Short and sweet
This tip is for other bloggers.
Tip # 8: Keep your blog posts short and sweet. Use as few a words as possible to get to the point.
We live in a text message, Facebook and Twitter world. Many of us are accustomed to communicating in 140 characters or less. Most of us are suffering from information overload. I don’t know about you, if I see a big, long, wordy blog post I may not even read it or I may read the first few sentences and if they don’t catch my attention then it is click… away I go to the next piece of information to cram in to my head.
Do you prefer long or short blog posts?
Photo by Flickr user @langwitches
Depends on the topic and the ability of the blogger to communicate clearly and accurately.
Good point! I actually don’t mind long blogs if they keep my attention. I just find some to be so wordy that I lose interest. I know I have been guilty of being wordy but at least for business blogs I do think short is better.
It depends on the content and how good it is. I learned when I wrote for USA Today how you can tell a complex story really well if you break it into smaller pieces. Blog posts should follow that model: long enough to give the reader all the key information and a way to learn more.
Once in a while, I come across a post that is so beautifully written or a story so well crafted that I am happy to keep turning the page (er, I mean scrolling down.) But this is too rare.
Oh, I am so with you on short blogs, though I truly do hate to say so because I love well-written complex stories–all the Russian greats, literary novelists etc.–but not so much in a blog. Though, I must say if I’m gripped by something that’s long I will read it.
It seems we all agree if the content is good and useful the length doesn’t matter. It’s the long, boring, rambles we don’t make time for anymore.