Extremely Long Post Is It Necessary These Days?
About a month ago, I lost my car keys. What I did was a Google search in regards to what I can do and how am I able to change my car locks.
At the time, I didn't know what happened to my keys. Fortunately, I did find them, and they were in a weird side pocket of my purse that I never put any items in.
At the time, my mind was going all over the place where I could have dropped my keys. I over-worried myself, and that is why I did a Google search.
One article I read was very long. I'm guessing it was probably about five to six thousand words.
After reading the article, I read the comments to see if anyone else had advice.
Most comments complain that the website content was way too long.
There were other websites that I read that got to the point, and they ranked well.
Back To My Question
Is it necessary to write lengthy articles these days?
Is it necessary to write a five thousand word article about methods of replacing your car keys?
Me being in that situation at the time, I wanted the article to get to the point so I could figure out my next step or steps.
If someone sees such a lengthly article, would it make the person leave the site without reading anything because of the amount of content that they have to look or sift through?
Also,
When is it a good idea to write such a lengthy amount of content these days?
The content I write averages from a little over a thousand to around twenty-five hundred words.
Some content rank well and some don't.
Is such a lengthy amount of content these days good for Google and the user experience?
I would love to read what you think; please express your answers to my questions below, thanks!
Recent Comments
26
I,prefer short and crips
Kind of courtesy for the reader
Unless you write for wikepedia...
Just be yourself and Do wat you feel comfortable with
Hey Fleeky, I do that, but when I read the complaints others had about the "lost keys" post, I was concerned about the user experience. From what I'm gathering through the comments here, there is a time for short and long posts which I get now!
Forget article length, provide good user experience.
There's been MANY a time when I've been looking for a quick-fire answer and got an article that was clearly written with the search engine in mind not the visitor which led to me heading straight back to the search engine & looking for another result.
You don't want to be "that site".
I sure don't Dale, I agree user experience should be first and far most important, thanks for your thoughts.
I much prefer shorter articles Evelyn, but it is said that Google loves content and so longer articles are written by many people. This is fine as long as those articles don't have a lot of filler.
Derek
I have wondered the same thing. When I am searching for an answer to a problem often I will skim the article with the thought of “oh just get to the point.”
Because of that I am writing differently but with at least 1000 words. My posts are ranking better.
Interesting thought you have brought up here.
Laura
Laura, you don't know how many times I've said just get to the point in my mind, LOL.
From your experience, you're gearing towards user experience with your content, which I'm finding through reading the comments here is the crucial part of content creation.
You are so right and I wanted to go back and add that to my comment because my original reply was at 5:30 am. A foggy brain. But I saw many said the same thing so I didn't repeat it.
Laura
I have two pillar posts of 7,200 and 9,000 words each focused on a "head" keyword (high volume and competition as opposed to a long-tail keyword). The pillar posts have related subtopic posts based on long-tail keywords.
The intent of the pillar posts is not to rank but to generate organic backlinks as readers/visitors find the posts informational as well as useful.
You are welcome, Laura.
I should have added that my sub-topic post word length is between 1,200 and 3,000 words with an average of, maybe, 1800 words.
Hey Glen, thanks for your explanation. Your comment put a lot of ideas in my mind.
If you don't mind, could you PM me your two-pillar posts, so I can picture how you created your pillar articles? Or! I could be asking too much, Lol, creating training or a blog post about it? I think it would not just help me out but others here too.
I'm not trying to put you in a corner, Glen if you prefer not too, that is totally fine.
Again thanks for sharing your thoughts, much appreciate it!
Thanks Glen, I have a clear picture now! I have some ideas now on subjects I could write about. Boy, you wrote out two books, with great quality content, Awesome!
I personally like rather short and concise posts and that's why I struggle even with 1,000 words :) I agree with you completely that in some cases it's not good to write too long articles, people are impatient these days and if they are just looking for some help, they don't want to read essays.
It just depends on the subject, I think. For reviews, it's probably better to write more in detail i.e. all the pros and cons. For small advice on something, it's better to keep it short.
Yeah, I guess it is all about the user experience! thanks for sharing your thoughts Lenka!
Personally I believe you should just write an informative, compelling blog. One that holds the attention of the audience. When you have finished the article, then look to see how many words you have written.
I started doing this a few months back and now my blogs can range from 1000 words to 4000 words. Jim
See more comments
If a post is too long I skim, if the point isn't clear, I leave. But that's just me, others may prefer lengthier posts.
Sometimes though I stay despite the post being lengthy because the person is making good points and it is interesting. Maybe some own experience in there, some humour etc. The writers voice comes through.
Mostly I think that most people are time poor and cannot be bothered with posts that are too long, ie several thousand words.
Hey Linda, I do the same thing!
I try to make mine long enough but not mammoth efforts for that reason.