How Long Should Blog Posts Be In 2023? [The Ideal Word Count]

Creating a blog post is a skill that's easy to learn but hard to master. Knowing the content length and taking someone through the customer journey takes time and effort.

The margin of error is small, as you may write too much, bore your reader, or write shorter posts and miss the point. So, how long should blog posts be?

The ideal length of your post primarily depends on the post's target. We can divide blog posts into micro, short, news articles, mid-form, and long-form.

Micro and short blog posts tend to be below 1200 words. They need to be better for SEO but often yield many comments.

News articles are often around 750 words. They're the standard length for newspaper blogs. You can use those when you're aiming for link-building with other bloggers.

Mid-form posts (1,000-1,500 words) often get more shares on social media than they get comments. But they can still be great at generating comments. They're typically a good middle ground for many bloggers.

Long-form block posts (1,500-2,300+) words are the best for SEO as they rank high in Google. They're often information-rich, detailed, and in-depth.

How To Determine The Length Of Your Blog

Determining the ideal blog post length is a challenging task. That's because blog posts usually have different lengths depending on their topic.

For example, scientific or informational blog posts are longer than your average article length. On the other hand, quick tutorials and guides usually tend to be short and snappy.

So, how long should blog posts be? And how can you determine the optimal blog post length based on the search engines' preference?

To do that, you can use a manual way of searching and counting or a slightly more innovative approach (The easy way).

The Manual Way

The manual way involves going to Google and browsing the most relevant content. You must write your query in the search box, and the results will appear.

The page one results are often the most relevant and also the highest quality content. You'd then have to open each blog post individually and assess how many words it has.

Normally, reaching the best word count range comes from assessing the top 10 results. However, you might find irrelevant content after the sixth or seventh result. So, take the average blog post length of the relevant content only.

You'd then have to open each blog post individually, copy its content into a Word or Google document, and use the word counting tool to assess the post length.

Here are the pros and cons of this method:

Pros:

• You get to research your content as you assess the word count.
• You get to build a framework of headings before writing your blog post.

Cons:

• You waste considerable time copy-pasting each blog post and assessing the word count.
• You don't get a keyword cluster (Unless you use AI tools like ChatGPT).
• You don't get a suggested number of headings, pictures, or paragraphs.
• Unless you have experience with SEO, your blog post won't be optimized.] enough to land on the first page.

The Easy Way

The manual way is reliable, but it could save time. If you're a content writer or someone you know is, you'd understand how time is of the essence to writers.

This is when an optimization or content intelligence tool like Surfer SEO can be useful. As a start, Surfer SEO provides you with the ideal blog post length based on the topic you're seeking.

The blogging tool would automatically do the browsing for you and find the recommended average word count and the best keyword cluster.

These results are based on the top relevant blog posts the SEO audit tool gave you.

The mean blog post length is one of many things Surfer SEO provides. You'd also get the recommended number of images, paragraphs, and headings.

The AI tool also gives each article a score (including your own) so you can compare.

Not only that, but Surfer SEO would also provide you with the best competitive articles tackling the same topic you're after.

You may exceed their score by using as many related keywords as possible.

Those articles can act as your research posts, saving the time you'd spend finding information. They will also give you an idea of the best blog posts, so you can figure out how to top them.

Here are the pros and cons of using Surfer SEO:

Pros

• A time-saving method. All you need is a few clicks for your required resources to appear.
• The tool provides you with the ideal blog post length.
• You get the relevant word cluster to improve your search engine optimization.
• You get space to write posts inside the Surfer webpage. No need for external documents.
• You get a peak at the trending articles and their scores.

Cons

• Your writing time might be longer as you try incorporating as many keywords as possible to increase the score.
• On rare occasions, the suggested keywords may not be relevant to the topic.

The Benefits of Long-Form Blog Posts

Long-form blog posts typically have a word count of over 1,500. However, it's hard to determine the minimum required length for a blog post, as marketers gauge that differently.

For example, some agencies consider anything below 1,500 words short posts. Others think anything above 750 words is a long post.

That being said, long-form blog posts may take more time from you as a content writer, but they can provide various benefits in return.

For example, long-form content allows you to share multiple internal or external links. This will enrich the information in your blog post and improve SEO.

It also allows you to show expertise in the field you're writing about while tackling the information in depth. Let's have a look at how that can benefit you:

Increases Time on Page

Long-form content increases the time a user would stay on your page, especially if your content is well-written.

The more users spend time on your blog post, the more search rankings it gets. Also, longer posts often have a bigger room for generating discussion. This can translate into more comments and shares.

However, you must be careful not to fill your post with fluff, even if you use the correct keywords. Content with little value will hurt the overall credibility of the post.

Instead, make your post more engaging. Here are a few tips on how to do that:

• Use a catchy headline: Instead of going for the typical (How to do something), try a better attention grabber like (Handle this difficult task within seconds!)
• Use storytelling: It's easier for the eye to follow a story. They wonder how the end of a story keeps the brain much more attentive than just reading through a bunch of information.
• Use Humor: People pay good money to watch someone on stage who talks to make them laugh. Inject some relatable humor in your blog post to make it more interesting.

Provide More Opportunities for Selling

Remember the links we mentioned earlier? They can become a fantastic method to sell or promote products.

These products can be yours, so you'd benefit whenever someone purchases. Alternatively, you can still benefit from affiliate links to products that aren't yours.

A long blog post will allow you to show more than one product on the same page. Pair that product display with trusted purchase links to increase your chances of landing a sale.

Builds An Audience

Longer blog posts are often favored by search engines. When you keep your content within the ideal blog post length long enough, you'll start building a stable audience.

This is especially effective in the how-to blog posts. When you consistently follow a similar pattern in your blog content, you'll have a dedicated target audience.

You may also expand your audience by partnering with other bloggers and influencers. This will help you expand your niche to new people.

The Benefits of Short-Form Blog Posts

Shorter blog posts are quicker to read and easier on the eyes. Longer blog posts may be rich in information, but sometimes you need a snappy blog post to find what you need.

Shorter posts take far less time for a content writer to research, write, and proofread.

However, these snappy posts may not benefit from the SEO that long-form content has. You'll need more room for information, keywords, and links.

Also, shorter posts often mean less time spent on the page, reducing traffic and domain rating.

Don't let that discourage you. A short blog post can still offer a lot:

Easy For Blog Readers

As mentioned earlier, some blog readers prefer a short post that gets straight to the point. In fact, you may end up with more traffic on your blog than you would have on using longer content.

How? Imagine looking for specific information in a pool of 3,000 words. With the walls of text ahead of you, it might seem quicker to close the page and look for another post.

On the other hand, finding what you need in a short blog post may encourage you to continue reading, especially if the content grabs your attention with a good hook.

What happens, then? You spend more time on that page, improving its website traffic.

Make Quick Sales

Multiple products or links in the same blog post can be fruitful for your sales but sometimes backfire.

When you compare multiple products and sources in the same place, you might accidentally create a sense of hesitation in the reader's mind. That is often more prominent when the products you're demonstrating have similar features and specifications.

On the other hand, having a few examples of products can be beneficial as long as your short post is formulated correctly. Here are a few tips to help you do that:

• Know your audience: You must understand your audience and their needs adequately. A perfectly written post won't matter if it's not directed to the right people.
• Illustrate the problem and the solution: Once you demonstrate how a problem can affect the reader's quality of life, immediately mention your solution.
• Provide a clear CTA: You must provide a call to action at the end of your post. This will help the reader know where to go next.
• Optimize your content: A high-quality post will go nowhere if people can't see it. To land on that first page, you must be within the recommended word count and write the required keywords.

What Is The Ideal Length For All Blog Post Types?

You can write different blog posts based on the search intent, which all have an average text length.

Here are a few examples below that I've seen based on what is ranking on the SERPs.

• Press Releases: These are quick and exciting articles with around 500-750 words.
• Educational Posts: These are your How-To's and What is type of articles that are around 1700+ words
• Pillar pages: A pillar post can usually be 2500+ words or more, depending on the niche and topic.
• RRL Posts: These are 3000+ and are usually broad listicle blog posts.

Final Thoughts

It's a long shot to assume that there's a perfect blog post length. Your post length may vary depending on your topic, target audience, and type of blog.

You may manually break down the top results in Google for their word count, keywords, and ideas. This will expand your knowledge about the topic and allow you to create a mental framework for the blog post.

Alternatively, go for the easy method and use Surfer SEO. All you have to do is feed it with your target keyword, showing you the number of words you need within the recommended word count.

It'll also give you the number of images, headings, and paragraphs you need. Last but not least, it'll show you the top posts that tackle your required topic for comparative and research purposes.