When it comes to word-count and written content in general, I think it's fair to say that the business owner who doesn't write much has an awful lot to consider (note: you can read a lot, but unless you actually engage in the ancient practice of writing as well, and unless you're in the supreme minority, you probably won't be using the part of your brain that makes the act of writing easier and more understandable).
To be honest, I don't envy business owners in such a confusing and difficult position. Of course I don't, it is in no way easy. Too long and the writing may not get read at all. Too short and it may indeed get read, but it also may not convey everything it crucially needs to. That can be very bad, of course. In fact, it can be a major bummer. If you leave a lot of unanswered questions, you may end up alienating your reader and partially ruining their day. Major bummer indeed! Nobody wants that. Unless it's a mystery novel or film, we want to know some stuff, and we want to know it know. Quicksmart.
It gets even more murky and difficult, of course, when you consider the age we live in. For the past few years, there has been a rather fashionable tendency for some copywriters to write short, minimalist pieces that leave plenty of white space. Now, I love white space, don't get me wrong, but what I don't like is when written content is short purely because it is trying to be part of a certain trend. Reading between the lines is all well and good, but there is only so far you can push that notion...sometimes it's better that instead of people reading between the lines and getting it all wrong, they read the actual lines you have written and get it absolutely right. That is, that they understand precisely what you mean. They get your point. They are with you and they want to know more, and more...
What I am saying is quite simple, really: sometimes copy needs to be longer and there is no way of getting around that fact. Sometimes, you have to take a bit of a risk and hope that your reader feels like reading more than just a couple of paragraphs. But here's the thing: no matter what anyone says, and no matter what the SEO companies tell you about word-count and Google and all that stuff, there is enormous potential for that risk to pay off. After all, chances are that if someone clicked on your blog, they wanted to read it. That's a good thing, because in a slightly longer post you can really get to grips with whatever you are trying to say.
This is all on the assumption that you're not just writing long copy for the sake of it, of course. That doesn't work, as we all know. Copy must have a point, and that point must always come first, with no exceptions. This isn't about following the crowd: whatever the case, the reader should be rewarded.
To be honest, I don't envy business owners in such a confusing and difficult position. Of course I don't, it is in no way easy. Too long and the writing may not get read at all. Too short and it may indeed get read, but it also may not convey everything it crucially needs to. That can be very bad, of course. In fact, it can be a major bummer. If you leave a lot of unanswered questions, you may end up alienating your reader and partially ruining their day. Major bummer indeed! Nobody wants that. Unless it's a mystery novel or film, we want to know some stuff, and we want to know it know. Quicksmart.
It gets even more murky and difficult, of course, when you consider the age we live in. For the past few years, there has been a rather fashionable tendency for some copywriters to write short, minimalist pieces that leave plenty of white space. Now, I love white space, don't get me wrong, but what I don't like is when written content is short purely because it is trying to be part of a certain trend. Reading between the lines is all well and good, but there is only so far you can push that notion...sometimes it's better that instead of people reading between the lines and getting it all wrong, they read the actual lines you have written and get it absolutely right. That is, that they understand precisely what you mean. They get your point. They are with you and they want to know more, and more...
What I am saying is quite simple, really: sometimes copy needs to be longer and there is no way of getting around that fact. Sometimes, you have to take a bit of a risk and hope that your reader feels like reading more than just a couple of paragraphs. But here's the thing: no matter what anyone says, and no matter what the SEO companies tell you about word-count and Google and all that stuff, there is enormous potential for that risk to pay off. After all, chances are that if someone clicked on your blog, they wanted to read it. That's a good thing, because in a slightly longer post you can really get to grips with whatever you are trying to say.
This is all on the assumption that you're not just writing long copy for the sake of it, of course. That doesn't work, as we all know. Copy must have a point, and that point must always come first, with no exceptions. This isn't about following the crowd: whatever the case, the reader should be rewarded.