Blogs play a huge role in driving website traffic. Quality content builds brand awareness, credibility, and shows search engines, like Google, that your website has useful information to share, making it easier for potential customers and clients to find you. Content length is one of the key SEO ranking factors, but there is no specific word count that ranks highest in search engines.

This article will discuss how you can determine your ideal blog post length and current trends in blog writing practices that attract more readers to your website.

What’s The Average Blog Post Length?

On average, blog post pages have anywhere between 1,500–2,000 words, but there are exceptions—from short update posts consisting of a few paragraphs to in-depth guides with over 5,000 words.

Backlinko analyzed over 11 million search results and found the average word count of a blog post that appears on the first page of Google search results is 1,447 words —but that doesn’t mean that all your posts should be 1,447 words.

If you have a personal blog, anything goes for word count. However, when it comes to writing blog content for search engine optimization, long-form blog posts typically perform better.

Bigger Posts Don’t Always Mean Better

You don’t have a lot of time to capture and maintain a reader’s attention, so not all topics will warrant long-form blog posts. Creating a successful blog is about writing content that provides high-quality, practical information that’s quick and easy to understand.

While stats indicate that Google generally prefers longer blogs, that doesn’t always mean you have to sit down and write epic sized posts..

For example, suppose someone is searching on Google for a quick answer for converting one tablespoon to grams for a baking recipe. In this case, they’re probably not looking for an article that explains the history of these measurement systems. They’re looking for a quick answer so that they can get back to baking.

To find out the perfect blog post length based on the reader’s intent, analyze your competition. 

It can be as simple as Googling the topic and seeing what comes up at the top of the search results. There are typically four types of blog posts you’ll notice.

1. Pillar Pages

Pillar pages are the longest blog post format and generally 2,000–5,000 words. These blog posts provide a broad overview of a specific topic that links to smaller, in-depth subtopic articles.

Examples of pillar pages are the “Ultimate Guides” and “Bibles Of” posts.

2. How-To Posts

How-To blog posts describe how to accomplish something step-by-step. It should be as long as necessary to teach the reader your methods for success.

When planning how-to posts, make your steps replicable and clearly label each step so that it’s easy for the reader to skim the article. 

3. Listicles

Listicles are a popular blog article format for long-form content, and they’re one of the easiest to write because you can break down complex ideas into manageable chunks. Instead of writing a pillar post on everything you need to know about eating healthy, you can break this topic down into “5 Tips For Eating Healthier While Traveling.” 

The length of listicles can be anywhere from 1,500–2,500 words, depending on the subject—generally, the more relevant examples you can include in your list post, the better.

These are great for product round-ups like “Gift Ideas For The Person Who Has Everything” and inspirational topics like “7 Ideas To Bust Out Of A Creative Rut.” Make sure that your listicles include valuable take-aways and are relevant to your industry.

4. What-Is Post

It is more difficult to determine the ideal length of  “What is” blog posts because it will depend on the subject. 

Examples of “what is” article headlines are “What Is The Best Time Of Day To Work Out?” and “What Are The Benefits Of…” 

Some explanations require fewer words than others. Try not to fluff up your article with unnecessary words—only write about what’s relevant to the topic at hand.

What’s The Ideal Blog Post Length For SEO?

Andy Crestodina from Orbit Media claims that the optimal length for SEO ranking is 1,500 words.

If one of your goals for your blog is to drive more search engine traffic, longer blog posts are generally better as you have more opportunities to spotlight relevant keywords. 

Your blog post should aim to cover the topic sufficiently, but there is no one-size-fits-all magic word count.

Write For Humans First, Search Engines Second

Blog post length isn’t the only factor that helps your page move up the search engine ranks.

A common mistake we see in blog writers is concentrating too heavily on hitting the 1,000 words rather than making it easy for their readers to consume.

Google’s job is to provide the best answers to reader’s search queries, and it’s getting much more efficient at sorting page relevance to searches. You shouldn’t focus on the blog length—but rather on the quality of the information in your post.

For example, you may want to consider adding photos to break up the text, infographics, and videos to demonstrate your ideas further and eliminate unnecessary industry jargon that limits who can understand your content.

Struggling To Make Longer Posts?

If you’re struggling to find more to write about to hit your ideal length, here are some strategies you can implement that won’t reduce the quality of your post.

• Use Google to help you find related topics. Google has a “people also ask” section that shows other relevant searches. This might give you some new ideas for headers in your blog post.
• Include statistics and quotes from industry experts and white papers. Doing this not only increases your word count, but it adds legitimacy to your posts.
• Write a” key takeaways” section. How many times have you skimmed an article to find the main points? Writing a concise and organized key takeaways conclusion at the end of your blog post gives you more opportunities to include keywords in your post and give your readers a quick summary of your articles.

Key Takeaways: Ideal Blog Post Length

Blog posts can vary from a few words to 5000+ or more.

The sweet spot tends to be somewhere between 1,500 words to 2,000 words for informative posts, but it’s important to consider the reader’s intent and your competition before you sit down to write, as not all keywords will require an epic article.

Rather than stressing about the ideal length, focus on the quality and accuracy of your information and the frequency of your posts to gain the most advantages in your blogging efforts.