How Long Should a Blog Post Be for SEO?

How long should a blog post be for SEO these days?

Key Takeaways

This is not one of those queries that can be answered in one sentence or one long paragraph. The “How long should a blog post be for SEO” question demands a longer blog post than the query, “How many days are there in a year?”

For obvious reasons.

In case it’s not obvious, the answer to the “How long should a blog post be?” question deserves a longer answer because there isn’t just one answer.

There are many factors to consider and more questions to be asked. There’s nuance.

Let’s get to the nuance.

A woman sipping a cup of something while she works at her laptop.

The Ideal Length for a Blog Post Cheat Sheet

By following these steps, you can tailor the length of your content to best suit your audience’s needs and your blogging goals.

Here are six steps to find the ideal blog post length:

Define Your Keyword: Keyword research starts the blogging process. Your keywords will be the foundation on which all other factors depend.
Understand user Intent: This is the second most crucial aspect in deciding your blog post’s length. Put yourself in the reader’s shoes. What would you want to learn if you were searching for the topic you’re writing about? Answer the query first and foremost.
Analyze Competitor Content: Look at blog posts from competitors or industry leaders. Identify the average length of top-performing posts for the keyword you are going after. Note how comprehensive they are. This can give you a benchmark for your own content.
Consider the Topic Complexity: The complexity and depth of the topic will naturally influence the length. Simple topics may only need short posts, while more complex subjects might require longer, detailed content to cover thoroughly.
Test Different Lengths: Experiment with different post lengths to see what works best for your audience. Publish posts of varying lengths and monitor key metrics like time on page, bounce rate, social shares, and conversions.
Review Performance Data: Analyze your posts’ performance over time. Look at analytics data to see which lengths perform best in traffic, engagement, and SEO. Use this data to refine your strategy and find the optimal length for your blog posts.
Write the best post: Be better than the top ten. Write the most concise, organized, well-written post.

LazyGirl Tip: I use Keysearch for my keyword research. They have tools to help you determine the average length of the top ten in the search results.

How to Determine the Length of Your Blog Post

Here are the three most important factors to consider when determining blog post length and expand on the list above and gives more instruction.

Keep in mind that quality content always trumps quantity and that in-depth, well-written, valuable content is often shared more than thin content.

Be so good they can’t ignore you.

1. Know Your User’s Intent

What is the query? If the query is easily answered, then don’t bury the lead. Answer it.

The worst thing you can do is bury the lead and keep the reader searching. They will bounce. When readers bounce from your site to the next because they aren’t getting what they came for, that sends a negative signal to Google.

Users don’t want to have to scroll halfway down the page to get an answer to their query.

People go to Google to get information. Give it to them.

Google wants to answer people’s queries, so they reward content that gives their searches the content that delivers the answers.

The best way to do this for a writer is to put your reader hat on and get behind your reader’s mind.

What do they want to know? Give it to them.

2. Analyze Competitors’ Blog Posts

The very next step when writing a blog post that you want to rank in the top ten is to analyze the top ten results for the query you are answering.

What is the average length of the top ten?

The top 10 – 20 are usually around the same length because most bloggers in the top ten know the best SEO practices, so they are doing the same.

Typically, a blog post is around 1,500 to 2,000 words, but occasionally, the top ten results will have more substantial content, with over 5,000 words and sometimes up to 10,000.

According to a study by Hubspot from 2021,

For SEO, the ideal blog post length should be 2,100-2,400 words, according to HubSpot data. We averaged the length of our 50 most-read blog posts in 2019, which yielded an average word count of 2,330. Individual blog post lengths ranged from 333 to 5,581 words, with a median length of 2,164 words.

— Hubspot

However, the important thing to ask yourself before you hit publish is whether you addressed the user’s intent.

If a person goes to Google with the query, “Is Catalina Island part of California?” this can be answered in a short blog post of 1,000 words or less. The answer is yes, Catalina Island is part of California, and then you can add more about the different islands off the coast of California.

The “best things to do in Los Angeles” search phrase will require more words to cover such a large city.

3. Consider the Topic Complexity

Some topics, like the subject of this post, demand more words to explain fully. Many topics deserve more than a yes or no answer or more than 1,000 words.

This doesn’t mean you should add content to your post that doesn’t add value for your reader.

Or, just because the top ten in Google’s search results are 10,000 words plus, doesn’t mean that if you write a post with 10,001 words, it will rank higher.

The content has to be valuable, clear, concise, and helpful information.

Don’t add words just to have more words than the blog posts in the top ten.

I’ve seen some 1,500-word blog posts outrank 3,000-word blog posts.

If you can write a better blog post in 8,000 words with clear and concise language than the other gal who needs 10,000 words to say the same thing, that is great! It’s better writing.

Factors More Important Than Blog Post Length for SEO

While you should pay attention to length and quality of the top 20 position in the search results there are other ranking factors that are just as important as blog post length.

Link building — getting high quality backlinks to your content is still an important ranking factor
Interlinking — having a solid interlinking strategy is will help your site rank and get traffic
Site speed — Technical SEO is just as important as on-page SEO. Your site speed must be fast, or readers will bounce. Go to Page Speed Insights to monitor your site speed weekly. Choosing a host, like Lyrical, ensure your site will be fast.
Write the ideal blog post title length for SEO

How to Break up a Blog Post No Matter the Length

After writing for Medium for years, I learned how to get readers to stay on my post.

Medium used to pay per the time readers stayed on a writer’s content, so there was a monetary incentive to keep eyes on my articles.

With the pervasive influence of digital technology and the relentless flow of information, the average adult’s attention span has dwindled to a mere 8 to 12 seconds.

This is a significant decrease from previous years, and it’s crucial for us as writers to adapt to this changing landscape.

Short Paragraphs

Readers skim.

The shorter your paragraphs, the longer readers stay and skim.

Short paragraphs create more white space on the page, making the text less dense and more inviting to the eye.

This visual break prevents the reader from feeling overwhelmed by large blocks of text.

Short paragraphs make it easier to scan the text quickly and pick out the main ideas or sections of interest.

This is particularly important for online content, where readers often jump between pages.

Add More White Space

When you write short paragraphs, you’ll naturally have white space, but I add even more white space between my H2 headers and after an image.

White space can help maintain reader interest by creating a natural rhythm and flow in the writing.

Frequent paragraph breaks keep the reader engaged and can prevent fatigue, encouraging them to continue reading.

Headings

Use H2, H3, and H4 headings strategically throughout your blog posts to organize your content.

Varying heading sizes visually indicate the hierarchy and structure of the content.

Larger headings (H1, H2) signal major sections, while smaller headings (H3, H4) indicate subsections.

This organization helps readers quickly understand how the content is arranged and navigate the post.

Headings act as visual signposts, guiding the reader through the content.

They provide natural pauses and breaks, making the text less overwhelming and more digestible. This improves the overall readability of the post.

Use Bold and Italics

Use bold and italics strategically to highlight something crucial. The trick is to use it sparingly. If you overuse bold and italics, it loses its magic for the information you want to highlight.

Media, Charts, and Graphs

Use media like videos, graphs, and charts to break up content. Everyone loves a good chart that spells out what you are saying in your post.

Having a video in the middle of your content breaks up the monotony of paragraphs, which gives the reader a reading break.

Just make sure the video is relevant, or it will confuse your audience.

I run a few travel blogs, and my videos work well for the travel niche.

Don’t use more than one video per post. Video can slow down your site speed, so use it judiciously.

How to Add Words to Blog Post Length

I used to write on Medium for years and had to come up with a new topic every day, sometimes twice daily.

I can write and write and write, but some struggle to get in 1,000 words.

I’ve been writing for a long time and have several ideation techniques that help me write long-form content.

Quora and Reddit: Use sites like Quora and Reddit to spur ideation about the topic you are writing on. These sites, although not always accurate, have regular people commenting on pretty much every topic under the sun. Hanging out on Reddit and Quora will get your creative juices flowing.
Facebook Groups: Don’t overlook the wealth of information in Facebook Groups. With a group for every topic, these communities are a goldmine for understanding what readers are asking. By checking the comments, you can gain valuable insights and answer their questions in your post, making your content more informed and resourceful.
Look to Your Competition: I often want more information than my competitors give or to structure the post in a more organized way. I will add sections that aren’t covered by others but are relevant to the keyword and topic.
People Also Ask: When writing a blog post, I always check the “People also ask” section and the “People also search for” on Google. These questions are related to the topic and give you plenty to write about when you are struggling to add words for length. You can use these questions as H2 headers or in the post’s FAQ section at the end.

The Wrap Up: How Long Should a Blog Post Be for SEO?

There is no short answer to this question. It just depends. You have to consider many factors, the first one being user intent.

If the query demands a longer answer, that’s when your research begins. Look at your competitor in the top 10 – 20 search results. What is the average?

The answer to the ideal blog post length is much more complicated than a simple answer, “long” or “short.”

Remember that there are more factors to ranking on Google than the length of your blog post. It won’t matter if you write a 14,000-word article; if you aren’t starting with keyword optimization strategies and best SEO formatting practices, all those words won’t make a difference in ranking.

The Lazy Girl’s Guide to Blogging

Lyrical Host — The fastest hosting platform with the best customer service. I use Lyrical for all three of my blogs. The customer service is amazing and responds within the hour. They never leave me hanging.

Keysearch — This is the best and cheapest Keyword Research Tool. I use it every single day. I would be lost without it. Keysearch may be the number one essential blogging tool.

Link Whisper — interlinking is an essential part of blogging. Link Whisper streamlines this very important but time-consuming practice.

Interact Quiz — the money is in the list. Creating quizzes for your blog is one of the fastest way to grow your email list.

Active Campaign — this is one of the best email marketing platform. I’ve also used Convertkit, but I find Active Campaign more intuitive when creating and sending email campaigns.

Short Pixel — This is a plugin that compresses your images at increasing site speed and load times, essential for ranking.

RankIQ — RankIQ helps bloggers and content creators optimize their posts for search engines by providing AI-driven keyword research and content analysis tools.

Jasper.ai — Increase your content output with AI. I use it every day. It streamlines my blogging process and allows me to create content for three sites.

WP Rocket — Use this caching plugin to speed up your site. If you have Lyrical, you don’t need it. Lyrical provides a free caching plugin with one of their three plans.

How Long Should a Blog Post Be for SEO?

The Ideal Length for a Blog Post Cheat Sheet