Photo Credits: jared
If you are an independent professional who has embraced blogging for marketing, you’ve probably asked yourself these three questions:
- Should I write long or short posts?
- Should I write only original content or can I write about somebody else’s content?
- Should I post daily? Weekly? Monthly?
Long vs. Short Copy
While some pundits argue in favor of writing long articles, it really depends on what you’re trying to do. “How to” articles dealing with complex subjects will usually be longer. Bloggers like Skellie and Maki excel in this blogging style.
On the other hand, it is entirely possible to communicate powerful insights with only a few lines of text. Client K (one of my favorite business blogs) does exactly that every day.
Original vs. Derivative Content
With so much information already published on the web, writing something completely original is quite difficult. It is even more difficult to do so day in and day out.
If you are a guru that can write original content with half your brain tied behind your back, great. However, the rest of us can do just fine by analyzing a common problem from a different angle or re-purposing existing content for a specific target audience.
Also, there is nothing wrong with writing quick posts that link to other people’s content. If you see something that can be useful to your readers on another blog, by all means link to it. Don’t let the Not Invented Here syndrome dictate your blogging policy and stand in the way of your readers receiving valuable information.
Posting Frequency
Here I have to agree with the experts: it is better to post frequently. While posting daily can be tough (especially if you blog part time), posting weekly should be doable.
Consistency, though, is more important than frequency. Posting consistently every two weeks is better than publishing daily for three weeks and then disappearing for weeks or months.
However, don’t be so hung up into sticking to a publishing frequency that you start posting filler content. Avoid publishing something of inferior quality just because too much time has passed since your last post.
In Summary
Writing long or short posts depends on what you want to accomplish. If you find something interesting on another blog, by all means link to it. The best posting frequency is this: post when you have something important to say. If that occurs frequently (weekly or more often), even better.
Thanks for the shout out!
I would caution those going the short post route
that it messes with search engine traffic
(not a concern for my blog
as I’m not too concerned with traffic).
It also means that I happily send
most of my traffic away
(links to longer articles on the same topic).
But that said,
if you’re writing for busy execs
and businessfolk
and want to see the same faces every day,
shorter is more suitable.
I read the other day posts less than 250 words get lower ranking on Google. Has anyone else heard of this?
@Rita: there is no hard and fast rule that dictates that posts with X words or less rank lower in Google.
What happens is that longer posts make it easier for the search engine to know what the page is about (through the use of headings and the frequent repetition of key phrases).
Also, longer content tends to attract more links, and search engines use links as “votes” for the page that is linked to, which enhances the page’s authority and ranking.
But all this is due to the way search engines work, and not because Google or any other SE has decided to “penalize” short posts.
Greetings there. I’m new here and wanted to say hi.
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Just wanted to say hello all. This is my first post.
I expect to learn alot here.