Ah, the age-old question. It’s one that marketers, writers, and business owners (including us!) have been asking themselves for a very long time now. So, is there an answer?
Annoyingly, not a set one. As you’ll soon find out, how many words a blog post should be really depends on the blog type, topic, and your overall goals for your website.
If you don’t care about website traffic…
No judgement here — we remember the days when blogs were used for… well, personal blogging! If you use your blog for personal updates, journalling, or news tidbits, then you’ll be very happy to know that there is no minimum or maximum word count to stick to.
Go, be free, and write as much or as little as your tapping fingers desire.
How long should a blog post be for SEO?
If you’ve landed on this blog, then this is the answer you’re probably looking for. In life, sometimes length really does matter, and this is definitely true for SEO (get your mind out of the gutter).
After all, all of us website writers (or anyone working with a copywriter) share one goal: to appease the search engine gods. And that means feeding them with comprehensive, detailed content that answers frequently searched queries in full.
Unfortunately, however, this means that shorter blog posts may miss the mark and bring no benefit to your website’s traffic. This is why many outsource their copywriting to a professional content writer to help them strike the right balance.
Let’s take a closer look at what the website data pros say about the matter.
HubSpot’s study revealed that blog posts with 2,100 to 2,400 words performed best for backlinks (when another website links to your blog, boosting credibility and SEO) and organic traffic (website users who find your blog through search engines rather than paid advertisements).
SEMrush data showed that posts featuring 3,000+ words tend to achieve 3x more traffic, 4x more shares, and 3.5x more backlinks than their shorter counterparts.
Yoast advises a minimum of 300 words for any blog post. Stooping into lower wordcounts may lead to your content being flagged as ‘thin content’ — a big no-no for Google and other search engines.
With all this being said and suggested by the SEO bigs, we can’t help but feel like something is being missed. We know better than most that it’s not always possible to stretch your word count to several thousand.
In fact, word stuffing to the nth degree could actually bring negative impacts instead of positive traffic-boosting ones, causing your content to feel cluttered, repetitive, and without purpose.
All of these aspects go directly against Google’s people-first content rule and automated ranking system, which aims to prioritise blogs that genuinely benefit people, and not those with a traffic-seeking ulterior motive.
Our ultimate conclusion: How long should a blog be?
Our best advice? Don’t force it. Without sounding too hippy dippy, you’ll intuitively know how many words it should take you to comprehensively cover everything useful that you need to say on the topic. Trust that.
For example, if you want to upload a quick business update designed to inform, it’s unlikely that you’ll still be sitting there 3,000 words later. It’s the same for how-to guides, where you already know that 200 words wouldn’t suffice.
To stay on the safe side, 1,200 to 1,800 words is the sweet spot for most blog types (except news-style blogs or short updates).
And, yes, we’re fully aware this blog doesn’t quite hit that word count. It just goes to show that the value of a blog shouldn’t be measured in word count, but in how well it answers a question. Clarity, structure, and relevance are essential in professional copywriting and matter far more than arbitrary word counts.
The Content Coven’s blog word count guidelines
We’ve put together a rough guideline below for your reference. And feel free to completely ignore it if you feel like your specific topic requires more or fewer words! The lack of direction can feel frustrating, but just remember that you are in control.
Blog type | Purpose | Suggested word count | Why? |
Short, news-style blogs E.g. ‘We’re opening a new office!’ | Quick updates, announcements, and event recaps | 300 to 600 words | Quick to read, skimmable, easy to share, and provides immediate value |
How-to guides E.g. ‘How to build a garden fence’ | Step-by-step instructions showing how to solve a particular problem | 1,000 to 1,500 words | Provides enough information and guidance to help the reader complete the task successfully |
In-depth guides, pillar pages, and cornerstone content E.g. ‘The complete guide to digital marketing’ | Comprehensive coverage of a broad topic, sometimes structured as a central page used to link to sub-pages and target general industry keywords | 1,500 to 3,000+ words | Educational, builds authority, and word count ensures that all sub-topics are covered in one resource |
Listicles E.g. ‘10 best lipsticks for your next night out’ | A list of tips, products, or ideas used to provide useful information or promote products and/or services | 800 to 1,500 words | Engaging, shareable, skimmable, and beneficial for quick SEO keyword wins |
Evergreen content E.g. ‘The benefits of mindfulness for the body and mind’ | Timeless content that will always be relevant and valuable to your target audience, no matter how much time passes | 1,000 to 2,000 words | Informative and continues driving traffic for months, or even years, after publishing |
Opinion and thought leadership pieces E.g. ‘What no one is telling you about the copywriting industry’ | Writing that shares the writer’s perspective and sparks discussion within their industry | 800 to 1,200 words | Concise yet insightful and shareable |
Want someone else to figure out your magic number?
We don’t blame you. Word counts are almost mythical at this point, and there’s so much conflicting information around. If you’re looking to outsource your content to professional copywriters who know more than average about word counts, submit an enquiry to The Content Coven today. You can also find out more about our full range of copywriting services.
We’ll take a look at how your blogs are currently performing, conduct in-depth keyword research, learn your brand's tone of voice in a jiffy, and help you get your blogs to the top of the search results page once again.
