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Published by: Judy Cobb 04-23-2013  |  POSTED IN: Traffic Tuesdays

Words Blog 20: Writing for Your Blog - Keep Each Posting Short

 
Blogs allow you to keep the content of your website fresh and to continually improve your website's search engine optimization (SEO) by incorporating key words currently being used in online searches. Blogs also encourage people who are interested in what you are writing or looking for specific information to visit and stay on your website.
 
One key factor in building and maintaining a popular blog is to keep each posting short and focused. People who are surfing the Web are in a hurry. They want to find what they are looking for and move somewhere else. If they find your blog interesting and easy to read, they are likely to come back to read future blogs.
 
A blog should be long enough to provide useful information, entertainment or ideas, but not so long that a reader loses interest. 500 to 1000 words is a good rule of thumb for most blog postings.
 
Many people consider 400 to 600 words to be an "ideal" length.1000 words tends to be a little long for most readers and fewer than 300 is a little too short. A posting that has more than about 250 to 300 words also works better for SEO.
 
What do you do if you have a great idea but you know it will require more than 1000 words? Or you are writing a blog posting that is getting too long and you still have more to say? Consider breaking the content out and writing several blogs on related topics.
 
For example, three blogs ago, I wrote a post giving tips for writing blogs. It quickly reached the magic 1000 words, and there was plenty more to say. I cut out most of the second half and made that content the subject of last week's blog and this week's blog.
 
An antiques dealer who specializes in American pressed glass might want to write about a particular style of pressed glass. One blog might define the type of glass and identify its unique identifying characteristics. Future blogs could be developed around this topic, discussing the history of this type of glass, famous collectors, related styles, the evolution of the style and tips for the collector.
 
A law firm might decide to write a blog post defining personal injury lawsuits. That blog could lead to blogs about the most common types of personal injury lawsuits, sources of compensation, key legal issues, what to look for in selecting a lawyer to handle a personal injury lawsuit and other useful information.
 
Almost any topic can offer you ideas for more than one blog, so it is worth considering how to create a series of blogs that develop a theme or idea. This has a couple of advantages. You have a plan and don't have to struggle for topic ideas every week. The series also has the potential to interest visitors and draw them back to your blog to see what other useful information you can give them.
 
Keeping blog short can be a challenge because you have to carefully work your content so each piece of information builds the story you are telling. Each blog should have a specific message and focus, even though you are keeping the word count down. That said, blogs are an effective online tool for attracting visitors and drawing them back over time.
 
 
As always, you can help us assure that every blog post in this series provides you with tangible suggestions and ideas for building or improving your website. Please share your ideas, comments, questions and suggestions with us. Feel free to leave comments below or to email Judy at [email protected].
 
Judy Cobb is an independent writer and business writing coach whose clients have included Parsons Engineering, Mattel Toys, The Los Angeles Times and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. She has specialized in developing training materials for instructor-led courses as well as interactive online courses and websites. She holds advanced degrees from Columbia University and Stanford as well as an MBA from UCLA's Anderson Graduate School of Management.
Thanks for reading. Jason.
P.S. Don't forget to subscribe below to this blog.
 
About Jason Ciment
Formerly an attorney and CPA, Jason has been working online since 1997. His columns on affiliate marketing can still be found on www.Clickz.com and his book on search engine optimization can be found at www.seotimetable.com.

This blog is published 4x per week and covers website design and SEO tips as well as a wide range of tips and advice for working and living online more efficiently and enjoyably.
 

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