What should be the perfect blog post length for better SEO – Is the question every blogger asks to himself, other bloggers and Google, but without a satisfactory answer.
With ever changing Google’s SEO rules, concerns of bloggers about the blog post length is definitely justifiable. Specially after the Panda algo updates.
Newbie bloggers have a common misconception about - “Short blog post and Thin content.” Both are not at all the same thing.
From the prospective of Google penalty or Google Panda, you (every blogger) should know about the thin content.
Short blog post VS Thin content
Short posts are those which contain less than 200 words. The problem with short post is – It neither portrays an indepth information about the article matter, nor it offers any value to your readers to solve their problem.
Thin content on the other hand is “site-wide.” 4 to 5 short blog posts in a blog which contains 200 articles, do not make the whole blog thin. Unless and until you are producing short posts extensively, your blog doesn’t come under “thin content.” It has to be site-wide with plenty of short articles.
Does long blog post always wins?
Nope! In 60% of cases, normal length blog posts or ideal length blog posts rank ahead of lengthy articles.
Let me clear you – What is a long post? Long posts are those which contain more than 800 words. That’s why top websites of the world divide their articles in to multiple pages, when the word count crosses 750 to 800.
Most of the web surfers become impatient when the blog post crosses 800 words. Exception: When the article is of higher quality due to thorough research and indepth analysis, and the reader is desperately seeking the information.
No doubt, your dish is delicious! But, not everybody capable of digesting a 2,000 KCal meal every time.
What is the correct blog post length for SEO?
To avoid Google Penalty for site-wide thin content, your blog posts shouldn’t be less than 200 words. And, to please your visitors with short attention span, your blog posts shouldn’t be more than 800 words.
Actually, an ideal blog post length should be between 500 to 800 words for better SEO. This is the amount of words you need to shape an article by expressing your inner thoughts. By doing this, you are hitting 2 birds with one stone! Not only you are avoiding the Google Penalty, but also pleasing your blog readers.
What should be your blog composition?
I hope your dilemma of short blog post, long blog post and ideal blog post is over. Now, the question is – What types of posts your blog should contains? The answer is – A mix of ideal and long posts. Again, it depends on your blogging niche and what type of blogger you are (Seriousness level).
If you’re writing an instructional article or a thoroughly researched article with plenty of information to offer, then you shouldn’t think about the length or word count. Go with the flow. Let the article to decide it’s own length!
For an average blogger, a composition of 80% ideal posts + 20% long posts is ideal for SEO(exception is news based blogs).
What is your opinion about – Correct blog post length for better SEO? Share your thoughts in the comment section.
Ohh… you are crazy to know… How long is this blog post? It is 555 WORDS!
About Nandita B.
My name is Nandita B, and I’m a SEO practitioner and part-time blogger. My sheer passion for sharing knowledge a webmaster needs drove me to create “A Webmaster’s Magazine” called SEOHour.com
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I agree with you Nandita and in my view more than 80% top search result posts are considered to be short. One of my blog has one short article less than 200 words and still its at the top of the search result page.
Mohsin Ali recently posted…Get Microsoft Office 2010 Product Key Free
Hi Mohsin,
Less than 200 words and still on the top? Great going!
Good to know about this. I had never thought that the length of posts matter for SEO.
Compared to offline readers, online readers have very low attention span. So, blog post length plays an important role to reduce the bounce rate.
Awesome post. Thanks for sharing with us.
Reaz recently posted…Download Free Ringtone Maker 2.4.0.540 full
Hi Reaz, it’s my pleasure!
I agree with your post. Post length always matters. Thanks for posting
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Thanks Pulkit for dropping by..
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This is something I struggle with. Being a person of few words and trying to get my point across is challenging. I shoot for at least 400 words. The more passionate I am about a topic the easier it is to go long.
I liked this. I was in need of such guideline. Thanks Nandita
Ramsha Afaq recently posted…How I got my first job through Facebook
Most of bloggers who have successfully established their blog, write more than 500 words article. I am also going to write more than 300 words article in my every post.
Jayshri recently posted…Top 5 Best Cities to live and work in Gujarat state of India
Hi Jayshri,
Usually 500 – 800 words is good enough to convey your message or inner thoughts via a blog post to your audience. In the era of Google Panda there is no place for thin blog posts.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
yeah ! i agree wid you content with 500-800 words are good enough but for ranking you need to have good and quality SEO
You are correct to some degree, but I’ve been blogging since blogging started and we make between $12K and $15K each month depending on the seasons of year. We run 8 main blogs but have tested dozens and dozens of blogs over the years. Total uniques a month now is 130,000 (ish).
The blogs that the most traffic by far are the ones that have at least 2 posts a month with around 3000-4000 words in length, with 5-7 images, tables, etc.
It seems that if don’t have some of these big posts, Google doesn’t really give you credit. Think you can’t write posts that long? You can talk posts that long though (hint).
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