The last post I wrote (the one about Google Plus tips) is now the most viewed post on this blog. The second most popular post on this blog is the one about blog post ideas. Both of these posts (and most of my other most popular posts) have one thing in common.
They’re massive and took FOR_EV_ER to write.
How long is “forever”? Ummm… Like 6-ish hours. Maybe more like 8? That’s a lot for a single blog post. And frankly, writing those massive blog posts kind of sucks. It’s extremely draining, but totally worth it.
How worth it? That Google+ post brought me thousands of visitors over the weekend, and the blog post ideas post still brings in thousands of readers ever month. Thanks to that Google+ tips post, I made more sales of my Infographic Academy course over the weekend (which is usually a slow traffic time for all blogs) than I did on the day I launched it.
Like I said–totally worth it.
I know lots of people say that they only like to read short blog posts. A lot of how-to-blog-better bloggers say that you should only write short blog posts.
I say… Whatever.
And a lot of those bloggers will say, “But it doesn’t matter how long a blog post is, as long as you convey your idea.”
Meh. Whatever. It matters.
In my experience, 500-word posts never make me say “Wow.” And when I say never, I mean that I don’t think it has ever happened. Ever. It’s just hard to convey a wow-inducing idea in 500 words or less.
Can you still convey good or great information in 500 words? Of course, and that’s why we all still write short posts and read blogs with short posts. But can you wow someone in 500 words? No, I don’t think so.
Just about each one of the 12 “Most Popular Posts” in my sidebar is at least a thousand words, with several in the 2,000-3,000 word range.
Those posts all took hours to plan, research, and write. (Hmmm, that’s kind of a novel concept, isn’t it?… Researching a blog post.) Of course there’s not necessarily always a direct correlation between time spent writing a post and length of a post. But there usually is.
This post that you’re reading now is not massive. It did not take forever to write. And it will not bring in thousands of visitors a month. Once it’s off the first page of the blog, it’s probably lost forever, and few will read it. I’m ok with that.
But I think that one massive blog post each week is worth more to your blog than a few short ones. I used to write lots of massive posts, and it helped my blog grow A TON in its early days. Now I don’t do it as much, and there is definitely a difference.
Here’s my challenge to you: Write a massive blog post sometime this week.
Spend 4 or 6 or 8 or however many you need hours on it. I’m going to do it more often (maybe every two weeks?) I’d like to say that you should write one like that every week, but that’s not really practical for most people, myself included. Yes, it requires more work, but it will make your blog stand out way above the others in your niche, because very few people devote that much emotional energy to their blogs.
It’s late and I just had the worst weekend ever and don’t have the mental fortitude to come up with a clever ending for this post. Consider it ended.
- Do you accept the challenge?
- Have you noticed a correlation between post length (or time spent writing) and the most popular posts on your blog?
- Do you like to read long blog posts?
- Oh, and I also challenge you to make me say “Wow” in 500 words or less :)
{ 75 comments… read them below or add one }
Interesting post Tristan. You and I might have talked about this one before but I write very quickly. Earlier this year I wrote my first pillar post, almost 3,800 words, broke it up into 2 posts, and it took me about 30 minutes to write. Now, it did take an hour to write my outline, but then I went for it.
The overall premise, I assume, is that sometimes a person needs to put some time into a monster post to make their bones.
3,800 words in 30 minutes? Wow. That’s pretty darn impressive, Mitch.
But yep, the overall premise is that people need to actually put effort into their posts every once in a while :)
I’m going to accept your challenge, Tristan. I probably won’t be able to write anything this week with my daughter here, but I will make an effort to scratch out ideas, do a bit of research, and get it published for next week.
I do agree with you that longer posts tend to wow people more, and get shared a bit more. One of my most visited posts (until I let my blog slide down) was my review of The 4 Hour Body. That was broken down into four posts total and turned out to be around 10,000 words, I think. It was huge, but well received.
Your G+ tips post was an excellent overview of the social network. People should go read it if they haven’t.
I remember your 4 Hour Body review well. I’m not surprised that it was well received and got shared a lot.
Thanks for the kind words about the G+ post. I’m really happy with how much traffic and everything it brought in.
Thanks James!
Hey Tristan,
You know me, I always go for the long-form posts :)
I think the post that took me the longest was the ebook cover because I also created 2 videos and slideshows. In total, I think it took about 10 hours over the course of 2 days.
The results? Incredible reception from the community.
The way I see it: You could either write 10 short posts and be ‘meh’ at your blog or you could spend that same time creating that 1 post that literally becomes a full representational of your brand. The post where people goes ‘holy crap, this guy makes some KILLER content!’.
There’s a lot of bloggers that try to skim by and people notice it. But the bloggers that rock it by creating a post that stuns people will have long-term impact and get people to come back time and time again.
Yeah man, those ebook posts can take forever, for sure.
You nailed it with this: “The way I see it: You could either write 10 short posts and be ‘meh’ at your blog or you could spend that same time creating that 1 post that literally becomes a full representational of your brand.”
I think this is the main reason that so many blogs fail. People write crap content, no one notices it, and they think, “Oh, this blogging thing doesn’t work.” And then they quit.
Bummer.
Thanks for the great comment as always, Murray.
Tristan: Before even reading this post I knew it was worth tweeting, and I made the right decision! ( :
I believe you have a very good point. I might be a slow article writer, but it usually always takes me over 4 hours to come up with a blog post. I usually always write my article out first. I find that by writing my ideas come out better than starting with the typing phase. I would say that I usually spend between 5-10 hours on a single article. Pretty much all my post are over a 1000+ words.
Just like you I prefer the longer blog post, because people can see you actually put effort into your post. Besides I alway try to promote my best work, and a 500 word article wouldn’t my best work.
Thanks again!
Look forward to reading more post. ( :
God bless,
William Veasley
William, I think that outlining your blog posts before you write them is a great idea. It can definitely make the writing process go faster.
Thanks as always for the great comment!
Tristan
I’ve only ever read one sub 500 word blog post that made me think: now THAT was good. It was by Seth Godin and it was a post about ways Amazon could really rock the Kindle world (paperback version, pay per month version, some other ideas).
I think that the kind of posts that do get linked to regularly, and talked about, and stuff like that are the very detailed ‘how to’ posts, the pillar content that everyone talks about. These get found in Google and become kind of ‘long tail’ type posts that attract traffic continuously. Especially if you link from the sidebar with most popular posts etc.
As far as I’m concerned, you’re preaching to the converted! Let’s have some more big ones from you!
Paul
Paul, I actually was thinking about Seth Godin as I wrote this post. I was a subscriber of his blog for about six months, up until a few days ago. As I was going through and cleaning out my RSS reader, I realized that I haven’t really gotten anything out of his posts! But I guess that’s just me and my situation.
And yeah, I know I haven’t been putting out as many big posts recently. That’ll change, though, I promise. I know you write them on a pretty consistent basis… I need to keep up!
Hi Tristan,
I accept the challenge. And, I have actually never written a blog post that took me more than 1 hour to write, so it’s about time.
I usually just get an idea, and start to write. And, I want to publish it during the same day as I start writing. So, 1 hour is usually what it takes (and sometimes less). But, as you’re saying the WOW-posts I have read are usually longer, and the author have done a lot of research before writing.
One question to you Tristan. Do you include the research you have done in the 4-6 hours?
Jens
You’ve NEVER written a blog post that took more than an hour to write?? Wow .That’s pretty impressive! You come out with some good stuff, so it’ll be really interesting to see what a mega-post of yours looks like.
For me personally, yes, the research is usually included in the 4-6 hours. I’m a slow researcher but a fast writer. The exact amount of time you spend isn’t important, just write a big post and see what happens :)
It’s absolutely true Trist. We need to focus more on the content and making sure that our blog readers get access to the COMPLETE information we are passing across. That’s the same DECISION I’ve made to always complete a post I have started. In a nut shell, it takes about 2000 words or thereabout to get your inner instinct into the computer and unto your blog. Why rush when we already have those who would consume the info. Patience Man, give them what they want and they would reciprocate!
Yeah, I’m definitely a fan of the 2000 word length. That really is enough to get it all out, isn’t it :)
Thanks Michael!
I really like the challenge you are setting. Personally, I think there is room for long and short posts, and I don’t think you are disagreeing. I do not think that a short post determines lack of thought or consideration, it just may not take so long to say what you want. As we all know it is all about the content.
By the way, I do think you can wow in less than 500 words, or is that just because I am Irish??
You’re right, John. There’s room for both short and long posts. I don’t want to write a 3000 word blog post every day and people don’t want to read a 3000 word blog post every day!
I don’t doubt that it IS possible to wow in 500 words… But I just haven’t been wowed in 500 words. Not that I can remember, anyway.
Thanks for commenting!
It just occurred to me, Tristan, that I hope your partner does not feel obliged to utter more than 500 words to “wow” you!!!!!
Hahaha. I’m currently single. But hey, maybe that’s the reason why! :D
To get your specific post indexed you have to submit your post to social media sites. So go for social bookmarking. It is very effective and results very soon
Yep, exactly. Thanks!
Hi Tristan,
My take is that goods blogs have to be informative, entertaining and meet the reader’s needs. Quality doesn’t have to be sacrificed in shorter blogs (The Gettysburg Address has stood the test of time).
Riley
Riley, I agree that quality doesn’t have to be sacrificed in shorter blogs, but I feel like it usually is. And yes, the Gettysburg Address has stood the test of time… But then so has the Bible :)
In an effort to demonstrate that successful ad copy uses more verbs than unsuccessful copy which has more adjectives, Leo Burnett examined several of the most powerful examples of language he could find, including The Gettysburg address was among them.
Not the point of your post I know, but interesting to note. Perhaps the key is that shorter posts need to have far higher impact to have the same effect as longer ones…
I tend to write shorter ones at the moment, but I agree it’s good to have a juicy fat long one in there at least once in a while to give your readers something to really chew on…
And those buggers can take me 10-12 hours if I do my homework properly!
hadn’t had a chance to read your posts recently, though i do have them in my email (not deleted) for future reading ;-) and am very glad that for some reason i made myself stop and read this one
the question of blog length, and density of info, had begun to bother me, as most of mine are a lot more than 500 words, and usually take a bit of time to organize, write, re-write, create links, select images, and work the images to the post
in-between, i try and post shorter things of mine, like poems or images of paintings or photos, though occasionally, even one of those turns into a wordy thing ;-)
i do believe my better work are those i’ve spent more time on, and it is difficult time-wise at times, doing them
but i really can’t post something that elicits more from me, and not share that extra, which is usually additional substantiating info, or conflicting ideas that come up within myself and i try and answer, etc
my current attempt at doing something shorter, are what i call my “tidbit” series, where i expliciting say i’m not covering all the variances and possibilities i myself can see, but rather focussing on some small aspect important to me
anyway, bottomline, i’m very glad i read your post of today, as it gives me a little indirect feedback that it’s not only “ok” for me to like and do my longer articles, but may be a good thing as well ;-)
thanks so much tristan, take care,
sincerely,
adan
Adan, I think that having both long and short posts on a blog is a good thing. That’s what I do here. I mean, I don’t want to have to write a massive blog post every day, and people don’t want to have to read a massive blog post every day.
I like your idea about the tidbit series, and just intentionally covering one aspect or facet of something.
And yes, I definitely think it’s “ok” to write longer posts :) Have you noticed that they get more feedback and get shared more than your shorter posts, or no?
Hi Tristan,
Good points about longer posts and I agree. Another reason to go long is because of the Google Panda update… it’s been mentioned that they’re rewarding relevant, longer content.
Most of my posts have swelled in word count because the subject demanded it. But I do like to do some “thinker” short posts as well.
Sorry you had a bad weekend. It’s Monday so you get to start over today. :)
Peggy
Peggy, I definitely think there’s a time and place for short posts. In fact, more of my posts recently have been short than long… And yeah, good call about Google liking longer posts more. That definitely doesn’t hurt, eh?
And yeah, the bad weekend is now just a fun memory :)
Hi Tristan,
Most of my posts take several hours to write and edit. We never know which post a visitor will first visit, so I never post anything until it’s ready to stand on its own. I try to stay within 500 words, but it’s not a hard limit. I read long posts, but I recognize that a lot of people prefer the shorter ones. Therefore, I agree that carefully-crafted, well written posts that take a long to to write are more likely to be shared, but I disagree that the length of the post is a contributing factor to the popularity of a post.
The high number of hits garnered by your Google+ post is most likely a consequence of choosing a hot topic than the length of the post. Similarly, the ideas post, is something that every blogger has Googled at one time or another.
The most popular posts on my blog (I define popularity by number of comments instead of views) are those related to the human experience. Readers seem to relate to the “every man” aspect of those posts.
As to your challenge, one of my favorite posts on my blog is 606 words. If we are talking about the ability to convey an idea in an interesting way, and not popularity, I would stack this short post against any other for effectiveness: http://raycolon.com/blog/2010/04/14/what-is-a-country-for/ . It was written when my blog was new, so it’s not heavily commented, but I think that it’s the best short post that I’ve written.
Ray
Ray, I’m not saying that short posts don’t have their place. A lot of times you really just don’t need to write 2000 words.
I disagree with you disagreeing with me about length being a contributing factor to post popularity :D
You give other reasons for the popularity of the Google+ and the blog ideas post besides length, but I don’t think your reasons are valid or accurate. The Google+ post is not just popular because it’s a new technology. I’ve seen hundreds of G+ posts in the past week on blogs larger than mine that were 400 words long that didn’t get nearly as much traffic or attention as mine. The reason it’s been +1′d 198 times now is because it’s a long, exhaustive post. It has everything you need to know in it.
You also said that the length of the blog post ideas post doesn’t have anything to do with how popular it is. But I disagree. The post wouldn’t be popular at all if it had been “5 Blog Post Ideas.”
And I still gave all the examples of most of the most popular posts on my blog being some of the longest.
Of course we can agree to disagree… But this is my blog, and so I’m right :D
I spend two-three our a day to write and edit my posts.
Nice.
That is so true Tristan !
I can well relate to this post as I also take ages to convey the points in my post maybe 4-5 hours, even though being a freelance writer I know pretty well that short posts is something that catches the eye of most people. But somehow, I am never satisfied if I convey half baked information to the readers or if I have not conveyed all there is to learn about the topic.
My posts do tend to stretch longer than they should, so I am generally told, yet I like it that way, and you make me feel so much better by saying the same thing in your post!
I think people like to say that they prefer short blog posts in theory because hey, why read a lot when you could read less? But I think that in practice, the value that comes from the longer post outstrips what you’ll find with short blog posts, and people obviously prefer that.
I’m glad it’s not just me in the I-love-to-write-long-posts-and-I’m-proud-of-it club :D
Thanks Harleena!
Hi Tristan, congratulations on your achievements with those 2 fabulous posts and the success of your Infographic Academy. Well done.
I’m the opposite of Mitch. It takes me 5 or 6 hours just to write a 500 word post and most likely it would take 3 days to write a post like the ones you mentioned. I fuss over every detail and I make so many typos, I should hire someone to fix them for me (but I won’t do that because I’m too much of a control freak) LOL.
I resort to video tutorials most of the time if I feel that a post will take too long to write.
You have a way of getting us to think about the way we operate and I’m going to see if I can come up with something, but I make no promises.
Thanks for the encouragement.
btw – did you ever do a post about why you decided to get rid of CommentLuv? I’d love to hear about how you came to the decision.
Yeah, Mitch’s speed is pretty crazy. 3800 words in 30 minutes?! That’s just nuts.
I think video tutorials are great for people like you who take a long time to write and edit and stuff. I’m the opposite; video takes me FOR_EV_ER but I can whip out 1000 words in no time. But that’s good because some people like to watch video and others like to read.
“You have a way of getting us to think about the way we operate.” << Yessss. I love that :D
As for CommentLuv, I didn’t get rid of it so much as I just never upgraded it. Apparently there was an update to the plugin that I had to do more for than just press the update button. I have to go in and mess with some settings and I just haven’t gotten around to fixing it yet. But I don’t know if I will, to be honest. If people don’t want to comment here because there’s no CommentLuv installed… That’s fine by me.
Tristan,
Lately, I find that the more thorough my posts are (for my own blog or guest posts), the more I enjoy it. Plus, it gives me a chance to go in-depth whereas other authors skip the details.
4-6 hours? Not bad at all. Jon Morrow said he spends 10-20 if I remember correct… hours, not minutes ;) And he’s really damn good!
10-20 hours on a post, eh? That’s… definitely a lot!
“Plus, it gives me a chance to go in-depth whereas other authors skip the details.”
I think you touched on something really important there, Moon. I think that’s the reason why long posts are so often successful; you go more in depth and cover things that other bloggers don’t. Great point.
Thanks for the great comment!
There are some posts I write for my freelance stuff that I can just blast out in an hour. Those are usually for sites that have the short and sweet articles that aren’t meant to wow but just be simple and informative.
For other sites (like Social Media Examiner, a few higher paying blogs, and my own), I usually spend anywhere from 3 – 5 hours, or longer if they are tutorial or massive list posts. Those are always the ones that do the best socially, and definitely are worth the work! :)
You touch on something really interesting, Kristi… Sometimes you don’t need to wow. Just providing simple, informative posts is good enough.
But like you said, it’s the mega-posts that do the best socially. And in my experience they don’t just do a little bit better… They do SIGNIFICANTLY better. Definitely worth it :)
Thanks Kristi!
I agree with you. If you work on writing informative and well thought post, obviously, Google will love this and can bring you good traffic. Well, I accept the challenge!
Excellent! Feel free to come back and leave a comment with a link to your mega-post :)
I don’t like reading long blog posts, but it’s interesting to see that your popular posts are long. I may just try and write one. Thanks for the tip :)
I imagine that with a name like Quick Blog Tips, you wouldn’t be into reading or writing long blog posts :) And of course, you won’t be able to please everyone with every post, regardless of its length. I’ve just found that the lengthy posts do tend to get shared more and get more views.
But yeah, give it a try and let me know how it goes.
Thanks Ben!
To get your specific post indexed you have to submit your post to social media sites. So go for social bookmarking. It is very effective and results very soon.
Yep. Thanks!
Interesting. I’ve always subscribed to the “short but sweet” idea for all the ghost blogging I do, since that’s typically what clients want. And I think it’s good in some cases. However, if we’re talking posts going viral…I think you’re right. Great post!
That’s interesting, Chris. You’re not the first person on the comments here to mention that for ghost blogging you write short posts because that’s what the client wants. I think there’s a problem with the clients of freelance bloggers. And I don’t mean that in a derogatory way, I just think that they’re misinformed. They want short posts, but I think if they knew the benefits of long posts, they’d want more of them!
Writing long keyword rich posts is very good for search engine rankings but you shouldn’t spend 6-8 hours doing it. It usually takes a lot of time to write a blog post if you have very little knowledge of the subject and needs heave research.
Why not spend 6-8 hours doing it?
Interesting view Tristan and yes, you do have some very popular posts.
I can see where the more time you put into your post, the more thought you give it, the longer it can become. Hopefully all those posts will really be popular but they aren’t always like that. I do spend at least an hour and a half on each of my posts because I am always going back through it and rewording some things. My mind goes in different directions some times.
I think a lot of people don’t enjoy really long posts, or so I’ve been told. To me it depends on the content and if it really keeps my attention.
Thanks for sharing this though, you’ve given me something else to think about now.
Adrienne
“I think a lot of people don’t enjoy really long posts, or so I’ve been told.”
It’s funny you said it like that, Adrienne. A couple people in the comments here have mentioned something similar: “People like short posts… That’s what I’ve read, anyway.”
I should have done a poll or something with this post to see if other people’s longer posts are their more popular ones. I know that’s the case with me on this blog and all other blogs I’ve had in the past, despite what “people say.”
I think that people do enjoy longer posts simply because they provide more information. You’re providing unique content because you’re covering something in more depth than other bloggers.
And I think that if any people do say that they see no trend of their long posts being their most popular, it’s because they don’t write enough long posts. Not EVERY one of my long posts ends up being the most popular on my blog, but it’s definitely an unmistakable trend.
Thanks for the great comment, Adrienne!
Hey Tristan,
Thank you for the idea. I had read your post yesterday and I closed the tab (decided I would come back later). The first thing that came up to my mind, when I had finished reading your post was, why should I write 3 articles a week – 700 words, when I can combine them up into a long post? (that will get more shares). I was thinking about the idea. At first, I didn’t like it (that’s why I closed the tab), but then I realized what it had to offer me :-
1) I don’t have to spend time to come up with 3 different ideas. Instead I could just come up with 1 idea and write about the relating ideas too.
2) I could spend more time networking and doing other stuff.
3) Concentrate, write a better post and build my focus (which helps a lot in college).
4) Also works out for my college schedule
5) I would publish the post whenever I want (inside the week). Add more ideas when I get them (more time to think on a single idea).
And lots more..
Thank you for the post, Tristan,
Truly appreciate it,
Jeevan Jacob John
Yes! I’m glad to hear that the post had an effect on you :D
I think the best reason you gave is your number 2: “I could spend more time networking and doing other stuff.”
We all know that writing the post is only half the battle. What good is it if no one sees it?
I’ll be interested in hearing how writing one big post a week works out for you (or maybe go down to 2 a week first to see how you like it?). Keep me posted :)
I think this is good advice, but the context is also very important. I’ve had blogs where the only thing I wrote was a few hundred words an article a few times a week and make several thousand dollars a month from those.
I think the most important thing is to really determine what your goal is with the blog and then decide whether or not a long blog post will do much or not.
Chris, I also think the context of what you mentioned is very important. If you’re just starting out these days, I don’t think 300 word posts three times a week is going to do you much good. But for an established blog, I think it’s a different story.
Of course every blog and audience is different, but I think that in general and for most niches, the more big posts you write, the better it will be for your blog.
Thanks for the comment, man!
I accept the challenge! I’ve written long posts before, so I’ll have to come up with something spectacular. Some of my best posts were DAYS in the formative stages…
Odd thing is, just the other day i read a post on one of those “better blogging” blogs where the guru says it’ s VERY important to keep your post very short, because if someone lands on your page and sees a long post it will scare them away! (Sorry, i don’t remember exactly where that was, but if I run across it again I’ll come back with the URL)
I know, I still read that whole “keep your blog posts short!” thing every week. But it’s just flat out bad advice. Should you write a 3000 word post every day? No. You’ll die writing them and your readers will die reading them. But every so often? Heck yes.
I think that a lot of times, the “keep your posts short” advice comes from just hearing it a lot, not from actual experience. It’s funny, because those same bloggers will also usually tell you to write “pillar articles.” Same thing.
Thanks Dave!
I prefer to write a short blog post and to update daily in order to have feed back from my viewers. People expect you to post daily or they go away.
“People expect you to post daily or they go away.”
That is not even close to being true. Sucks to be you if you have to update your blog every day.
I too believe in the same way as you have given the post here for giving the best idea about the post .. One can write a very useful and unique post if spends at least 4 hours to a blog post..
Thanks B!
I don’t think it’s a cool idea to spend 4-6 hours in writing a single post.Instead of that one should concentrate in doing research before writing a post.Many of my posts were small (less than 200 words) but they are still most popular because they came after a long hour of research and analysis.
Tristan, you are a genius :) I also never say a wow post of 500 words. I think the only 500 words post that can convey a whole message is either the one where the main thing is a video and the text is just an introduction to it :) or if it is a short tutorial post where you are explaining something simple but can do it in 500 words. Everything else is just not IT.
I also read a lot of those “write short posts” tips but I just can’t do it. Unless it is a list of posts I recommend, it has to be long, I am like that, talk a lot and take a lot time to explain stuff. Doesn’t seem to bother people, according to Analytics :)
Writing a blog post is just one step of it, making it look attractive & with good content is very important. I have spent time writing articles and from my experience i think it is preferable if you concerntrate on short articles with good content, it will bring more viewers. Also one thing i noticed is that long articles are less viewed as the story might be too long and boring. thought i should add this, thanks for sharing.
Once in a while, we should take responsibilities of your work as soon as they came this oribg..
coin counters
http://www.betterbusinesselectronics.com/Coin-Counters-c26
we have had blogs where the only thing I wrote was a few hundred words an article a few times a week and make several thousand dollars a month from those.
I do enjoy a good meaty long post, but it has to be packed full of good stuff and enjoyable to read. Some people are definitely much better at writing long posts than others!!
I think it has to be made clear that just because you put in the hours and put together a monster post it doesn’t mean it’s going to be a winner! I always work on the basis that if it interests me and others share that interest, maybe it’s worth writing about. But try to avoid 10,000 words of waffle :)
I’m guilty of never really spending more than an hour tops on writing a blog post, and most of that time is usually spent editing a pic or two for the post. But I work different than everyone else, and my writing process starts before I ever sit down in front of a computer, usually a day or two before the post is even written. Once the idea for the post is there and fully formed inside my head, then I sit down and start writing. I know that doesn’t work for everyone, so your post is pretty awesome for those who don’t have the same methods as me.
Keep it up!
You are a great blogger, Tristan. However I have to say that I work in the same way as Kara, exactly. So thanks, Kara, for decribing the process.
Thanks for your post, it’s a quandary I am often in. There is this advice “250 word posts,” but I can’t write anything in 250 words that has any value.
I notice that if someone is interested or entertained by what I write, they stick around. If the post is too short they are in and out, giving a lousy bounce rate.
I notice from these comments that there is a huge variation in writing speed. My 2 bits is we need to feel where we are personally comfortable. Five short articles that say nothing drains me, but a longer article, say 1200-1500 words hat is meaningful, leaves me tired, but motivated.
Ohh, Such a gr8 buddy……….
It is so true, usually posts that I do spend more time on, get more responses and attract more views. I guess, simply because when you do spend a lot of time on a post, you have more time to make sure you are writing a quality and useful post that people will actually enjoy reading.
Thank you this is a really good one..what is your name on there so I can check out your stuff? email me or whatever
I can go either way, what I love about short blogs posts is that they can give us the information quick and most of the time it satisfies us. But you’re right, longer blog posts tend to have more into it because it’s LONGER! I’ve seen one maybe two articles that left speechless that were short but those probably were flukes, because great messages are hard to convey in short messages.
Tristan. FINALLY a blogger who is telling the truth. I make a full time living now blogging, but it NEVER took off writing small posts. I found that once I increased my lengths, details, pictures, tables, THEN Google woke up and the traffic started coming daily.
What started me writing long posts, was the fact that most of the great bloggers (Steve Pavlina for example write really long posts). Some say, “Well, Seth Godin writes little posts all the time”. Yes, BUT Seth already has an audience from his actual books, and a following.
Short posts don’t cut it if you really want to pour in the traffic. Here is my last post length;
http://financing-usa.com/bad-credit-signature-loans-in-jacksonville-florida-1200-and-2800/
I go all out now, and add tables, information, outbound links, etc. It has to be done that way if we are serious about blogging these days.
Until I started rising above 2000 words, nothing was really happening.
Brent
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