“I didn\u2019t have time to write a short letter, so I wrote a long one instead” – Mark Twain<\/span><\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Ulysses <\/span><\/i>by James Joyce is a whopping 265,000 words and took him the better part of two decades to write. Kafka\u2019s <\/span>Metamorphosis <\/span><\/i>by is a cool 22,000. Both are considered quintessential modernist masterpieces.<\/span><\/p>\n
We\u2019ve already discussed the merits of why<\/span> quality writing matters<\/span><\/a>\u2014but what <\/span>is<\/span><\/i> quality writing? And does <\/span>more <\/span><\/i>writing mean <\/span>better <\/span><\/i>writing?<\/span><\/p>\n
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Some argue that because people have shorter attention spans, it stands to reason that shorter posts (600-800 words) are superior. Others say that long, comprehensive posts (2,000+ words), will ultimately generate more engagement.<\/span><\/p>\n
So, naturally, we took a look at how length affects performance.<\/span><\/p>\n
Why Shorter Blog Posts?<\/span><\/h3>\n
Americans believe that<\/span> time is money<\/span><\/i>. It\u2019s a valuable resource that can be gained, lost, stolen, or wasted. And short form blog posts <\/span>respect your time.<\/b> They\u2019re:<\/span><\/p>\n
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- Easy to write<\/b>. You can produce three short blog posts in the same time it takes to write one longer one. It\u2019s simple math: more hooks equal more fish.<\/span><\/li>\n
- Easy to read<\/b>. Short blog posts have a much better clickthrough rate, which means more readers stay engaged.<\/span><\/li>\n
- Affordable<\/b>, so you don\u2019t have to reach deep into your pockets.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
According to Hubspot, <\/span>companies that published 16+ blog posts per month got almost 3.5X more traffic than companies that published between 0\u20134 monthly posts<\/span><\/a>. Those are hard numbers to ignore.<\/span><\/p>\n
But another recent study found that, on average, <\/span>users have time to read only 28% of your words<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n
In other words, brevity is king. If you\u2019re taking a couple thousand words to get to your point, most of your readers are going to get lost in the clutter. But if you keep your content tight, you have a better chance of delivering that home run of a message.<\/span><\/p>\n
Why Longer Blog Posts?<\/span><\/h3>\n
Short posts draw in traffic while keeping things pithy. Long posts, however, have the advantage of being <\/span>in depth<\/span><\/i>. More words means more<\/span> detail<\/span><\/i>. And people aren\u2019t reading your business blogs for their health\u2014they\u2019re doing it to <\/span>learn something useful<\/b>.<\/span><\/p>\n
Longer blog posts are:<\/span><\/p>\n
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- Sources of credibility<\/b>. If you can write at length on a topic of interest in your industry, you\u2019ll build trust that much faster.<\/span><\/li>\n
- Thought-provoking<\/b>. Although longer blog posts have a lower average clickthrough rate, they do a great job of engaging quality leads for a longer period of time. These readers are more likely to comment on and wrestle with a post.<\/span><\/li>\n
- Link-heavy<\/b>. Simply put, <\/span>Google loves quality links<\/span><\/a>. So do your readers.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
One often-overlooked benefit of longer posts is that they can be reused in bite-sized chunks. By breaking down a long post into three shorter posts, for example, you can effectively reposition your content. That\u2019s much harder to do with short blog posts.<\/span><\/p>\n
Different Strokes for Different Folks<\/span><\/h3>\n