How looooooonnnngggg is your blog usually? Do you keep it short just because others tell you to keep it short? Are you afraid to lose the reader half way through?
Question : Who decides what is too long and what is too short? In my opinion, if you said the reader or if you said the writer, you are correct with either answer.
As Rich Jacaobson wrote : Rules for Blogging: "The Core Rules of Netiquette", these are great basic concepts when visiting someone else's blog. But who are you to tell me if my blog is too long? Is it because you......
- get bored easily?
- because you want to read more than one blog within 5 minutes?
- because it just LOOKS to dang long to you?
Define long......... well, I am waiting? Oh, it is your preference. I had one person tell me if the blog doesn'[t fit on their screen, then it's too long. Okay? You could be missing out on a lot. If you talk to professional writers, many will tell you to write just enough to cover the topic at the appropriate level of detail. Then Jeff, how long can this be? I have heard all kinds of numbers. The average that I have heard is 750 to 1,000 words. Okay, so how long is that? I don't have time to count these myself. What does this many words look like? Abraham Chaffin was so kind to create his own counting tool and shared it in this post -- SEO Word Counter What an awesome tool. It not only counts your total words for you, but your key words and unique phrases.
Let's look at the different numbers:
Some say under 250 is not enough to achieve your objective. Some say 500 words is just enough. As I stated above, many say 750 to 1,000 is just right. I just think it is a psychological thing. Mind over matter. What do you think?
Conclusion : So, which is it still? Or is it your preference. There is no right or wrong. My belief is if you start off with something good, then usually that should be enough to keep you reading. It's called capturing your INTEREST. Or are you the type of person that first judges a blog because it looks to long, even if you like the author and think that they usually write good blogs. Or do you read the title and the first sentence or two before you decide. Or just the fact that you want to get in and get out as quickly as possible. If this is the case, then why even read it. Can this hurt you? YES it can. Think of it as a short story.
Find a length that matches your topic and writing style. Be YOURSELF when blogging. And before you leave, please read this blog by Karl Christen : Pyramid of a complete loan officer This is a great example of a long blog that has so much information. There were 1,154 words and it looks long. Trust me, when I first looked at it, I almost went to the next blog because it looked long.
Advice : If you write a blog that looks like it could have 2 to 3 smaller topics within, write a short series. But if it is based on one thing and you need to drive the point home, but it's long..... stick with it. Just as in Karl's blog, because I learned a lot from it. But don't keep it short, 300 to 500 words, just because of others that have told you to keep it short. That might be bad advice and you might leave out some great information, insight, or opinion. And this is what many readers are looking for. Again, be yourself.
And if you were curious about THIS POST? 627 words
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