When you’re starting out with your blogging, getting into “the groove” can be hard. Just how long should your posts be? And where on earth do you find the time to blog?
I’m a firm believer that you should be blogging 2-3 times a week, and if you can manage to squeeze one in every day, so much the better. Your writing will be better for it and your readers will thank you. In fact, as long as you can keep focused, the more you write, the better you’ll be. And the better you are, the stronger your following of readers. And that means more business for you. So it really is a win-win.
But to answer my original question, just how long should your blog posts be? Well I recommend that they’re around the 250- 300 word mark. This length is easily digestible for your readers, and is pretty quick for you to write. You should be able to produce something of that length in around 30 minutes. And if you can write quickly, you’ll be blogging often.
You don’t need to get too perfectionist about it. I reecntly read an article that was lambasting people that didn’t spend at least a day refining and sculpting each blog post. I’m sure that it does make for great writing, but the fact is that unless you’re a professional, full time blogger, none of us have 8 hours to spend perfecting, refining and crafting one post, so why even try. Write from the heart. Start with a plan and stay focused. And if you stick to my recommended word length you’ll find that you don’t have time to ramble on. Just make one point, and make it well. A bit like Sam Jones in her latest blog post…
I agree brevity is key as it makes it more likely readers will read all of your post. I have heard that Google likes 300-500 words per blog (if that is why you are blogging of course). Not sure if it is true.
thanks Andrew. Great point. I’ve not heard the one about Google so will need to defer to someone else’s judgement on that one. Anyone heard of that before?
I find that my briefest posts, – especially if they have a picture attached, are those that attract the most comment, – maybe it’s because people have time to add a reply if they havn’t spent all their coffee break reading, – ooh like me now
interesting. And I think you’re right. It’s all about a quick fix isn’t it? In our information-overload era we don’t want looong essays (says the queen of long blog posts herself…) – short and to the point is often more memorable.
Great point also about the photo. Where relevant I’ll always include a picture