This is More Important Than Blog Post Length

The most common question I hear about business blogging is, “How long should a blog post be?”

A response I’ve heard from other business blogging experts is, “As long as it takes to get your message across.”

I agree with that, though I do give people something to aim for by suggesting 500 words for a “feature” article and 350-500 words for shorter “connecting” posts.

Here’s what I think is a far more important question:

What is the point of your blog post?

When I’m editing clients’ blog posts, I often notice that they finish their articles talking about something different than when they started. So much so that the titles don’t always reflect what seems to be their most important point.

In last week’s runner-up for my Twitter trick of the week (available by email when you sign up at the top of this page), Dave and Sarah Larson of Tweet Smarter discuss this phenomenon in One Amazing, Easy Trick For Writing Great Tweets.

They go so far as to pinpoint the third paragraph as the place where writers tend to get into our groove and get to the point.

That’s why it’s a mistake to publish the first draft of your blog post. Instead, review it with a critical eye to make sure you can answer the question, “What’s the point?”

Once you’ve identified your point, make it clear to the reader by spelling it out at the beginning of your article (you might want to repeat it at the end, depending on your goal for the article ending).

Make your point just as clear to prospective readers, by crafting a blog post title that promises what you actually deliver. From there, you can write a series of social media posts as variations on the same theme.

If you find yourself trying to make several different points, follow these tips for how to pare down a long blog post, how to spot a blog post series and how to focus your mind, your topic and your writing.

Most importantly, make sure the point of your blog post is something that will be meaningful to your target audience. Does it answer a question they’ve asked? Does it demonstrate your expertise and concern for the problems they’re struggling with? Does it point them towards a helpful solution?

photo credit: Marcel Germain via photopin cc