What’s The Right Length Of A Blog Post For Optimal SEO?

Written by in Writing Blog Posts | 35 Awesome Comments - Add Yours?

What’s The Right Length Of A Blog Post For Optimal SEO?

When you sit down to write a blog article, what’s your motivation for writing?

Is it that you have something interesting to say, which you hope will appeal to your audience?

Or do you write with the intention of bringing in all the keywords you can…for optimal SEO, in a drive to enhance your site,  get it noticed by the key search engines, and gain more custom?

Whatever your motivation, it’s important to always bear in mind exactly why you are blogging.

Optimal SEO…Don’t Worry About it!

If you are writing through a passion for your subject, then you don’t really need to bear SEO in mind, if you’re happy having a platform for self-expression which doesn’t rely on a large amount of traffic passing through. However, even if you are a hobby blogger, it’s well worth considering your SEO tactics, to make sure your words get heard and responded to.

When we write about something we are really interested in, it’s easy to let enthusiasm steer the way. We can sit down with the intention of writing a small missive on a topic we want to air, and sit back half an hour later to discover that we have churned out a post of thousands of words. We publish it, proud of what we have accomplished, and feel despondent when it doesn’t receive the attention or credit it deserves.

Similarly, if we sit down to write and aren’t in the mood, trying to pull out a few hundred words on our chosen subject can be more painful than waking up in the dentist’s chair to discover that the laughing gas has worn off.

Optimal Seo…it’s all about length!

Blog writing, like any other discipline, has a few rules for doing it in the best possible way, and the length of your post is as important as remembering to pepper your text with keywords and backlinks.

Blogs are essentially online information repositories.

Our readers come to our posts because they are trying to find something out, and despite all the research which goes in to search engine optimisation, if we alienate our readers, as potential customers, we lose the whole point of having a blog in the first place.

If we liken blogs to newspapers, it gets much easier to see how we should write, and what length our posts should be to keep our customers happy.

You may have noticed that I like to post up articles which are about 500 words in length.

If I get carried away I can go up to much more than that, but really that is a kind of self-indulgence and I shouldn’t do it.

In 500 words, you have the ability to tell a small story – you can set the scene, drop in as many of your keywords as you like, and bring the tale to a conclusion. You know that your post will not take longer than around five minutes for your readers to absorb. This is ideal, because readers don’t go online to plough through reams of text – that’s why man invented books.

Your ideal length of text for a blog article depends upon a few things – what you have to say, how you want to say it, and how much detail you want to go in to.

However, as a general rule, keep your posts the same length as a pithy news article, and you have everything in place to keep your readers and do a great job.

This article is now nearing 600 words. I’m going to shut up!

Oh…hold on…to answer the title of this blog post…make sure your text blog post is at least 300 words!

What’s your view?

Please share your views in the comments below.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or subscribing to the RSS feed to have future articles delivered to your feed reader.
35 Responses to What’s The Right Length Of A Blog Post For Optimal SEO?
  1. Nick Stamoulis

    300-500 words is a good length. As you mention a blog post isn’t a book and people are looking for quick information or something that they can skim. If you have a topic that you’d like to write about and go more in depth, break it into a series or create a white paper or e-book.

    Reply
  2. Tushar from BloggersEthics
    Twitter:

    i normally write articles up to the length of 450-500 words. I believe too long posts can be really boring for the readers most of the time
    Tushar recently posted..Bloggers, Time to Do Your Blog ReviewMy Profile

    Reply
  3. richard
    Twitter:

    The key is not to let some algorithm decide the proper length of your blog post. I think that the proper length is the amount that gets your message across clearly and legibly.
    richard recently posted..Adventures in Ecommerce: Starting OutMy Profile

    Reply
  4. Mitch Mitchell

    I’m with Richard on this one. I think if someone blogs for a specific reason, such as to make money or educate, then short and punchy works. However, telling a story, as well as being thorough in discussing processes, need to go as long as they take. Kind of the difference between Beethoven and Czerny.
    Mitch Mitchell recently posted..Go Ahead, Interview MeMy Profile

    Reply
  5. satrap from Internet Marketing
    Twitter:

    Hi Andrew,
    I personally dont have a fixed number of words for writing posts. To me the best way is to juts use as many words as it takes to get your point across. If you can do it in 100 words or a 1000 words, as long as you get your message through, you are good. Thanks.
    satrap recently posted..Make Money Online Without Selling AnythingMy Profile

    Reply
  6. Wasim Ismail
    Twitter:

    I’d say 500 words is also good, as its nice decent size blog post, not too big and not too small. Your readers would have time to go through it, the key is to break it down in to decent paragraphs so it’s easy to consume. Overall the main aim should be to produce good quality content regardless of the size, For example look at Seth Godin’s blog, it’s not always over 500 but it’s something that relates to its readers, and provides value.
    Wasim Ismail recently posted..Help your customers learn more about your businessMy Profile

    Reply
  7. Mark Aylward

    Andrew
    The exact answer is 517 words. It’s been proven and documented…517

    I actually have no idea :)

    Good stuff, short and sweet, those are the real guidelines, right?

    All good Andrew
    Thanks
    Mark
    Mark Aylward recently posted..Sometimes “Awesome” Is SimpleMy Profile

    Reply
  8. Corinne Edwards

    Dear Andrew -

    When I first started blogging (OMG in my fifth year) I was used to writing chapters in a book. Never one post under 2500 words.

    Not many people read them. You are right.

    500 words? That’s hard but I will try.

    I get good comments at about 750.
    Corinne Edwards recently posted..MAKE THE SALE – AND THEN SHUT UPMy Profile

    Reply
  9. Katie Woodard
    Twitter:

    Wow. Most of my blog posts are much shorter than that. The main purpose of my posts are to put out new music, not to write a lot. Do you still think it is necessary I write at least 300 words in my niche?
    Katie Woodard recently posted..Wale – Bait Remix featuring Trey Songz, 2 Chainz and Rick RossMy Profile

    Reply
  10. Frank

    Hi Andrew,
    Like you I tend to aim for around 500 words. I don’t tend to write SEO driven articles, however, I still rank for my keywords. Maybe it has become so natural to me now that I don’t need to. I bet you could write a 500 word article, without using a keyword tool, and still hit a 2% keyword density.
    Frank recently posted..Elance, Get Paid to Write Articles, Develop software and Build WebsitesMy Profile

    Reply
  11. Beat Schindler
    Twitter:

    I feel there’s a double relationship between lengths of blog posts and how narrow a blog is, and the frequency of the posts. If you’re blogging about advanced fitness tips for building muscle, you will – over time – have a captive audience looking for blog posts that are high-value and in-depth, regardless of length. If you’re blogging how to effortlessly lose weight by the minute, you risk to attract tire-kickers with an attention span for a few pics and a couple of hundred words max.
    Beat Schindler recently posted..Most Of The Things You Did Yesterday You’ll Do Again TodayMy Profile

    Reply
  12. John
    Twitter:

    I have been submitting articles to some good directories and my articles would always be around 400-600 words. Not just that, but the articles are always supported by a image. Talking about SEO, then I believe a post of 600 words is always good :)

    Reply
  13. iphoneclues

    i think we should write at least 300 to 500 words article for Better Seo…
    iphoneclues recently posted..How to make your iPhone 4 battery last longer?My Profile

    Reply
  14. hypnodude
    Twitter:

    I usually go for at least 500 words which seems to work well. What I find funny sometimes is that I have better traffic on short posts than with longer ones, from 800 words up. I always aim to write with seo in mind but it seems shorter posts perform better.
    hypnodude recently posted..The Most Important Day of Your LifeMy Profile

    Reply
  15. Mitch Mitchell

    I thought I’d let you know that your subscription link isn’t working. I can’t unsubscribe from this post.
    Mitch Mitchell recently posted..WordPress 3.3; It’s On My Nerves Right NowMy Profile

    Reply
  16. Felicia

    Hi Andrew,
    Whenever I write a blog, I always make sure that the content is something I really like. I also always make sure that the length is not too long or too short. I’ve seen many blogs with very long articles. However, I don’t like reading them as they are boring or take too much of my time. I prefer something I can quickly get information from while enjoying what I read, just like your posts.
    Felicia recently posted..Update – Gutshot Poker $25,000 Exclusive Rake Chase for BankrollMob members OnlyMy Profile

    Reply
  17. Robert Doebler from hifu pittsburgh

    I think the length of a post depends on the topic as well. I like reading blog posts but read only some long ones. Most of the time I stick reading 400-600 words, I keep way from lengthy ones but sometimes if the topic is very important time just flies by reading even an 800 word post. Most importantly breaking up the article I feel is, very, very important.

    Reply
  18. Brenneth

    Thanks for tackling up this topic. I had learn a lot from this. I’ve read the comments of some big marketer. And it feels great to learn from it.
    Brenneth recently posted..My Arowana Is Not Eating No Matter What I Do !!!My Profile

    Reply
  19. Mj

    I am used to write posts with near about 400-450 words and have seen no troubles so far !
    The only question is for better SEO how much keywords should be in there ?

    Though i have read your post with great interest and also got some great points to follo for my future posts !
    Mj recently posted..Backup/Download and Save your Google Account Data via Google Takeout .My Profile

    Reply
  20. Jonathon
    Twitter:

    Your newspaper analogy is a good one. Posts in newspapers vary in length (presumably) according to the topic and perceived audience. Online readers tend to either be in a hurry or have short attention spans. Breaking up the post with headlines and using bold on key words/phrases can be helpful. Best advice I ever read was to write each sentence so that it encourages the reader to read the next one. Is SEO important? Of course it is but it should always be used in such a way that the average reader is virtually unaware of it.
    Jonathon recently posted..Online Marketing: 10 Key Questions For 2012My Profile

    Reply
  21. Jarrett

    I agree, 300 words is a good length to shoot for, but it is best to not shoot for a length at all. If you are able to completely convey your point with examples and valuable information in less than 300 words, then it is perfectly fine. Although, search engines may not pick up on these posts as well as longer posts.

    I generally try to shoot for over 500 words, but that is completely “after the fact,” as in after I have finished my piece, I will go back through it and check if I should add anything new. For series posts, such as a series of 6 posts explaining a single broad subject, I will tend to write some very short articles (200 to 300) and some longer (400 to 600) purely to help convey my point and split up the article to make it easier to read.

    Great post by the way!

    Reply
  22. Dhruv Bhagat

    Thanks a lot!! this helped me out. But please tell me what about if you’re an article about downloads ?? Almost 300 words are sufficient ?? Or not ?? Please tell your opinion about this. Any of your help will be appreciated. Thanks for this wonderful post. :-)
    Dhruv Bhagat recently posted..How To Claim Your Site On Alexa – 2 Simple WaysMy Profile

    Reply

We encourage you to comment on this blog. But please follow the guidelines below.

We reserve the right to make editorial decisions regarding submitted comments, including but not limited to the removal of comments.

If this is your first comment, it will have to be approved before being published.

Please add no comments that are:

  • just saying 'nice post, thanks' type comments
  • off-topic
  • defamatory
  • obscene
  • harmful to minors
  • offensive
  • violative of copyright or other third-party rights
  • otherwise inappropriate
  • with links to promotional type pages

Please use your real name and then @ your keywords - otherwise the comment will NOT be approved.

Leave a Reply

CommentLuv badge

You can add a link to follow you on twitter if you put your username in this box.
Only needs to be added once (unless you change your username). No http or @
This blog uses premium CommentLuv which allows you to put your keywords with your name if you have had 3 approved comments. Use your real name and then @ your keywords (maximum of 5)