Thread: Page Length For Webpages and Blogs, How Short or Long?

Anyone want to discuss about this matter whether how long or short a good article can be?
Lots of bloggers aren't sure how many words each page should have to ensure that search engines and visitors come back often, They don't want to have too little words, but they also don't want to have too many words.

So what do you think is the right length to put your article in the category of "useful articles"?

This is actually a topic I discussed in a Podcast recently.

I think bare minimum most of the time should be 300. However, that isn't to say that there aren't times where you can't put out a small 150 word blurb if the subject warrants it. As far as length goes on the long end, my thought is think about your reader.

Are you answering all of their question in your article?
Are you thoroughly explaining the topic?

I think if you say yes to those 2 things then whether it's 500 words or 2000 would be irrelevant. Sometimes it's easy to assume that to be a great article or blog post it needs to be extremely long. Sure, some of the best post turn out to be on the longer side of the equation but that is usually because they are answering the 2 questions I mentioned above.

I once read that longer posts were more likely to become link bait, but I suspect that is due to the depth of coverage of the topic rather than the word count.

Originally Posted by Michael Brown

This is actually a topic I discussed in a Podcast recently.

I think bare minimum most of the time should be 300. However, that isn't to say that there aren't times where you can't put out a small 150 word blurb if the subject warrants it. As far as length goes on the long end, my thought is think about your reader.

Are you answering all of their question in your article?
Are you thoroughly explaining the topic?

I think if you say yes to those 2 things then whether it's 500 words or 2000 would be irrelevant. Sometimes it's easy to assume that to be a great article or blog post it needs to be extremely long. Sure, some of the best post turn out to be on the longer side of the equation but that is usually because they are answering the 2 questions I mentioned above.

I really have to agree with you to this. As long as its concise and answers the 2 questions mentioned in your post then I think its considered a useful article.

Originally Posted by Michael Brown

This is actually a topic I discussed in a Podcast recently.

I think bare minimum most of the time should be 300. However, that isn't to say that there aren't times where you can't put out a small 150 word blurb if the subject warrants it. As far as length goes on the long end, my thought is think about your reader.

Are you answering all of their question in your article?
Are you thoroughly explaining the topic?

I think if you say yes to those 2 things then whether it's 500 words or 2000 would be irrelevant. Sometimes it's easy to assume that to be a great article or blog post it needs to be extremely long. Sure, some of the best post turn out to be on the longer side of the equation but that is usually because they are answering the 2 questions I mentioned above.

I really have to agree with you to this. As long as its concise and answers the 2 questions mentioned in your post then I think its considered a useful article.

Judging from my experience, there isn't one answer. I have long posts that get no play and short posts that get lots of views. I try to keep posts pretty long using pictures and other things other than words. I do a lot of curation. I try to have a video and a visual in each post, in addition to words.

Thanks for your input westsider. I also have to agree with you that curation is very helpful technique when creating articles. Now I have better idea when it comes to technique in creating articles.

Thank you so much guys.

Anyone want to discuss about this matter whether how long or short a good article can be?

well it doesnt matter length .. yes you got it right ..

read matt's blog and video .. what google requires from us ??

Answer is Quality

if you have article with 200 words with image that explains all than its worth enough and i have proof of what i am saying as now a days google keeps promoting infographic also .. and reason is quality again ..

so never get confuse to your self about article and keyword size .. just focus on quality and you will rank ...

Yes, Content is the KING of SEO and matter quality content not only length of content. If your blog strong content is 300 words with imapge or vidoes then it's Good. If your blog update daily basis then get good ranking from Google SERP.

Originally Posted by curationsoft

Anyone want to discuss about this matter whether how long or short a good article can be?
Lots of bloggers aren't sure how many words each page should have to ensure that search engines and visitors come back often, They don't want to have too little words, but they also don't want to have too many words.

So what do you think is the right length to put your article in the category of "useful articles"?

to be frank is not how long or short that matters in content writing what is of importance is the quality of the content that what really of is v ital.
on the issue of how many words an article should be for me on the average should be at least about 400 word or the maximum 450

---------- Post added 09-04-2013 at 11:00 PM ----------

Originally Posted by westsider

Judging from my experience, there isn't one answer. I have long posts that get no play and short posts that get lots of views. I try to keep posts pretty long using pictures and other things other than words. I do a lot of curation. I try to have a video and a visual in each post, in addition to words.

yea that is a good idea making use of pictures as a way of lengthen the post, i agree with you

At minimum 300-400 words I think will be enough, but more depends on how interesting the topic is and how good the writer is doing his work.