I was asked this only this morning – and it’s a question that comes up frequently.
What was my answer?
“That’s a ‘how long is a piece of string’ question!”
Not very helpful – but it’s true.
SEO people will tell you that you need to write 300, 500, 600 words or more, but there’s more to your blog than just SEO.
Seth Godin writes a daily blog – and some of them have been less than 50 words, but occasionally he’ll write an article that runs to well over 1000 words.
What is the secret?
- Decide what is the point you want to make
- Put your case for the point
- Stop writing
If it takes you a dozen words to make your case, don’t pad it out with lots of additional prose – or your message will get lost in the verbiage.
If you need to explain things in more detail – go for it. My tip is to read it back aloud when you’ve finished and you’ll see where pruning needs to take place!
If you’re writing to inspire people, educate them, share your experience, ignite their thinking – you only need enough words to engage their interest and achieve your objective.
Quod erat demonstrandum!
