Not too long ago, blog posts that were 250 words or less was the norm.
Then people started mass-producing pages with little or no added value to users (a.k.a. thin content).
Google then rolled out the Panda update to reduce the prevalence of these low-quality pages in the SERPs and consequently, reward unique, more compelling content.
As a result, more and more bloggers have been writing longer posts in recent years and those who did write longer posts also reported strong results and higher ROI.
We got curious to know whether the same trend applies to our community. So we asked our Twitter followers what content length they recommend for a blog post to rank well.
Here’s what they had to say.
When Writing Blog Posts, What Content Length Do You Typically Recommend If You Want to Rank Well?
Here are the results from this #SEJSurveySays poll question.
According to SEJ’s Twitter audience:
- 33 percent of the respondents recommend writing a blog post with 1,000-2,000 words if you want your content to rank well.
- ‘It depends,‘ answered 32 percent of the respondents when asked about a recommended content length.
- 24 percent considered 1,000 words or less as the ideal content length for writing blog posts.
- 11 percent recommended that writing blog posts with more than 2,000 words is best for ranking purposes.
Note: “It depends” was included because when you create content, it’s important to tailor it for your audience rather than following some invariable rule. It varies from industry to industry and niche to niche.
Every website is unique. So it can be dangerous to apply blanket advice on anything involving SEO or content.
Here Are a Few Comments from Our Twitter Followers
PS “it depends” is for the weak… as we say in Italia, “non c’entra”. As long as you focus on the users, and have the data to support your findings, then it depends would not cross your lips. Hey I’m guilty of it but, after 15+ years in #SEO I’m learning️
— Gabriella Sannino (@SEOcopy) August 21, 2018
There’s never a real #content length, only good content written to explain or prove a point.
— WordPress Course Club (@WPCourseClub) August 22, 2018
I chose depends because it really does but if I had to give a general guideline I’d say over 1,000-words. Most businesses seem to aim for <500-words… setting the bar higher helps push them to create more in-depth content.
— Blog Hands (@bloghandsseo) August 21, 2018
— Nirmal (@nirmalseo) August 21, 2018
It depends is an easy way out. Explain yourselves.
— The Sargent (@TheSargentPPC) August 22, 2018
Quality Over Quantity
The poll results reflect what our Twitter community recommends. Their answers show what content length they’ve found the most success in terms of search rankings.
Keep in mind though that just like there is no perfect publishing frequency, there is also no perfect content length. Longer blog posts do not necessarily equate to quality content and better SEO results.
Worrying about the number of words to write won’t do you any good.
Focusing on the quality of your content and ensuring that it provides the most value to users are what’s important for SEO.
Want to know more about how content really impacts SEO? Check out this list of articles from our SEJ contributors:
Have Your Say
What content length do you aim for if you want your blog post to rank well? Tag us on social media to let us know.
Be sure to have your say in the next survey – check out the #SEJSurveySays hashtag on Twitter for future polls and data.
Image Credit
Chart created by Shayne Zalameda
