How Long Should A Blog Post Be For SEO?

how long should a blog post be for seo

Our goal with these weekly blog posts is to remind you that SEO really is the fastest path to a successful career in the blogging world, to help break things down and make it more simple, plus answer some of the most burning questions coming from bloggers. So today we’re answering one of the most asked questions: How long should a blog post be for SEO? We’ll kick off this post with the honest answer to this question, it depends. However there are some general guidelines and tricky ways to figure out an exact word count goal and help you rank higher. More on that to come.

How Long Should A Blog Post Be For SEO

First, let’s discuss why post length matters. 

When practicing SEO for bloggers one of the most important aspects of creating quality content is post length. Post length refers to how long your blog post is. Long-form content tends to generate more page views than short-form or thin content. You can read the definition of thin content in our SEO Terms Definition List. According to recent statistics, on average long form content generates eight times more page views, nine times more leads, and three times more social media shares. So it’s completely obvious in the SEO world that writing longer posts leads to better SEO results! 

Word count impacts your site health. 

If you have too many short posts on your site with less than 300 words, you’re racking up what’s called thin content site health dings. Word count is a direct indication for how valuable your content is. Furthermore, how long your blog posts are in general across your site is indicative of how valuable your website as a whole is. So if your site is stuffed with a ton of low word count content, it’s assumed your site as a whole is lower quality. However, if you have a ton of super informative long articles on your site, your site as a whole is considered more valuable. 

How to track post length in WordPress:

Luckily, WordPress makes it very easy to track how long your content is. You can see how long your blog post is using the word count feature in WordPress. You can learn how to find your word count in WordPress HERE. If you use a word doc or google doc to draft your posts, they also have word count tools. So it’s super easy to track how long your content is across basically all blog post editors. 

Post length for SEO

What’s the minimum length for a blog post?

The very minimum length is between 250 according to Yoast, and 300 according to most SEO’s. However our team always recommends you never write a post less than 500 words long in order to always have enough content to actually be considered valuable on the search results. You should also try to keep blog posts from running on too long. Ideally less than 3,500 words but never more than 5,000 words. 

What’s the best length for a blog post?

According to most studies, the average top ranking blog posts are between 1,500 – 2,500 words long. More specifically, research from a SerpIQ study suggested 2,450 words was the ideal blog post length, as a general guideline. However, at InfluencerSEO we really like to take this a step further. If there is one thing we know for sure about search engines (especially Google’s search engine), is that there is no one size fits all and it really is always about how to add the most value in the most authentic way.

So even though the average top-ranking posts are that long, blog content length is not a black or white type of deal. There isn’t one perfect word count for all types of blog posts out there. Instead, it’s more specific to each kind of blog post, your niche, the specific topic you’re discussing, and how long it truly takes to add the value the searcher is intending to find. 

choose your own path sign in girls hands

How to find the optimal blog post length for your content:

So as we stated, there unfortunately isn’t one size fits all. So for our clients in the Strategize package, we actually calculate the optimal blog post length and send it to them in their weekly reports in the blog post outlines section. We audit the topics they’re writing about to find out how long their post needs to be in order to be competitive. This is different for every single topic in every single niche. So while you can try to follow the general rules and write longer content, you might not be effective in your goal of gaining rankings that way. 

Here are three final considerations for blog post length:

What is your blog niche & who is your audience?

Each blog niche is different when it comes to post length. Scientific blogs should be a bit more in depth, while recipe and fashion blogs don’t need to be. Same thing for DIY blogs, since you’re teaching people how to do things in general they should be a bit longer. Consider the niche your blog is in and consider how much information your niche needs to be understood.

Consider the style of your blog post.

Different types of blog posts require different lengths. A recipe might be able to be a bit shorter than a product review for example. Especially if it’s a simple recipe. If you’re writing a list style post, aka a listicle, your post should be as long as the list needs to be to add value. If you’re doing an outfit roundup, make sure you’re really including enough outfit inspiration to seriously add value and explain each outfit in detail.

Did you answer every question someone reading this post would have?

It’s important to include everything in the blog post your reader would like to know for the specific topic. So if you’re doing a product review, make sure you include everything about the product that someone would want to know. Think price, how to use it, competitor information, available options, why it works, the benefits of using it, how not to use the product, etc. Or if you’re writing a recipe make sure you include how many it serves, how to serve it, steps to make it, ingredients, nutritional information, etc.

keyboard and hand | How long should blog posts be for SEO?
Are your blog posts long enough for SEO?

As you can see, word count does matter. Whether you’ve just started writing or you’re a writing pro, word count is always an important factor. Though it varies depending on your niche, blogging style, and types of blog posts. Keep the word count always longer than 300 words. But ideally longer than 500 words. Always shorter than 5,000 words. And finally, ideally shorter than 3,500 words. Remember that it all depends on the type of content you’re creating. As a general rule, 1,000 words is a good average word count to aim for on a regular basis.

Each ideal blog post length depends on the specific type of post, your niche, and your target audience. And that’s perfectly fine! Blogging is not a one-size-fits-all kind of deal, so put the necessary effort into every post you write. If you want to take the guesswork out of how long blog posts should be, we highly recommend our Strategize package. Also if you have any questions about this post at all, feel free to DM us on Instagram or leave a comment below. Good luck with your blog! 

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    1. Hi Kylie! SO glad you’re enjoying the posts! Let us know if there is something specific you want us to write about :))

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