Everybody knows that people online just don’t read. Rather than sitting down and reading an article or a piece of information the same way that they’d read one in a magazine, online readers tend to skim and skip over online content, looking for important bits of info.
And that means that content writers are faced with a difficult decision, every time they want to write something that will go online. Should all online content only be short and direct? In the rest of this long article, we consider the issues, and the pro’s and con’s of content length and word count.
SEO Content Writing
It’s the job of an SEO content writer to produce content that’s useful and informative to readers, and “search engine friendly” as well. When it comes to actually writing it though, SEO copywriters often struggle, trying to avoid articles or pieces that are too long.
There’s always the worry that you’re not keeping up with the people reading on the net, that you’re taking too long, that nobody is going to read the damned thing anyway. But really, there isn’t a set rule about it. Sometimes you can say what you need to say in a hundred words, and sometimes, you need a thousand. It depends on several different factors, some of which we’ll briefly consider below.
Writing For Your Audience
The first thing you need to consider is your audience. Who are you writing for, and what do they want? Does your audience have the time, or the inclination, to read everything you’ve written?
When writing, take the time to become familiar with your audience. Know what they’re looking for, and the style of writing that they prefer, or even better, use themselves.
Know Your Topic
Is your writing relevant to the subject at hand? Is it useful, informative and sufficiently detailed?
The better you know your topic, the more useful the information that you’ll be able to communicate. Make sure you don’t repeat yourself, and try to ensure that you’re providing useful, and above all, original, content.
Have A Goal In Mind
Before you start writing your article, blog post or website content, have a clear understanding of the goal you’re trying to achieve with your writing. Know whether you’re trying to inform your audience, to persuade them of something, or convert them from visitors into leads.
The goal of your writing will have an effect, not only on the style of writing you use, but also on the length of the article, blog post or piece of content.
In Conclusion…
The length of your writing shouldn’t be of such great concern to you, as long as you know your audience, understand your topic, and have a clear goal in mind. The right length will be dependent on these factors, and as long as you’re getting your message across clearly and achieving the goal you set out to accomplish.
As long as you’re managing those two things, the length of your piece doesn’t really matter. By virtue of knowing your audience, topic and goal, it should automatically be just about right.
You might also be interested in our other article, Guidelines For Writing Online Content.
