Yesterday I wrote a very short blog post—about a hundred words. It was what I wanted to say, all that I felt I needed to say. I could have added filler, but why? It might have made some SEO algorithm happy, but would it have made you happy? Would it have made me happy? Probably not.

There are a lot of people who claim to have the answer about how long a blog post should be. I’m not convinced there is one right number. There are good reasons for having long, short and in-between blog posts, so my best answer to this question is to have a combination of all types of posts.

I use the Yoast SEO plugin (which is great) and it tells me that my blog posts should be around 300 words or so. I can do that. But sometimes my posts are 1500 words or so, sometimes 100. My goal is to write informative and, as often as possible, engaging blog posts. Because I’m here to serve you.

So here’s what I recommend:

1. Short Blog Posts

Keeping blog posts short is great for readers who have short attention spans and to update your readers on something exciting. Bite-sized content is great to read while waiting in line, at the doctor’s office, or when your reader has a short break. You get to the point quickly, so they can move on to your call to action.  

Types of short posts:

* Curated – You collect the content you think is relevant that your audience should look at, and write a short blurb or intro to the content.

* Product/Service Announcements – These don’t always need a long post. You may just say that the service is available or that the product has good reviews, and link to where they can buy it (which is often a longer sales page).

Many people are very successful with this type of blogging. A real proponent of short blog posts that get right to the point is Seth Godin and no one can deny his success.

To read Seth Godin’s blog, click here.

2. Medium-Length Blog Post

This is the type of blog posts many gurus swear by. You’ve likely heard it before and the thing is, it does work. Writing blog posts between 300 to 700 words long is considered fairly standard for the industry. Some blogging platforms actually suggest keeping blog posts to no more than 600 words because you’re being too long-winded and perhaps off topic if you go longer. That may be true in some cases. Confining your writing to a certain word count can help you stay focused.

Types of medium blog posts:

* How To – This type of blog explains how to do something that is very singular. Sometimes it uses images to get the point across.

* Informational – Sharing information with your readers is often done in the medium-length blog post. It’s a good length to transmit information without going overboard.

Most blog posts fall into this category. Nothing is wrong with that. These posts are the perfect length to tell a story, share information, and include a call to action – while including enough keywords without overwhelming the readers. HubSpot.com is a huge proponent of the medium-length blog post. Many people only use medium-length blog posts to great success.

3. Long Blog Posts

Another type of blog posts that some experts swear by is the “long-form” blog post. This is a blog post that is more than 800 words long. These types of blog posts are often seen as more authoritative and the fact is, they are excellent for SEO. Google respects authority pages more than niche blogs with thousands of short pages of content. Therefore, creating some longer posts, even up to 3500 words, can be great for your audience and search engines.

Types of long posts:

* Case Studies – These by definition need to be long because you’re telling a story about something that is more in-depth. Case studies that are too short will not tell the whole story. People love knowing as much as they can about other people’s lives and stories.

* Annual Reports – If you have a large enough business that you can (or would like to) create an annual report, posting it for reading on your blog is an excellent way to put content that will interest your readers. They definitely want to know how you’re doing.

Neil Patel, founder of KISSmetrics, is a lover of long form blog posts and it works for him and many other bloggers. However, it’s important to stay on topic, not deviate or change subjects, and be able to actually write well enough to keep the interest of the reader.

All of these types of blog posts are important to have on your blog. If you have a mixture of the different lengths of blog posts, and more importantly ensure that each blog post has a reason for being on your website and is targeted and relevant, you’ll see good results from all three types of blog posts: short, medium and long.

How long is your favorite kind of blog post (if you have a favorite)? Would you rather I wrote shorter or longer blog posts? Please comment and let me know. Like I said, I’m here to serve you.

You know how sometimes you read a blog and it sounds professional bordering on uptight? I’m afraid my blog sounds like that too often. I like James Altucher’s blog better than mine. Here’s an excerpt from his March 27 post. Just under a picture of him with Craig Newmark, founder of Craigslist, you read:

I don’t think Craig wanted to talk to me. For one thing, I smelled.

I woke up late and rushed out to get to the “Women Entrepreneurs” breakfast where Craig Newmark, founder of Craigslist was speaking.

There were about 40 women there, Craig, and then me. I crashed the breakfast.

I had some questions for him. But he kept angling away from me. Don’t think I can’t read the body language, Craig!

I’ve seen James speak at a conference. He’s rambling and personable. I am not always crazy about the rambling, but I love the personable. I aspire to the personable.

When creating content for your online products, services, and marketing materials it can be easy for us to become stale, boring, and out of touch with your audience (or mine) — to the point that they can no longer relate to you (or me). I hate that. So here are some ideas we can use to be more human in our content (or let our humanity shine).

Tell Your Story

Starting from your customer’s perspective, tell your story with them in mind. You can speak to them from the voice of a customer yourself. After all, why did you create the products or services that you did? Did you do it because you needed them yourself? How did you discover the need for your product or service? Why you? Stay in the perspective of the customer during the story and they will relate to your offerings better.

Don’t Be Pretentious

Instead of using jargon and “corporate” speak, talk to your audience members as if they’re your equals and you’ll become more human to them. You should do this because they are your equals, even if they don’t know as much about your product of service as you do. It will also give you a chance to show your personality to them. While you do want to be a thought leader and a teacher, you don’t want to appear as a know-it-all and boring.

Be Relevant

Stay up-to-date on your industry so that you can remain relevant. Don’t stick to the old ways of doing things long after it’s not being done any longer. Pay attention to what’s coming down the pike and you’ll always stay on top of your niche and be relevant to your audience.

Use Plain Language

Speak to your audience as if you’re talking to a good friend. Write how you talk. No need to use bigger words than you would normally use. If it helps, get some voice to text software and talk your blog posts and content. I write on a Mac and if you double tap the fn key, a mic will pop up and you can dictate. It works pretty darn well. Not perfect, but…

RANT: I’ve used the Dragon software, both PC and Mac versions, for years, and they consistently disappoint. Editing the transcript can take long as dictating. And each iteration they’ll advertise something like “30% more accurate than before.” That may be true, but they’re still below the minimal acceptable threshold for accuracy. This is true if you buy the most expensive versions or the cheap ones. I’ve tried several versions of both.

Focus on Your Audience

No matter what you are writing, blogging, vlogging, and doing, it’s always supposed to be about your audience. They need to know what’s in it for them, and to keep the focus on them over yourself. Instead of seeking to glamorize yourself and put yourself above them, put them on a pedestal and make it all about them at all times.

Make Each Word Count

Once you finish writing a piece of content, edit it for extraneous words. Pare it down so that your writing is concise and to the point. Try writing shorter sentences instead of long-winded sentences. In addition, don’t make paragraphs too long and keep each blog post to one narrow focus. This is such a struggle for me. I have a degree in English literature and went to graduate school in English lit. The writing’s not better, it’s just different, and I fall back into old habits. My WordPress plugin is always telling me to shorten my sentences, stop using big words. I do what I can.

Keep One Voice across Channels

Regardless of which channel you’re promoting your content on, it’s important that you know what your voice is. The tone, voice, and feeling of what you put out to the world should feel the same whether they read it on your blog or read it on LinkedIn. You need to be mindful of context, of course, but you want to sound like the same person. In literature, if the text tone/language is too different, we assume that someone else wrote it. You don’t want to sound like someone else is writing for you.

Include Appropriate Images/Imagery

With any content, you can get your point across easier if you use images. Sometimes a concept is just easier to express with an image and other times the image just helps set the mood and tone for the entire post.

You can incorporate more humanity and personality into your content by remembering who your audience is and who you are. Seek to be yourself, while also delivering great content to your audience. If you have other suggestions for keeping it helpful and simultaneously keeping it real, please comment and share.

Content marketing mistakes can undermine the impact your efforts are having. Find out what they are and what to do about them here.

Content marketing is a very important method of getting the word out about your products and/or services. Content marketing is the best way to inform, educate and engage your audience while building authority in the eyes of your audience. However, there are some common content marketing mistakes that you’ll definitely want to avoid.

Ignoring SEO – Search engine optimization involves both on- and off-page actions that you can take to ensure that search engines find your website, blog or product. SEO uses certain techniques and tactics to help your audience find you. Don’t think that it doesn’t matter. The more you put these improvements into place, the better your results.  And if you notice things have gone off the rails, SEO-wise, don’t be afraid to face the facts and fix what you can.

Not Using Automation Wisely – Automation can be misused, but it needs to be used to help make everything possible. You’re only one person. Even if you have an assistant, virtual or otherwise, automation will help you get more done. A good rule of thumb is that you should personally respond and interact with people on social media and within comments of your blog, but you should use automation for everything else.

Not Promoting Your Content – When you create any type of content that you want people to find, you should promote it via your social media networks and email. You can even promote it via pay-per-click ads (although I don’t do this, I know people that have and thought it was worth the investment). If you don’t promote your content, you’ll get a lot less positive results from it.

Forgetting to Optimize Your Headlines – Part of search engine optimization involves headlines, but it deserves a special mention. There are some ways to ensure your headlines are optimized. First, put the keywords in the first three words. Second, when possible, test out more than one headline to see what gets the best response.

Creating Poor Quality Content – Your audience doesn’t want a ton of content under all circumstances. If you cannot create quality content on a daily basis, don’t. Create quality content on a schedule that works for you. If it’s high quality, answers questions, and solves problems, it will be welcomed.

Not Publishing Enough – This may sound contradictory, but you do have to publish enough to get noticed and keep the interest of your audience. Don’t get so bogged down in perfection that you neglect creating new content at least weekly.

Giving Up Too Quickly  – We’re in an instant economy, and many people aren’t interested in building something sustainable. If a few blog posts don’t result in an immediate flood of business, it’s tempting to quit. The reality is that if you are building a business that will last, you’re going to have to build it brick by brick, post by post. There’s no real shortcut to sustainability. Ultimately, though, if you quit you won’t get the results you want.

If you can avoid these content marketing mistakes, you’ll have a lot more success with your content marketing efforts. To read about Neil Patel’s take on content marketing mistakes, feel free to check out his article here. If you have other mistakes you’d like to warn your fellow readers about, please share them.