A lot of bloggers struggle to write longer blog posts. There are good reasons why you should lengthen your articles.
- One, Google likes longer articles (but only if you stay on topic)
- Two, you can place more ads in your articles and that means more money for you
- Three, longer articles are more informative and give readers more details on the topic
In many cases, you just can’t write a good article if it’s short. It just won’t be informative enough to help the readers.
In this article, we’ll look at how you can write longer blog posts.
Let’s go!
Table of Contents
1. Don’t focus on the number of words you have
You should aim to have at least 1200 words per article but preferably if you can get your article up to 2400 words while staying on a topic that’d be what you should aim for.
Google likes longer articles and 2400 words seem to be the sweet spot.
As you’re writing, don’t focus on how many words you have so far because it’ll limit you from writing more as you think, “Well, I’m already at 1200 words so why should I include that extra section?”.
Don’t even check how many words you have, just write. It’ll also make you work faster as you aren’t stopping to check every few sentences.
When I’m more focused on the number of words I have on my blog, I tend to write worst and my post tends to also have fewer words.
2. Focus on making high-quality blog posts
Instead of focusing on the number of words you have in your article, focus on producing high-quality blog posts.
When making your blog posts high quality is your objective, you naturally will include more details in your article making it longer.
You’d think, “I should include that as well”. Instead of, “How many more words should I write?”
3. Imagine that you’re writing for yourself
I know this goes against what most bloggers suggest but hear me out. Yes, you do need to write with readers in mind.
- What do your readers want to know?
- What do your readers come to your site for?
- How can you solve a problem for your readers?
- How do you structure your article so that it’s easier to digest?
These are things you should pay attention to but when I said to write as if you’re writing for yourself, I meant I want you to take the stance of a reader.
Imagine you’re the reader, what do you want to know? It’s easier to assume the perspective of a reader if you’re one yourself.
A lot of articles I write are written as though it’s for my own personal research and not published for the whole world to read. I imagine that it’s something I’ll look back on and refer to so it’d be useful to produce a high-quality post.
Oftentimes we find it easier to do ourselves a service rather than doing others a service and that’s precisely why when writing articles, it can be beneficial to imagine that you’re writing for yourself.
4. Go watch a video on the topic you’re writing about
It’d be hard to write something you have limited knowledge of this is why you should go watch a video on the topic.
You’d gather more info for your readers that you can put down in your blog post.
Take notes if you have to.
We can often find details in a video on YouTube that isn’t found anywhere else on the first page of Google.
Those hidden gems can be repurposed into a blog post format. Just remember to cite it and link it if you have to.
5. Go read other blog posts and see what they have to say
The purpose isn’t to copy other bloggers but to go look at what they have to say on the topic of your choice.
You may notice that you can include a section on the “environmental impact of NFT” if you’re writing an article on how to buy NFT and notice other bloggers talking about it.
You should do your own resarch. Don’t copy other bloggers or paraphrase what they said.
6. Avoid summarizing other people’s blog articles
This is a mistake I see a lot of bloggers making. They’d summarize posts from other blogs without inputting something new.
Google is great at picking out which articles to rank. Simply summarizing and paraphrasing from other articles won’t get your articles seen.
You need to add something new to your article. For instance, you can:
- Add original research (do a Twitter poll)
- Add a drawing to better illustrate the point
- Add an infographic
- Add your own experience
- Add something that other bloggers don’t have
If you have lots of knowledge in your field this should be a piece of cake but if not, you’ll find more trouble with coming up with brand new content that other bloggers haven’t touched on.
7. Write what you want to write about
Ideally, the article you write should:
- Have enough monthly search volume (click here to learn how to find out)
- Should be low in competition (or high if you’re confident in your ability to rank)
- Should have high buyer intent (meaning readers come thinking they’re going to buy something)
- Should have enough content to talk about (so that your articles would be 2000+ words long)
- Should be something you know quite a bit about or is willing to do lots of research on
- Should be something you’re passionate about
However, there are just times when the articles that are good to write aren’t something that checks off all the boxes.
It may be an article with low competition, high search volume, and high buyer intent but you struggle to find any interest to start.
I’m a big supporter of sometimes writing whatever you want to write. You don’t have to do prior research to see if it’s something good to write but as long as you want to write, then go for it.
The reason is that this keeps your passion for blogging alive.
When I have to write content that I have absolutely no interest in, it wouldn’t be long before I feel like taking a months-long break from blogging.
You gotta at least at times reward yourself with work that you feel like doing. You’d not only find it a lot easier to write more words and produce longer content, but you’d also feel the desire to create more content.
8. Don’t worry about grammar and spelling as you’re writing
Don’t worry about grammar and spelling as you’re writing because it’ll slow you down trying to correct everything before you’re done.
Only go back and edit once you’re done producing the post.
You’ll end up with a longer piece of content when you aren’t obsessed over the tiny details along the way.
9. Write things that you have lots of knowledge in
It goes without saying that when you’re writing about something you’re knowledgeable in, you’d find it easier to write and thus end up with more words when you’re done.
When you’re writing something that you aren’t too knowledgeable in, you’d have to do a lot of research and you’d have to make sure what you write down is correct so there’d be a lot of double-checking which inhibits your creativity and natural flow state.
I love it when I can sit down (Or lie down. I’m laying on a yoga mat against the sofa as I’m writing this) and write about the topic and words just flow out of my fingertips as easily as water flowing out of the faucet.
I don’t have to stop to Google something or check my references. I can just let my mind takes me to the next sentence and then the next.
So yes. Want to write longer content? Write what you want and write what you know a lot about.
Final thought
What do you think? Do you have some tips to share? How do you make sure you write longer content? Comment down below! Thanks for reading. Bye!
Click here to learn how to write faster.
