Comments on: The Ongoing Myth That Web Content Must Always Be Short

By: Promotional Products

Promotional Products — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 03:36:17 +0000

@John Soares – you both make great points, I understand that when discussing a complex issue, lengthy posts are necessary.

However, there is something to be said with getting you message across in a clear and concise manner. This can be more difficult to do effectively.

By: Des Walsh

Des Walsh — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 00:43:38 +0000

Thanks for this post. When the topic comes up I like to point to the master of web analytics, Avinash Kaushik, who has forgotten more about web traffic than most others have learned. He writes *very* long posts. E.g. I just did a word count on a recent post of his and it came to 3,133 words. And I’m guessing quite a few people read it, as by Oct 2nd there were 51 comments. http://www.kaushik.net/avinash/2010/09/excellent-web-analytics-tip-analyze-direct-traffic.html

The comment stream for that post is a serious conversation between Avinash and his readers. I did a rough word count and got a figure of 6,904 words just in the comment stream (that includes names, dates etc, so the *valuable content* would add up to fewer words, but still, in my view, impressive).

One thing in particular I took away from a marvellous workshop Avinash conducted at BlogWorld 2007, along with great regard for his knowledge, wit and wisdom, was that he takes great pains and spends a lot of time to find good images for his posts. He is a communicator, not just a man of words.

By: Heidi Cool

Heidi Cool — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 22:01:26 +0000

The myth that Internet readers will only read short copy has always annoyed me because so many take it at face value and end up under-serving their audiences. Given that there are plenty of people reading blogs, who also read novels, it has always seemed silly to purport that we all have short attention spans when reading on the Web.

My feeling is that we should write as long or as short as is necessary to actually convey our message. Many writers shorten their copy so much that it leaves readers wanting more. Those readers must then look elsewhere to find the information they truly seek.

There is a time and a place for all lengths of copy. I certain don’t want to see long tomes on a business home page. But if they are talking about products or services, and I’m a prospect, then I want to be able to dig deeper to learn enough to make an informed buying decision. Or if I’m reading a blog post I want to make sure I get the full picture.

I often Google topics only to find posts that only partially cover the subject matter. Technical posts may assume that I have prior knowledge that is required to understand the post, when I don’t. Often it would only take an extra paragraph or two to fill in the gaps.

My blog posts tend to be rather long, usually 1,000-3,000 words, because I am often explaining ideas in great detail. I started writing that way because I was writing how-to posts and wanted to make sure readers of all experience levels could understand them.

That works for me, but I’ve also seen too many posts where the writer rambles on and on without ever coming to the point. To that end I think Rob is absolutely right that we should edit our copy to make it as clear and succinct as possible. But how many words are required to convey a message clearly will always depend on the message.

By: james

james — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 18:09:19 +0000

Great post, I think that people are condensing their thoughts even more due to services like twitter. I believe that a lot of people do simply skim web content rather than read it word for word as one would a novel.

By: Jim Morgan

Jim Morgan — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 16:58:26 +0000

Absolutely correct, Adam. As a trained journalist, I know people will read longer pieces if the content is meaningful and concise. “Concise” is not the same as short. It means the information is provided with the fewest words possible, regardless of how much information you provide. Because of the purpose and subject matter of my blog, my experience as a newspaper editor tells me it takes more than 300 words to provide readers enough detail to make use of the information. My typical entry is 1,000 words, yet my readership has grown steadily.

Keep up the good fight against advice not based on evidence, Adam!