How long should be an ideal post? – Blogging Insights #20


Do you prefer writing long form or short form content?

I prefer short form content. The attention span of this generation is reducing every day. We’ve moved to photos and videos, not everybody likes reading long stuff.

How long, in your opinion, is the ideal blog post?

It depends from topic to topic, if you’re talking about poems.. anything from 5 lines to 100 of lines.
For prose, it can be from 100 words to thousands of words.
What the SEO people suggest is this– a minimum of 250-300 words for a blog post. Google prefers lengthy quality stuff so an article should be anything around 800-1000. Or even 1200.
There are longer ones too.
People read all kinds of content. The question is- who is your target audience? What do they prefer reading?
If you are writing for yourself just like I do, then write as short or as long as you want. You will develop a readership base depending on your content.

What do you prefer reading, shorter or longer posts?

It depends on what I’m reading and why I am reading it. Writing style also matters to me. Sometimes there’s a good topic with a good headline but it puts me off after the first para. Since I’m interested in the topic I consider giving the writer a chance and try to read it at least half of it. If I am gaining knowledge out of it, I’ll ignore the writing style and read it till the end. Otherwise, I bid a good bye.

What are the topics on which you would like to read longer posts (say, more than 1000 words)?

Longer posts that I tend read are informative ones. If they are fictional, they have to be create that urge in me to read it till the end.


What about you? Do you like short posts or long posts?
What do you think should be the length of an ideal blog post?

In response to Dr Tanya’s Blogging Insights # 20 — Long form VS Short form Content

12 thoughts on “How long should be an ideal post? – Blogging Insights #20

  1. Like you said it really depends on the topic of discussion. There is a tag on WordPress called #longread and I have delved into that from time to time. Something long will grab my attention if it’s non-fiction so I normally add it to my ‘pocket’ app to read later. But I won’t discount fictional posts – I’ll be biased as I enjoy reading any long reads posted by our community writers.

    If I am about to embark on writing a long post then I take two approaches:

    (1) I will add sub headings into the post to break things up, helps the reader come to a natural stop if they need to come back

    (2) Split the long post into smaller posts, making them available over a period of time with link back (i.e. split over a few days)

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    1. I have tried your approaches to long posts, they are useful.

      Oh I didn’t know that there was a tag like that. Will explore it

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  2. I only post once a week, so I work hard to make my posts excellent. I will get inspired, then when I finally have time, will spend about an hour writing the post. Then I will often spend the next hour or two trimming it down to under 1000 words! Why say it in 1500 words if I can say it in 1000? As you say, it depends on the topic and the audience.
    As for reading posts, if I’m going to read something long, it has to grab my attention and either tell me something I didn’t know before or show a familiar truth in a unique way. A story needs to be compelling from the first sentence. I get dozens of posts a day and can’t possibly read them all. A creative or startling title will keep me from hitting the “delete” button. (Also, if someone comments on one of my posts, I will usually read one of theirs. 😉 )

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  3. Hi tһere would you mind stating which blog platform you’re working with?
    I’m looking to start my own blog in the near future but I’m having a hard time decіding between BlogEngine/Wordpress/B2evolution and Drupаl.
    The reason I ask іs because your design and style seems different then moѕt blogs and I’m loоking for something unique.
    P.S Apologies for getting off-tⲟpic but I had to ask!

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