What Should Be The Optimal Blog Length In 2024 (With SEO Best Practices)

When it comes to writing a blog post that ranks well on search engines, one question often pops up: What should be the optimal blog length? 

The answer to this is: There is no word limit for a blog post that can be fixed but it’s agreed that the minimum word count for SEO in blog posts is  250 words. However, the optimal length of a blog post depends on many factors such as the target audience, the topic, and your overall content strategy. In this SEO guide, you will discuss the optimal length of blog post for effective  SEO, factors determining the length, tools, and experts you will need.

Why Blog Length Matters For SEO?

As important as it is to understand how long blog posts should be, you also need to understand why the length of blogs matters for a strong SEO on your website and how length helps you rank higher on SERPs.

Google’s Preferences

The algorithm used by Google in ranking content on its SERP (Search Engine Result Page) is quite complex. It utilizes many factors in evaluating the content, one of them is content length. In general, using longer content gives more possibilities to rank higher. 

Longer posts undoubtedly can have more profound coverage of the topic. Imagine How many pages are 2500 words, and how much depth can be provided in those 2500 words.

This does not mean that one should write a lengthy blog just because the recommended blog post length is over 700 – 800 words but instead ensure the particular post they are writing is comprehensively good and fairly informative.

User Engagement and Dwell Time

Dwell Time is the amount of time a reader spends on your page. So, The longer the blog post, the longer the user will spend on the page, reading and exploring it. This is an indication to the search engines that your content can be trusted and is worth directing users to.

Thinking about it, this will lead to a higher rank on the SERP and this can improve the SEO. However, we do have a demerit to this, i.e. posts with higher content length can bore the reader if the content ain’t captivative enough. Hence, make sure you write a full of knowledge and captivating blog post

Optimal Blog Length for SEO

Now, finally, answering the big question: What is the optimal length of blog post in 2024? 

Well, see yourself.

Short Posts (300-600 words)

Short posts are quick to read and can be very effective for certain topics, such as news updates or announcements. This category fits the ideal LinkedIn post length. They’re easy to digest and can attract readers looking for concise information. However, they can probably not be ranked as high in the search engines for the competing keywords since they tend to be shallow or say lack depth.

Medium-Length Posts (600-1500 words)

The Medium-length range is often considered the sweet spot for many bloggers. It creates enough room to give full coverage on a given subject, but not to the extent of boring the reader. Medium-length is the average blog post length that can help you strike a balance between depth and readability, making them suitable for most topics.

Long Form Content (1500+ words)

Long form content can be incredibly valuable for SEO. This is probably the best length for a blog post. These blog posts can provide in-depth information, attract backlinks, and position your site as an authority and trustworthy page on the subject. 

They are great for exhaustive how-to guides, tutorials, or detailed analyses. However, they require more effort and time to produce and need to be well-structured to maintain reader interest.

Factors Influencing Blog Length

To be able to determine the optimal length of a blog post, you need to take various factors into consideration. These factors have the capability to impact you blog’s effectiveness and SERP ranking.

Target Audience

Knowing your audience is always important. If your readers want to obtain the information as quickly as possible and get a set of instructions on what to do, you should go for shorter posts. On the other hand, those who want additional information will be helped by the longer how-to guides. 

It is wise to conduct surveys or analyze reader feedback so as to get some insights of the readership.

Content Type and Topic

When you decide to write on a topic, you also decide what kind of content you will be delivering. This plays a very important role for SEO, as it will help you decide the content length. In technical topics or when writing in areas that the writer has less familiarity with, it is common to find that more explanation is needed and therefore, longer posts. 

That is why such subjects can be explained in brief forms exclusively, which can be effective for simple topics as well. For instance, there can be a post about a recipe and the same can be written in a few hundred words whereas a post on Digital Marketing strategies that have been recently implemented can be written in a few thousand words.

Industry Standards

It should also be noted that the length of a blog also depends on the industry it belongs to. Such information is quite helpful while researching what pros and cons are there in the field that is closer to your heart or the field that is characteristic for you. 

For example, the number of articles that are published in the tech niche will boast of highly structured articles with enhanced step by step guides, while in the lifestyle niche, the more frequent and shorter articles will be preferred. Comparing the content from rivals can also help in establishing the most appropriate lengths of the blog posts.

SEO Best Practices Beyond Length

Keyword Optimization

Nevertheless, it is desirable to use keywords in your content pertinent to the case in question and make them as unique as possible. This is useful to the search engine in determining what your post is all about , hence increasing the chances of ranking for those terms. 

It is advised to use Google Keyword Planner or SEMrush to find out the keywords that receive many searches but have fewer competitors. Ensure that the above keywords are used naturally in the main body of the text as well as in the heading, sub-heading and meta description parts.

Quality Content and Relevance

Quality beats quantity. Check that your work is informative, clear, and interesting to the readers. It should concern the issues that are relevant to your audience. This means thereby that there must be quality work instead of quantity, in other words, giving more value than the required numbers of words. 

Fresh and qualitative content is shared by people and linked on other websites, as it contributes to the promotion of SEO.

Internal and External Linking

Pros of Internal Linking Internal linking help to maintain the readers on your site as they traverse through your site’s hierarchy, thus extending their stay External linking adds credibility to your content as you link out to other relevant, acceptable sources. 

Both are applicable to the SEO efforts. Internal links help the readers to navigate other relevant articles that you have posted on your website hence spending more time on your website. External links prove that you have a good background study and can offer other extra information to the readers.

Meta Descriptions and Alt Text

Meta description is a small stretch of text that is displayed below the page title on search engine results. Write unique meta descriptions with the use of your core keywords and make the readers want to click on your link. 

Also, include alt text for figures for those who cannot see the images to know what is depicted. 

It also benefits the visually impaired users in perusing the site and also makes it easier for the search engines to crawl the images and relay the information to the users.

Tool to Determine Blog Length and Schedule

People First Content

People First Content is an excellent tool for bloggers and content creators. It helps you determine the ideal length for your posts based on your niche and audience. It also provides you with scheduling tools to plan your content calendar effectively.

How People First Content Helps in Planning and Scheduling

By analyzing your past posts and performance metrics, People First Content provides insights into what works best for your audience. This can not only help you in creating engaging content but also help you decide on content length and other factors that will help you rank higher on SERPs. For example, if you notice that longer posts perform better, you can adjust your strategy accordingly. The scheduling feature ensures you maintain a consistent posting schedule, which is crucial for building and retaining an audience.

How Can We Help?

At SEO Inventiv we love results as much as our clients do. We have case studies that prove our love for good content as well. Read them here.  

Conclusion

Achieving a good balance when deciding on the blog length for SEO is never an easy task and it has several factors that need to be considered. The minimum quantity of words which must be written in a blog is 250 but the suitable number of words in a blog may vary by standards of different niches, the audience the post is written for, etc. 

If an author has something brief to share, he or she will need to post it in the format of a brief blog post that will take a few minutes to read; if the author wants to expand the idea into a more detailed piece, it is best to create a post of a moderate length, which should take about 5 to 10 minutes of the reader’s time to get through. 

Finally, long form content is very helpful when it comes to the analysis and creating guides, that is, lengthy content is needed in these cases.

Thus, the main factors that need to be looked at are not the length but the quality and relevance of the pieces. Writing materials that seem to be well researched and relevant or interesting to the readers will always outshine writing materials that contain lots of bulky information but lack the spirit. Other optimal SEO strategies that should be applied include use of right keywords, internal and external linkages, and good meta tags to help in blogging and increase the blog’s popularity.

In this way, when using People First Content, you know the best length to take while in the process, maintaining a healthy publishing schedule. Also, it is advisable to collaborate with SEO specialists such as SEO Inventiv to obtain individualized recommendations on how to improve your blog’s SEO rating.

In conclusion, it is necessary, depending on the topic, to control the length of the material and achieve an optimal level of its saturation with relevant keywords, so that the content creates real added value for readers. Happy blogging!