How Long Should Your Content Actually Be?

I have a very short attention span when it comes to listening to a speaker or sitting in services. It's probably the result of all those years of sitting for hours bored out of my mind because I couldn't hear. An hour to a 5-year-old felt like an entire day.

Now imagine three or four hours of sitting there with no books, no toys, nada.

When my father passed away, I attended short services for him two to three times a week for almost a year. I could follow these services better. And the best part? No sermons.

So, when I show up for a three- to four-hour service, my mind instantly wanders, and I withdraw. It's a struggle to push myself to follow along. Family members stand by willing to help. I'll tune in from time to time.

But when I show up for a short presentation or service, I get with the program.

Short vs. long

Long services: Tune out.

Short services: I'm all in.

content of more than 1,800 words (TLDR): Tune out.

content of up to 1,800 words: Scan and learn something.

Nonetheless, many articles and data encourage writing long posts (3-10k words) because chapter-size posts do better than short ones. They serve up statistics claiming more clicks, longer times spent on the website and improved SEO.

So I wrote a rare 2,000-word post. A few readers spoke up saying it was too long.

This is short compared to what's out there lately! What's going on here?

I bet some of you say that it's probably the audience. Possibly.

In "Why Should You Write Shorter (But Better Content)," Ronnell Smith shares an excellent quote from Steve Rayson of BuzzSumo that explains a lot:

"The average shares for content are only higher because there is so much poor quality content, and this drags the average for content down," says Rayson. "Inherently long form is not better, in many of us prefer the author to take time to make content shorter. I did an analysis of the posts of the top 100 Mar/Tech blogs and 81 of the 100 most shared posts had less than 1,000 words. Short form can be very powerful."

The story analytics tell

Paul — my better half — told me a joke that's all too true.

A CIO asks his data analytics specialist how the company website is doing. The specialist closes the door, locks it and pulls down the window shades. "What do you want the data to show?" he asks.

Marketers and executives live and die by website analytics. But analytics don't always tell an accurate story. I've had a blog post open on a browser tab all day only to never read it. Analytics most likely showed I was on the page for 30 minutes, which is when it times out. (Here's Google's explanation of session length.)

Yes, these mile-long posts have headers, bullets, and all the other formatting tricks to help with readability and scannability. Still, my eyes away. Some are just too long. It can be challenging to scroll and try to cobble thoughts from a long article even with reading only the headers.

Well, no wonder. Josh Schwartz, a Chartbeat data scientist, did an analysis on how people scroll articles on Slate and elsewhere. In short, readers can't stay focused. The average visitor gets to about the halfway point and stops. That is if he or she doesn't tune out at the beginning.

Even with the use of headers, it's easy to get lost in numbered articles such as 10 ways to … 8 steps to … If the article is so long that it's more than a page numbers, it'd be helpful to list all items in a bulleted list.

Some articles don't include the number that you're not sure if it's Step 5 or a sub-header of Step 4.

Drowning in deep content

I subscribe to several popular blogs. The content has so much stuff to help you learn how to do things. I mark them and save them. But I've yet to get through one.

The latest is 4,500 words! No doubt, the search engines love it, but it took a long time to scroll down to do a word count.

The post lists six ways to do something. Within those six ways are multiple steps. It's hard to remember the steps when you're scrolling through so much content.

Why not split the article into three posts and offer this as a downloadable guide. (And publish it elsewhere on the website for the search engine candy.) That's still more than 1,000 words each. Search engines may not take notice as much as they do with a 4,000-word article. Personally, I'm more inclined to remember this company if I try one or two things. If the company helps me, then I'll send others to the story.

I rarely link to long articles. I don't want to torture anyone who takes the time to read my social media updates. Besides, I have a rule that I need to have read enough of the article before sharing it. Unfortunately, many share articles without reading them.  

When I do link to a long one, it's fewer than 3,000 words. And scanning and absorbing are more doable. If I can't scan and pick up something useful, then I don't share it.

The infamous "how to" article

A few of the email newsletters I subscribe to have 600 to 1,200 words. If the topic interests me, I read it. I respond to it. I share it. I save it. I refer back to it.

The excessively long ones collect e-dust somewhere in the email folders. They're never read. They're never shared. They never compel me to respond.

This is the pattern I'm seeing.

Someone comes up with a great idea for a "how to" article. About 1,000 words are devoted to the how to do improve marketing on a social network. But wait. We need more. So let's add 1,000 words up front with statistics showing why you should use the social network.

Now we're talking. We've got 2,000 words. Still, we need that magic 3,000-word count. Oh yes, let's add another 1,000 on a branch of the topic with links to more articles for love and SEO juice. Then tie it up in a neat bow with a catchy "how to" headline.

When I see a "how to" headline, I expect to learn the how without the what it is and why use it. No spewing statistics in the first 1,000 words to make the article longer and SEO-happy.

So how long should content be?

I'm sure I've lost everyone by now. Still, I'm going to finish this.

How long should your content be? Associated Press has told its journalists to target 300 to 500 words with a few exceptions.

Granted, AP doesn't have the same audience as a B2B company. So how long should content be? Ronell Smith also has the right idea: "As long as it needs to be, but no longer."

The Write Practices has a good compromise: "Keep in mind what that post length will likely bring to your blog, and vary your lengths so you can best serve your readers."

Do long content like a guide, post it on its own landing page, and turn it into a free download to use as a call to action (CTA). Break up the guide into multiple shorter articles to use as blog posts. A well-done guide is valuable. Every blog post that reads like a thesis? Not so much.

Remember the data tells a story, but that story can easily be interpreted different ways.

When I go to a short service or a short presentation, I get exactly that and walk away feeling I got something out of it. When I go to a long one, I turn into a zombie …

Know your target audience. Focus on saying what you want to say. Most importantly, live up to the headline — don't deliver more or less than the headline promises.

Over to you

Does this change your mind about long-form content? What are your thoughts on long, long content? Thank you for reading, commenting, and sharing.

About Meryl Evans

Meryl is a digital marketer, author, tech writer, native Texan, and founder of meryl.net. Clients come to Meryl for help with their website content, email campaigns, tech writing, website and process management, and social media. This sounds cheesy and cliché, but it's the truth: She's most passionate about getting results for clients and delighting her clients' customers. Connect with Meryl to talk digital marketing, Orangetheory, gadgets, or your favorite things.