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Which of the above posts would you rather read (assuming you spoke Lorem Ipsum)? If you picked the one on the left, then log off of your computer and go read a book. War & Peace by Tolstoy could be a good choice for you.
SHOCKING POSTING ADVICE
Contrary to popular belief, the length of your post does not determine how good your content is. No, really, I’m not kidding! While it might have made you look smarter in elementary school (and probably bored your teachers into giving you A’s), writing long essays is generally not a good blogging technique unless you’re in the niche of… uh… writing long essays.
ITS A FACT: LONG POSTS MAKE PEOPLE LEAVE
Think about it this way - walking up a mountain or a hill. A small knoll takes less effort to conquer than a mountain. Basically, you can:
- Write concisely in an easily digestible format to attract readers.
OR
- Drag on and on and on and on and on (repeat ad infinitum) to scare most away.
BUT WHAT IF I HAVE A LOT TO SAY?
There are few acceptable times and ways to write a long post. If you’re some affiliate marketing genius who has a brilliant idea that has never been discussed before and for some odd reason you want to saturate your market share your money making technique, THEN you should write a long post (right after giving me the idea first 
). Even if you do that, break the post into segments or even just make a series of posts - make it bearable to read. If you are appealing to a certain niche audience that requires lots of information (i.e. historians, lawyers, med students, etc.), then you should write long posts.
JUST KEEP THIS IN MIND WHEN BLOGGING…
Make it readable. Make it fun. Make it entertaining. Make it worthwhile. Make it informative. Make it concise. Make it poignant. Make it sticky. Most of all, make it worthy of your readers time.
By Germz on Jul 17, 2008 | Reply
Great post. I try to make my posts as short as possible.
By Shailesh Ghimire on Jul 17, 2008 | Reply
Hi,
I haven’t read your blog long enough to really know if you’re being serious or not. But this one is pretty good advice. Sometimes I come across long blog posts - with very few paragraph breaks and no visual cues to help you jump, scan and determine if it’s worth reading. So, I traditionally have opted to not read the whole thing.
I don’t know if this is for everyone or not, but that is for me.
By Canadian Developer on Jul 17, 2008 | Reply
Too short though and you lose out on content. You need to find a balance.
Too long and people will lose interest and not read the entire thing (which I sometimes do for short posts), and too short people don’t get anything from the post.
I think that writing longer posts and getting all of the content in is actually better than writing short posts that are useless.
By ghing on Jul 17, 2008 | Reply
I agree with canadian blogger.. I have seen some blogs that has a short post I think only one sentence and it doesn’t make sense.. I love reading blogs with lots of information.. or a short post but informative!..
By Mo on Jul 17, 2008 | Reply
I don’t mind long/short posts, but what matters is the liberal use of whitespace, line breaks and complete paragraphs.
The one on the right, always preferred.
Mo
By jeferrer on Jul 18, 2008 | Reply
i agree with the other commenter that there should really be balance in your post. Too short a post may not actually send out the message across to your readers while a long post may tune out others as well.
I do fully agree on the last paragraph of your post though.
- jeferrer
By Golf Books on Jul 18, 2008 | Reply
The main idea behind longer posts isn’t so much about the reader but the search engines. Words are a funny thing. You start to string 4 or 5 of them together and you often get a unique phrase. Write a long post and you get many unique phrases. Now when somebody just happens to search for this or a very similar phrase your post has a chance to stand out. This is the essence of Long Tail seo. Long posts rule!
By List of 195 Keyword Suggestions - Now Go Find a Niche on Jul 20, 2008 | Reply
I am guilty of writing long posts sometimes, mainly because I write a lot of step-by-step stuff, however I totally agree with you! Bullets work great too in breaking up the text.
Great post,
Thanks,
JR
By Supplier Inspection in China on Jul 20, 2008 | Reply
I’ve been coached by several affiliate marketing experts and online business mentors. Like you, I’ve started from scratch, and now, I am earning thousands of dollars every year online..
By goofblogger on Jul 22, 2008 | Reply
If there is something in the long post, such as a chart or a screenshot, the post is ok and the length isn’t a problem. However, reading a post that looks like a page from a textbook makes you feel as if you will have to write an exam afterwards.
I have noticed that using bold type on keywords or phrases in the post breaks the monotony and makes it more digestible for the brain.
By Codrut Turcanu I Remarkable Blogging dot Com on Jul 23, 2008 | Reply
Good post Max!
In my opinion it all depends how much value your content is providing to your readers that can make their life easier.
By Hussein | Random Blog on Jul 23, 2008 | Reply
Agree with you. I also get lazy reading long post. So it is good to just make a series of post.
By ruby on Jul 24, 2008 | Reply
Very interesting post, I also find short articles easy to write but sometimes the long one are the most informative but it all depends on the layout. If the person has put it well in paragraphs rather than a big block of text I won’t mind reading a 1k words article till the end.