Can You Write More Than 1999 Words?

Neil Patel has been saying it for a while: the new SEO rules want to see 2000-word blogs.

I heard it repeated last week at a HubSpot User Group (a HUG!) held here in Scottsdale, AZ. It's the new normal, according to WireBuzz's Marcus Krieg.

Does this sound like overkill? A growing number of SEO experts say no, not if you're producing high-quality content your readers/customers find useful.

It Takes a Village Worth of Effort to Produce 2000-Word Blogs

OK, I'm stating the obvious. Two thousand words is a lot of content for most business owners to produce. It's a lot for professional writers. Normally we're asked to say a lot in fewer words.

A village's worth of effort.

The Yoast SEO tool for WordPress and other web software still recommends a minimum of 500 words for a blog. But I think the latest release recognizes the benefits longer, beefier content can provide.

To be honest, I find 500 words limiting. I know that when I blog freely--as on my own site and here on LinkedIn--I generally need about 700 - 800 words to make my point.

And since I write with the assumption that most of my readers are reading through smartphones, I use a lot of white space and shorten my content. When I go back to edit my work before publishing (and sometimes after), the number of words often drops when I change any passive voice into active.

The Important Thing is to Keep on Blogging!

The good news, though, is that you can still writer shorter blogs and save your energy for the 2,000-word pieces to discuss major developments.

Or you can reduce your blogging to a weekly, indepth blog of 2000 words or more.

While he does encourage people to invest the time in creating longer blogs, Patel and others acknowledge that the real point is to develop useful content. The days of thin, filler content are over. If you have something to say, take the time to do it well and bolster it with graphics that back it up.

Moreover, publishing longer articles with great content will score you more hits than frequent, shorter pieces that fall short of an excellent analysis, opinion, how-to, and so forth.

Readers, and therefore Google, want to see depth and quality. Five hundred words just won’t cut it for most topics.

Part of me wonders if Google just wants to reduce the amount of junky blogs out there on the Internet.

Maybe this will come to be seen as a first strike against fake news.

Mobile Readers and Long-Form Content

Writing for ProBlogger, Lesley Vos faces the question of how to create long-form content and mobile readers.

First, she attacks the myth that mobile readers are scrollers with short attention spans and an overwhelming desire for video.

This may be true for a teenager, but a businessperson with a smartphone that can download a dozen pages in seconds probably has a much longer attention span.

It’s been said that mobile users are less likely to digest long-winded sentences and paragraphs. Well, why should they? Why should anyone? There's a reason why editors exist: to make content more compelling and readable to audiences who have a lot of other people trying to get their attention.

Vos discovered that mobile readers read longer pieces when they have time to do it. They will do this when the content is presented in a way that enhances their reading pleasure. Here's how to capture them:

• Use shorter sentences and paragraphs
• Create short headlines
• Use short introductions

This does not mean produce thin content. Just give them comprehensive content in smaller bites.

Put those 2,000 words in a readable format and mobile readers will read it.

Vos also points out that mobile users check their devices frequently, almost obsessively. They will return to continue reading compelling content, even when it's long-form.

When will they do this? During their commutes and during lunches and breaks. Many check their social media feeds and emails sometime before they hit the hay.

All this means is that there is more opportunity to grab and hold their attention with well-produced long-form content.

More Words, More Repurposing

Let us not forget: more words provide more opportunities to repurpose content.

Two thousand or more words provides a lot of opportunity to:

• Use for a podcast or video script
• Create new Slideshare presentations
• Create infographics (for desktop, tablet, or hardcopy consumption)
• Link to relevant but shorter blogs from days past
• Turn into a freebie how-to guide

You don't have to repurpose all the content--use bits and pieces in social media posts and link to the relevant parts of a blog.

Then sit back and think about your next big research and writing effort.