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What Content Length Typically Ranks Well? [POLL]

What Content Length Typically Ranks Well

Not too long ago, blog posts that were 250 words or less was the norm.

Then people started mass-producing pages with little or no added value to users (a.k.a. thin content).

Google then rolled out the Panda update to reduce the prevalence of these low-quality pages in the SERPs and consequently, reward unique, more compelling content.

As a result, more and more bloggers have been writing longer posts in recent years and those who did write longer posts also reported strong results and higher ROI.

We got curious to know whether the same trend applies to our community. So we asked our Twitter followers what content length they recommend for a blog post to rank well.

Here’s what they had to say.

When Writing Blog Posts, What Content Length Do You Typically Recommend If You Want to Rank Well?

Here are the results from this #SEJSurveySays poll question.

According to SEJ’s Twitter audience:

  • 33 percent of the respondents recommend writing a blog post with 1,000-2,000 words if you want your content to rank well.
  • ‘It depends,‘ answered 32 percent of the respondents when asked about a recommended content length.
  • 24 percent considered 1,000 words or less as the ideal content length for writing blog posts.
  • 11 percent recommended that writing blog posts with more than 2,000 words is best for ranking purposes.

Note: “It depends” was included because when you create content, it’s important to tailor it for your audience rather than following some invariable rule. It varies from industry to industry and niche to niche.

Every website is unique. So it can be dangerous to apply blanket advice on anything involving SEO or content.

Recommended Content Length - SEJ Survey Says Poll Results

Here Are a Few Comments from Our Twitter Followers

Quality Over Quantity

The poll results reflect what our Twitter community recommends. Their answers show what content length they’ve found the most success in terms of search rankings.

Keep in mind though that just like there is no perfect publishing frequency, there is also no perfect content length. Longer blog posts do not necessarily equate to quality content and better SEO results.

Worrying about the number of words to write won’t do you any good.

Focusing on the quality of your content and ensuring that it provides the most value to users are what’s important for SEO.

Want to know more about how content really impacts SEO? Check out this list of articles from our SEJ contributors:

Have Your Say

What content length do you aim for if you want your blog post to rank well? Tag us on social media to let us know.

Be sure to have your say in the next survey – check out the #SEJSurveySays hashtag on Twitter for future polls and data.


Image Credit

Chart created by Shayne Zalameda

Category Content News
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Angel Niñofranco Former Email Marketing Manager at SEJ

Angel Niñofranco is the former Email Marketing Manager at Search Engine Journal. She also served as SEJ’s Editorial Assistant, Project ...

What Content Length Typically Ranks Well? [POLL]

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