300 to 600 words is about the right balance.
There are always exceptions, of course. You might have something special to write, such as a 'how-to' article, and this might well need something longer.
Conversely if the message can be said in fewer words why pad it out.
I know some bloggers who prefer to write one or two lengthy tomes each week instead of smaller ones daily.
It all boils down to whether you think you can keep the reader interested in the subject you are writing about.
One way in doing this is to keep paragraphs short. I always glaze over when I see a post with few, or even without, paragraphs.The use of images also helps. Anything to break up something that may otherwise look boring.
It's all about giving something for the reader to think about. So ... how many words do you think a blog post should have?
Good luck,
Mike.
