Deciding Between Short and Long Blog Posts
A question that has been haunting many bloggers is whether to publish short or long blog posts, when to go for one or the other, or just simply stick to one. This is one of those questions that cannot be answered by a simple “Go for short” or “Go for long”.
There are multiple factors that will affect the way your posts will be received by your readers in either one of these situations. What can be said right from the start is that your readers’ time is short and precious and this will determine whether they’ll read the post or not.
Common Reader Habits
No matter how long your post is, a reader will most times scan it first, and only after decide if that post is worth reading. This clearly indicates that topic, structure and quality of writing are essential factors that will affect your reader’s choice.
While most readers don’t have a lot of time on their hands and that time is split across many blogs, they’ll most likely prefer a concise post that does not stray from the topic, while still providing good insight and personal opinions.
When to go for short blog posts
If you’re going to post on topics that are current or in the news, it’s most likely that readers will rather read a shorter post since their interest is more concentrated on the news itself and they are likely to want to read more opinions on that news. Be short but don’t be cheap on your words either, for that we have Twitter.
A short post has the advantage of being quickly and easily read, but won’t contribute very much to your statistics in terms of time spent per page. Also, if you’re considering writing short posts, make sure you keep a higher publishing rate. There’s actually no point in publishing 2 paragraphs every week.
Writing long blog posts
Although people don’t usually spend a lot of time on a blog post, they’ll take the time to read a good article, even if it’s longer or even spread across a few pages. As stated earlier, they’ll first scan the post and if you manage to grab their attention, they’ll go back from the start and read the whole article.
Writing long blog posts is suitable for “opinion blogs”. Reviews, tutorials, editorials and guest posts usually require and tend to be longer and more insightful.
Since longer posts require more attention and more time to read, it’s indicated that you structure your post well by making use of paragraphs and subheadings, lists and images to break large blocks of text. Also, providing a good introductory paragraph describing right from the start what your post is all about is helpful in catching your readers’ attention.
A matter of personal choice and identity
Deciding between short and long blog posts is also a matter or personal choice. While some bloggers prefer updating their blogs a few times a day using shorter posts, others like to take a few days to write a longer post, more resourceful and well documented, such being the case of Maki from DoshDosh. This decision also contributes to establishing an identity and unique voice for you blog.
Conclusions
There’s no golden rule about the perfect blog post length. It’s all about your topic(s) and the best way to present your information without cluttering the content or filling it with unnecessary stuff.
Do what you have to do in order to share as much valuable information. Keep you posts short enough not to be boring and long enough to startle the interest. Find the right balance by studying your statistics and why not, by having a friendly, open discussion with your readers.
And now, tell me what’s your choice when it comes to deciding for one or the other and what are your reading habits.
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3 blog posts linking to this article
- Links Roundup - June 10th 2008
- Friday 13th Links Roundup
- Vero Guadagno » Qual è la giusta lunghezza di un post?
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I always choose length based on the topic I’m writing about. If it’s something that requires a brief, concise mention, that’s what I’ll go for. It it’s a complex topic, that needs to be analyzed from different angles, than it will be a long post. Unnaturally shrinking or enlarging something just does not make sense.
Very well said and I agree with the previous commenter. It all comes down to the topic and what you want to say. News should come in a short and scannable way, more complicated articles in a more elaborated fashion. Just like you said it yourself: “It’s all about your topic(s) and the best way to present your information without cluttering the content or filling it with unnecessary stuff. “
Yes, I agree totally with this post. I like to keep my posts short and to the point, but my recent series on using Remember The Milk for GTD were exceptionally long for me.
Walking people through things in a tutorial fashion will easily make your posts longer. This is why I broke it up with lists and tables to keep myself from getting bored writing it….Oh! and for the readers too.
I think it comes down to the magic formula of: usefulness. If an entry isn’t useful it is irrelevant if it is long or if it is short. If it is useful, the readership will be grateful no matter what the length is.
I recently read a great article on this important point:
http://writing-journey.com/blo.....log-useful
As for what I prefer? I generally prefer short to medium length. That being said, my blog is eclectic — and consists of a variety of formats. I think this keeps it interesting. It’s nice to know that you do not know how long the next post will be. To me, it keeps the blog fresh, and too much predictability vanquishes that sense of not knowing whats around the bend.
So, basically we all agree on the point of letting it flow when it comes to necessary information.
@Rahsheen: “Oh! and for the readers too.” Thanks funny.
@Bamboo: Usefulness, indeed it’s highly important. But it’s not everything. I bet that if I’d take the most popular post here and eliminate paragraphs, images, subheading and all structure, that post will become nothing more than blog garbage?
The way you present useful information ultimately decides if it will also be read.
Well, I have a bad(?) habit most of my friends recognize, and that is becoming very long-winded by inflating things to make them seem more important to myself.
Sadly, I even go back and remove quite a bit of things from articles/comments that feel irrelevant.
I think it might be because of my education. In America, we have lots of minimum-word assignments, and they’re usually pretty high. 3,000 words on how Shakespeare’s Hamlet can be related to present day… wtf? I can say it in 100 words, or even six: “I don’t have time for this.”
I think this should change over the next year, as I anticipate a lot more writing assignments, coupled with a lot of programming (I plan a double-major in Computer Science and Biology, with a minor in mathematics). I simply won’t have the time for… 150-word comments.
Very well said and I agree with the previous commenter. It all comes down to the topic and what you want to say. News should come in a short and scannable way, more complicated articles in a more elaborated fashion. Just like you said it yourself: “It’s all about your topic(s) and the best way to present your information without cluttering the content or filling it with unnecessary stuff
I tend to write log posts (many are 1,200 to 2,000 word) but there are usually personal stories mixed with commentary and theory. I know from my stats on time spent per page that people will read a 2,000 word essay if it’s relevant and good.
I also don’t mince words on the title and summaries so readers know exactly what thy are getting into. In fact I label my introduction as “summary” so there’s no guessing
Sample post: http://www.straightdopedad.com/vasectomies-rock/
Vasectomies Rock! – How Getting Snipped Can Make For An Amazing Sex Life
Summary: It’s liberating to know that no matter how hard, long or often you come there is no chance it will result in a pregnancy. This makes sex more spontaneous and enjoyable.
-OR-
Don’t want more kids but don’t want to wear a condom? Then get a vasectomy you wuss!
Absolutely no mistaking what that ones about. I write all my titles and summaries like that. Catchy yet informative headline followed by more specific summary.
Works great.