How long should blog posts be for SEO?
Is longer content better for SEO? Is 1500 words enough? Here are 10 answers on how long blog posts should be for SEO:
- 300 – 500 Words
- Ensure the Blog Post Thoroughly Answers Users’ Queries
- Not Less Than 800 Words
- Over a Thousand Words
- Between 300 to 700 Words
- It Depends on Your Audience and Topic as Well as the Competition
- Make it Long Enough to Capture the Substance Concisely
- Between 2,100 and 2,400 Words
- Base the Length on the Type of Content
- Let the Needs Determine the Length
300 – 500 Words
At the bare minimum your posts should generally be 300-500 words but a lot about SEO is relative depending on the “competition” or what’s ranking for the keywords you want to rank for. For an (extreme) example, if every search that is ranking is just a sentence then you can probably get away with a paragraph. The thing that content creators and those that are trying to rank for SEO is that as long as there is quality information “it’s never crowded along the extra mile.” If you can write a 1500 word quality post that is higher quality than the 500 word posts that are ranking, you have that opportunity to rank better.
Gresham Harkless Jr., https://blue16media.com
Ensure the Blog Post Thoroughly Answers Users’ Queries
You need your post to rank on Google if you want traffic. In order to get traffic, you need Google to show your post to its search engine users. If you thoroughly answer a user’s query, the user won’t have to leave your article to go to another piece of content looking for information.
You should ignore the word count and shoot for thoroughness. Make sure you have explored all areas of the topic in your article.
Google your keyword and include the answers to the Frequently Asked Questions in your post. By thoroughly exploring all sides of the topic, you won’t leave your visitor wanting more and seeking it elsewhere. Then, you will have a high-quality blog post that Google will want to rank.
Janice Wald, Mostly Blogging
Not Less Than 800 Words
I know, that’s not a helpful answer. People seem to be stuck on long-form content so they create 2000 words of fluff to make sure they hit that mark. It’s not necessary. Sure, if you’re creating a detailed guide that’s explaining something then 1,500+ words are probably necessary. For most other subjects, you can cover it completely with 1,000 words. What’s more important for SEO are the user metrics that Google collects. Dwell time, quick backs, CTR from the SERPs, etc. Focus on those aspects instead of the absolute length of the article and you should do well. With that being said, most articles should be 800+ words long. You don’t want to drop too far below that length.
Daniel Ndukwu, UsefulPDF
Over a Thousand Words
There are three things that you must consider when writing a blog article. These are the length, the quality of content, and its optimal value. Length must at least run over a thousand words, or it will be considered as “thin content”. They will do better in SEO ranking. The best average will be around 1,000 to 1,500 words. A blog post with lower than 300 words will not be optimal. Topics must be clear, concise, and compelling. They must strike an impact on your readers. These can increase traffic to your site. It must also contain relevant keywords. Schedule your posts based on your analytics. Once a day can increase marginal returns.
Laura Martinez, PersonalityMax
Between 300 to 700 Words
When it comes to SEO, the best optimization constantly changes depending on each search engine. However, the ideal blog post for SEO should be around 300-700 words to ensure that you have enough useful content, use enough keywords that will be visible and search-friendly and provide the necessary information for your users without losing their attention in a long and boring blog post that most people will not want to read.
Nicole Thelin, Low Income Relief
It Depends on Your Audience and Topic as Well as the Competition
I think it depends on your audience. If you’re writing for a more general audience, you might want to keep your posts shorter and more succinct. For example, don’t try to write a 2000-word piece if you’re trying to rank for a quick instructional blog on “how to tie a tie.” In this situation, you’re better off writing a 350-word post that’s easily digestible.
If you’re trying to rank for more descriptive terms, such as “how to train a dog”, then you can write a longer post that goes into more detail. You might even consider writing an in-depth guide on dog training that covers every aspect of the process.
So, it depends on user intent, the topic itself, and how uniquely you present it to make it stand out from the rest of the available pieces written before counts.
Tiffany Homan, Texas Divorce Laws
Make it Long Enough to Capture the Substance Concisely
You want it to be long enough to have substance but also laid out in a highly intuitive way so that it can be easily skimmed through for the most important information. Remember that no matter how high your blog post ranks, the real reason people are reading is because they are looking for a specific piece of information they believe your article has. Make their search easier by using headings, breaking up longer ideas into relevant paragraphs, and double downing on the most important keywords to funnel the right readers onto your site.
Patrick Robinson, Paskho
Between 2,100 and 2,400 Words
According to a recent study conducted by Hubspot earlier this year, the ideal blog post length is somewhere between 2,100 and 2,400 words. That being said, concise writing is better writing and I have found that blog posts are able to achieve the same if not better results with shorter lengths assuming care is still taken to pump them up full of highly searchable keywords. Online tools such as Surfer SEO give a great gamified metric writers can use to see what factors enhance or detract from their blog posts domain ranking in real time.
Michael Burghoffer, PicoSolutions
Base the Length on the Type of Content
In my personal experience, I have found that the length of the blog totally depends on what you’re writing. Quick tips guides and mini lifestyle hacks like blogs don’t necessarily need a lot of words. A thousand word wrap-up is enough for such blogs.
However, if one’s writing an elaborate travel blog or food blog, I suggest hitting the 2000-word limit.
However, the catch is that the longer the blog, the harder it is to make it plagiarism-free, which massively affects the SEO side of things. However, if one is comfortable and knows his way around words, the length shouldn’t be an issue as long as he’s creating engaging content.
Kaitie Weaver, Helcim
Let the Needs Determine the Length
As long as it needs to be, but no longer. You can use tools like MarketMuse to quickly analyze the word counts of pages ranking in the first 20 spots, along with the average. This helps you put your finger on the pulse of what it may take to rank higher than highly competitive sites. A more pure answer would be to use as many words as you need to provide an effective page that fulfills the need or desire that the searcher is looking to fulfill. But no more than that.
Chris Peters, FMX
Submit Your Answer
Would you like to submit an alternative answer to the question, “How long should blog posts be for SEO?” Submit your answer here.