Long or Short Articles?

07. Jun 2007 | 11 Comments

Long Article How to do know when an article is too long? or for that matter too short?
Write your article too long & you may bore you reader, write it too small & you may not entertain your reader enough to make them want to come back. So where’s the sweet spot?

Matt Coddington recently sold his blog & I must admit the new author has started well out by writing an interesting article on ecommerce & how to get started in it. Since Matt doesn’t normally write overly large articles you can notice in the comments that some readers found it a bit lengthy (I quite enjoyed the article despite my short attention span).

I’m a big believer in trying to get my point across as quickly as possible, so as not to:

Take up too much of YOUR time (remember you’re supposed to be earning & building sites….right?)
Not let you get bored with the post
Maybe tease you with some information so you’ll come back again
I know I don’t need to spell everything out step by step, you’re smart people
Take up hours of my own time

But that’s just my blog, this is how I’ve written posts from the very beginning, the same can’t be said for others out there.

This brings me nicely to my next point. In a niche (such as SEO) with so many blogs, so much information yet so little time to really take it all in, it IS natural for most of the readers to skim through articles & pick out the information that is relevant to them rather than read the bulk of articles from head to toe.

I know I certainly fall into this category, I even mention it on my about page:

I read so much information everyday, I think Iâ€™ve got a severe case of ADD. I find it really hard to concentrate on so many blogs & articles & bits of news.

Netvibes has recently helped me save a huge amount of reading time by keeping all of my regular stops in an easy to manage interface & is definitely worth a look.

So in the true nature of what I’ve just been discussing let’s finish this snippet here & tomorrow we’ll talk about what’s better on sales letters for affiliate marketing, long or short copy?

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11 Comments on "Long or Short Articles?"

shane 07. Jun 2007, 9:24 pm

Great points!!
I generally try to keepo mine between 200-100 words. Ive recently began switching to using pictures to demonstarte what I’m talking about. If im trying to show you how to go about doing something, or detailing something ive found that works for me. I find the pictures really convey better information than do words and are easier (for me anyways) to digest. Like you I dint want to waste my viewers precious time. I etes and try alot of things in my daily activites so I use pictures in my posts to show my readers what I am up to.

KC TAN 07. Jun 2007, 11:38 pm

I personally prefer short articles that illustrate the main points with some screen shots or relevant images. Most of my posts does not exceed 300 words.

By the way, I always thought that long posts should be avoided until I saw SmashingMagazines.. I have to admit that they have high quality posts that do not bored the readers as well.. Ultimately, I think it really depends on the writing technique and niche.

Don 08. Jun 2007, 3:01 am

Very Timely Article, for me anyway, in roughly a week, my blog will undergo a transition to a new look and feel, after which I will have to pump out more articles. So working out in a concise manner, how to get the message across, will start to take on a whole new meaning, for me.

Peer Wandiger - SelbstÃ¤ndig im Internet 08. Jun 2007, 3:51 am

I think it depends on the subject. For news, tips and such things, it is better to keep the post short.

When I read something that goes deep inside a subject, for instance an analysis of Google Adsense performance in a special field, I want as much information as possible.

So I like the short posts, because they dont take much time and i also like the (good!) long posts, because this is where I can learn something.

Chris 10. Jun 2007, 7:00 am

I agree, and I feel that most people don’t understand the proper length for blog entries. Anyways, I think your blog is pretty awesome. I’d be glad to offer you one of my awesome, super soft Geekfitters.com shirts in exchange for a link.

Go here for details:

http://www.geekfitters.com/qxw7hz1.html

Best,

Chris Geek

Enea 11. Jun 2007, 8:50 am

Great!! I started my blog today and it is very difficult to begin writing. However I have to begin somewhere.

Desty 12. Jun 2007, 11:35 pm

I generally break my longer posts up into two or three parts. First reason is that I really don’t want someone to get bored by a long post and generally break it up hopefully leaving the reader informed but wanting more. Second, I hopefully entertained or gave a vaulable post and the reader will want to come back for the next part, and hopefully keep coming back to see what’s next everyday. Third, I am still working on getting Desty Online known and out there, so I submit my posts to Digg and Stumble. More posts = more exposure.

OnlineTips 13. Jun 2007, 2:35 am

Since my site is about Online Tips, my articles are not really that long. I usually get to the point right away to show people what they really want/need. But I also have some articles that are about current events, which are longer than usual.

Mark Benson 13. Jun 2007, 7:49 pm

It is a very delicate art, finding the mix and balance between long and short articles.

Some subjects need to be covered in detail, while others often benefit from the short sharp shock theory. This is what seperates good from great blogs.

x3r0bug 22. Jul 2007, 7:05 am

I personally don’t think it matter whether blog posts are long or short, IF they have the right elements.

For example, a long blog post doesn’t always have to bore the reader because if it is interesting enough and they don’t have time to read it, they can always bookmark it. But with long posts they have to be well-written, have paragraph breaks and preferably have bold headings where it is broken up to make it even easier to read. There have been plenty of long blog posts that I have taken the time to read because they were just plain GOOD.

Some people use the strategy of long well-written blog posts that people look forward to and set their posting frequency a little slower.

But that’s not to say short blog entries aren’t okay either. Site updates, link posts, etc. aren’t usually very long, but they get to the point quick. That being said, I think to be successful, short blog posts need to provide an external link somewhere, or provide some very USEFUL information. If a blog is made up of almost all short posts, I think the posting frequency should be turned up.

I’ve seen some very successful blogs that take the approach of posting shorter blog posts (with updates, links, and short useful information) and every now and then post a LONG article in a separate Articles section of the website.

Just my two cents