Content Depth: 10 Words or 10,000?
Content Depth: 10 Words or 10,000?
From an SEO perspective, there are varying opinions on just how long a blog post should be, yet one thing holds true: long-form blog content is critical. Here are a few quotes on recommended blog lengths in 2022:
In the infographic “The Internet is a Zoo: The Ideal Length of Everything Online” from Buffer, they find that the ideal blog post length is 1,600 words.
In an article in the zine Medium, the writer says that posts with an average read time of 7 minutes captured the most attention.
HubSpot took this information and figured out that according to the average reading speed of native English-speaking adults of 300 words per minute, this means that the ideal blog post length is 2,100 words.
Then, HubSpot also took a look at their own blog content and they found that the magic number for a blog post was between 2,250–2,500 words.
As you can see from these different word counts, the ideal blog post length varies depending on who you ask. But, there’s one thing they all have in common, they all agree that long-form content is king.
The Benefits of Deeper Content
There are three main benefits of longer, optimized word counts in blog posts:
1. Increases time spent on your site
3. More social media shares
4. Greater search engine recognition (maximizing your SEO)
Time on Your Site: Staying Power
The longer your blog posts are, the longer users will stay on your website. Plus, the longer they stay on your website, the more likely they are to check out more of your content. In fact, according to findings from Neil Patel, people stay on long-form content pages 40% longer than on an average page, and they looked at 25% more pages than the average visitor.
More Social Media Shares
Studies show that long-form content also gets more shares on social media. According to QuickSprout, they found that posts that were under 1,500 words, on average received 174.6 tweets and 59.3 Facebook likes. Posts that were over 1,500 words, on average received 293.5 tweets and 72.7 Facebook likes.
They also discovered that if a blog post is greater than 1,500 words, on average it receives 68.1% more tweets and 22.6% more Facebook likes than a post that is under 1,500 words. With more shares on social media, you can attract more readers to your blog—your blog posts may even go viral.
Long-form blog posts also help you rank higher in search engine results, which will also help you get your blog posts seen by more users online. So, let’s take a closer look at blog post length and SEO.
Great Search Engine Recognition: Optimizing SEO
To attract more readers to the STEELPORT website, the blog posts need to be optimized for SEO. This includes using relevant keywords, adding internal links, creating readable URLs, making sure your website is SEO friendly, and more. But, as noted above, the word count of your blog posts also plays a role in how well your content ranks on search engines like Google. Longer blog posts rank better (and readers prefer them as discussed).
So, how many words should a blog be for SEO? A blog post should contain at least 300 words to rank well in the search engines. But long posts (1000 words or more) will rank more easily than short posts.
CoSchedule found posts with around 2,500 words typically rank the best.
Capsicum Mediaworks agrees with this. Their research shows that, on average, the top 10 results for most Google searches are between 2,000 and 2,500 words.
The Power of Video: Moving Pictures are Worth 10,000 Words
A well-produced video can truly take your blog post to the next level. However, videos cost time and money to make and thus need to be PROMOTED (as does all blog content) to make sense. The section on POST-CONTENT ENGAGEMENT touches on the element of promotion, which is crucial to your content’s success. But first, a bit about video.
First off, we are not only writers but also video producers. Having built a number of videos for clients over the years we’ve seen the power they hold. Sometimes as home page defining content, at other times smaller productions for blog content, video is an important and relevant tool. Done correctly, video is hard to beat. Of course, creating videos takes extra time and increases the depth of a given post or page on your website.
Read more here about the power of video for your site in a recent blog post of ours and enjoy some great examples.
Dig what you’re reading? We’d love to help your company stand out via regular content postings on your own blog, Instagram, YouTube, or otherwise. Engage us for a free discovery conversation here.