How long should my blog post be?

One of the most common questions I get asked is "how long should my blog post be?" and, while there's no definitively correct answer to that, my personal response has always been "as long as you are adding value to your customer, there is no 'right' length"

In other words, if you know your target market is busy and just wants answers to simple questions, make your blog post between 300-500 words. Of course, if you want to show that you are massively knowledgeable about a topic, it needs to be over 2,000 words.

I regularly write blogs that are 4,000 words and over. Mostly because I love doing research and I know that Google loves it when you become an authority in your business niche, too.

The number of long-tail searches performed is increasing on an almost daily basis. Search engines know this- and they're working to meet their own customer's needs. Readers want answers, and they're no longer prepared to hop from page-to-page to find different cogs to make up the whole machine of an answer. 

This works brilliantly for two reasons- the average blog post of 2,000 or more words holds your reader's attention for roughly 7 minutes (on average). That means you can pack in tons of information and really show off your knowledge.

It also means you don't have to deal with a high bounce-rate anymore. Yeay!

For those who rely on the passive income of ads, this improves your overall score and is likely to give you a higher income. It also means that you'll be able to see just how interesting you really are. Holding someone's attention for 7 minutes can be a lot harder than it sounds. Especially when you consider there are no paralinguistics features available here to keep your audience's attention (eye contact and general body language).

Naturally, this means that- if you spot a high bounce-rate, even with long-form content- then I'm afraid you'll really need to up your game.

Add in visuals, tell a story, answer a question and KEEP ADDING VALUE.