Does Word Count Matter for Corporate Blog Posts?
When writing a company blog, your posts need to contain enough information to make a click worth your reader’s time, without fluffy fillers. So just how many words are best for blog posts? And does it matter?
Word count does matter—and it’s a little complicated. In this article, we’ll cut through the confusion of word counts, how to make the most of your writing, and smart ways to plan your content calendar.
Search Engines Look for Word Count
For a long time, the prevailing thought in the marketing world has been that higher word counts improve your chances for landing on the first page of Google. Since articles on Google’s second page barely get a glance, many people increase word counts in hopes of being in the top 10 search results.
In theory, that strategy makes sense. After all, longer posts are more likely to thoroughly answer a question or cover a topic. But in practice, experts (including Google’s own John Mueller) say that a higher word count doesn’t always equal higher ranking.
The teams at HubSpot and Wix studied their own blog data to see what the “ideal” word count might be. While it was easy enough to find the average word count for their content libraries, both companies noted that each individual post’s count depended on the article’s intent, topic, and format.
For example, HubSpot’s 2019 blog data determined “the ideal blog post length should be 2,100-2,400 words” for SEO. But that same set of data found that 16 of their top 50 posts contained fewer than 1,500 words. That’s a pretty big range!
What’s more important than word count? Making sure your corporate blogging efforts deliver clear, concise, and informative messages that benefits your audience and builds your company’s credibility. Let’s discuss how to do that.
How to Make Every Word Count
As a general rule, Yoast recommends that blog posts be 300 words or more, mostly because “a higher word count helps Google to better understand what your text is about.” However, they don’t advise increasing a post’s word count simply for the sake of stuffing in SEO terms. No word bloat!
Why? Ultimately, while it’s nice to rank higher on Google, good content isn’t written to delight an algorithm—it appeals to your audience. Your content writer won’t always need a thousand or more words to deliver clear and accurate information to your audience on a specific topic.
Make each word in your next company blog post count by thinking through the following points:
Know your audience and what troubles them. Even if your company’s blog is young, chances are you’ve already researched your ideal customer and what problems they’re trying to solve. Knowing this makes prioritizing topics easier.
Understand the type of post you’re creating. HubSpot’s analysis found their pillar pages clocked in at an average of 4,000 words. That might seem like a lot, but when the type of post is meant to go in-depth with authority, high word count is necessary.
Depending on your content strategy, not every post will serve the same purpose as a pillar page. For example, HubSpot’s listicles, how-to articles, and “what is” posts ranged in count from 2,500 words to just under a thousand. Even with a lower word count, those posts are just as valuable to their content strategy as the 4,000-word pieces.
Follow SEO best practices. Great writing is important, but it doesn’t mean much if people can’t find your post. That’s why we recommend creating appropriate linking structures, filling in alt-text, crafting proper headings for readability, and following other SEO best practices to give your target audience the best chance at finding your company’s article.
Ask yourself if the post answers your original question. If your audience had to summarize the information from your post in one or two sentences, could they easily do that? Ask that question while drafting the post to maintain a clear focus and maximize the word count.
Smart Tips for Planning Content
Establishing a consistent content schedule gives your audience something to anticipate and signals to Google that you have fresh content to share. In other words, developing a content calendar is a win-win situation.
Consider these points when creating a schedule you can stick to:
How often will you publish? While it’s technically possible to publish high-quality, valuable content daily, this cadence can quickly lead to burnout. Aim for once a week to start and evaluate every few weeks to see if you can handle publishing more or less frequently. (If you need help with content volume, Comma is an ideal solution with a team of talented writers who can help you have a consistent cadence of high-quality content. That’s what we do best. Let’s chat!)
What will you write about? Brainstorming ideas for your blog can seem overwhelming. Instead of getting bogged down by too many choices, try selecting a monthly theme (or quarterly, if that feels more doable). This approach can help narrow your focus for the better.
For example, an accounting firm could probably write a lot about tax preparation. Dedicating a month of posts to tax preparation, though, narrows the topic while still leaving room for tons of great ideas. Even better, other people searching for tax prep advice can still benefit from your freelance-specific posts.
Try a variety of formats. Every post should be written with optimal readability and accessibility in mind, and you can do that while still creating variety for your audience. (It wouldn’t be much fun to write or read a how-to post every week, right?)
In keeping with the once-a-week publication schedule, try rotating four types of posts each month.
Week One: “What is” post to introduce that month’s topic
Week Two: Feature a listicle related to your topic
Week Three: How-to guide or tutorial
Week Four: Mix it up! Try something new like a customer interview, executive viewpoint, case study, co-marketing piece with a client, etc.
Not only will this keep your content interesting for your audience, it will also help you to see which formats and word counts your audience prefers.
Want to make sure your business’s blog has the right balance of articles and other crazy-good content? We’re here to help. Schedule a free consultation with the Comma Copywriters team and we’ll take care of word counts for you.