How long should a blog be?
I puzzled this one for a long time, more specifically – How many words should a blog have?
- The Gettysburg address - 246 words
- Rudyard Kipling’s “If” – 284
- The Lord’s prayer – 70
The most quoted, doesn’t always have the most words but always has most compelling words.
Thoughts?
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About Sarah ArrowSarah Arrow is the managing editor of Birds on the Blog, in real life she is the communications director of a same day courier service. She is an enthusiastic UK based pro-blogger and co- author of the soon to be published Zero to Blogger
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11 Responses to How long should a blog be?
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We often struggle with making posts “the right length” – sometimes, if it's a contentious topic we've had trouble keeping under 1000 words, which I feel is too long – but not all posts lend themselves well to being split into 2/3 bits.
Typically we aim for 400-600 as a guideline and do attempt to split longer ones!
I don't think there can be a standard optimal length. Obviously, as few words as are needed to get the essential details over. In a successful blog, though, the best points often come out in the comments rather than the blog itself.
As is likely to happen here.
I LOVE the knitted animals!
I don't aim for any particular number of words in my general business blog posts. Occasionally I post the Lord's Prayer length but generally mine are between 250 and 400 words naturally. If they get to more than 600 I consider whether to split them into Parts 1 and 2, because I know as a reader of other people's blogs, my attention span is limited by work and other pressures.
Technical posts (on tax) can be much longer to cover all the relevant points and because the visitor will either engage with the particular subject, pay attention and/or save it, or just take milliseconds to move on without reading at all.
For me, the ultimate blogger is Sue Townsend (“The Secret Diary Of Adrian Mole”).
Post length = variable, but always spot on.
How long should a blog post be? As long as it takes to make a point and keep hold of readers' interest!
Twitter: SuzeStMWrites
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I agree entirely Suzan
I suppose this relies on having the knack of keeping people's interest and how can you tell? I am always worried about people switching of if it is too long but I suppose those that are interested would not switch off! catch 22?
Thanks for your comments, all appreciated