How long should a blog post be?
For search traffic, 1,500–2,500 words is the sweet spot in most ranking studies; for pure readability, shorter often wins.
Length by goal
"Ideal blog length" depends on what the post is for. Ranking studies repeatedly find first-page results averaging 1,400–2,500 words — not because Google counts words, but because thorough coverage of a topic naturally runs long and earns links. News-style updates, on the other hand, do their job in 300–600 words, and email-style personal posts engage best under 1,000.
The honest rule: cover the topic completely, then stop. Padding a 900-word answer to 2,000 words for SEO produces the thin, repetitive content ranking systems increasingly demote.
Structure beats length
Long posts only work when they're scannable: descriptive subheadings every 300 words or so, short paragraphs (40–80 words), a table or list where the content allows one, and an opening that answers the query before elaborating. A well-structured 1,500-word post outperforms an unstructured 3,000-word one on both rankings and reader completion.
Blog post length by type
| News / update post | 300–600 words |
| Standard blog post | 800–1,200 words |
| SEO / evergreen article | 1,500–2,500 words |
| Pillar / ultimate guide | 3,000–5,000+ words |
| Personal / newsletter post | 500–1,000 words |
| Product announcement | 400–800 words |
Is 500 words enough for a blog post?
For a news update, an announcement, or a sharply-scoped answer — yes. For a topic readers will compare across sites, 500 words rarely covers enough to compete. Match length to the query, not to a quota.
How long does it take to read a 2,000-word post?
About 8 minutes at an average silent pace of 240 wpm. If your analytics show average time-on-page far below that, readers are scanning — tighten the structure rather than the length.