Sometimes less is more
One of the best parts of writing a blog post is the sky’s the limit as far as word count goes. There are no real constraints on how much you write. But even though there’s no minimum or maximum amount, follow this advice: sometimes less is more.
Though it can be tempting to write a novel-long post, and many bloggers do, there are also many reasons to keep it short. Here are some key benefits of shorter blog posts (like we offer with our Strategic Blogging service):
- Shorter blog posts attract more customers: In today’s world with everyone on-the-go, a long blog post on a subject they’re interested in will most likely get skipped over. People just don’t have the time or patience to go through a blog post the size of a large newspaper article. They want everything right now. So writing shorter posts will make people want to read them right away wherever they are. In return, you see a boost in your readers. Win, win.
- The main idea doesn’t get lost along the way: A lot of the length in long blog posts comes from filler that at the end of the day doesn’t contribute to the main idea or reason you wrote the blog to begin with. Writing shorter posts leaves no room for filler and you can write all the points and opinions you want to make without anything getting lost in a sea of words. Seth Godin has built an incredible following out of posing one clear, short post every day.
- You have time to write more posts: Not only do long posts take a long time to read, but they take a long time for you to work on as well. If you begin writing shorter posts, instead of spending most of the day working on one post, you can work on 2-3 or more. This then gives you more content to post on your blog, which at the end of the day is your ultimate goal. Remember, every post is another potential page 1 listing Google…which means more visitors and eventually more customers.