When writing for an SEO-friendly blog post, one of the questions that we frequently ask is, how long should it be? What is my word count requirement? What is the right blog post length?
In between your writing process, you check your article length using any word count tool online that you can find
Many writers can relate to struggling to reach a word count when you think you have covered everything. On the contrary, many writers would argue that a 1500-word count is not enough when there is a lot of things to discuss on a particular subject.
In this article, we will answer the question: Is 1500-word count the optimal length for a blog post?
The Case of TLDR
Google any cooking recipe: a favorite dish, or a dish that you want to cook for a long time but never knew how.
Before you reach the recipe, the writer tells you a story about it.
Recipes are the best examples of articles that were too long people didn’t read them.
From an SEO perspective, it will just get a high bounce rate.
Why You Should Limit Word Count
In the words of the Elements of Style guru, William Strunk Jr., ”a sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences. This requires…that every word tell.”
The writing style guide has been around for years and yet the rules still apply even on the web.
Here are the reasons why limiting your word count when writing blog posts is helping you more than you think.
It Helps You Get To The Point
With a limit on word count, it keeps you from talking nonsense and dwells only on relevant information.
It doesn’t mean you need to cut down on data. It just means to cut down on useless words.
You’re Writing for the Audience in Mind
User engagement remains a huge SEO factor when writing. You are trying to impress not only Google but also your readers.
Blog readers see your article mostly from their mobile phones when they are on the commute, on lunch breaks, etc. If you think about it, they only have a couple of minutes to spare.
They wouldn’t spend the whole hour just reading your blog unless it is a long definitive post that will require some time and attention.
You’re Making Your Content Shareable
With just enough information that you put in your article, you encourage people to think. It helps them generate an opinion.
And in the social media world, people share your content along with their opinions, whether they agree or disagree on it.
It Gives You Authority on The Subject
An article with a 300-word count is not enough to gain authority on a particular topic.
An article with a 2000-word count should be enough to shed light on the topic. It should be able to answer questions that people would want to know.
The Right Length for a Perfect Blog Post
So, is 1500-word count the optimal length for a blog post
The answer is: No.
It depends on what you want to gain after writing it.
A 600-word blog post encourages discussion on the topic. It barely debates on important points, but it gets the most shares because people can comment on it with their opinion.
A 750-word blog post also gets high shares as it is easy to digest. People have a couple of minutes to read it.
A 1000-1500 word blog post is a good length to gain authority on a certain subject. It is short enough that it is easy to read in 10 minutes. It is long enough to expand on ideas.
A 2500-word blog post is a good length for definitive guides. Many SEO experts recommend this length. You have higher chances to target keywords when writing lengthy posts. As an example, the keywords “word count” appears more than 30 times in a blog post by Neil Patel.
The thing about word count, it tells the reader what to expect.
Word count requirements are such an effective way of letting people know what you are writing about.
In summary, there is no right length or one strict rule to follow when writing a blog post. It will always depend on your goals a
