Part 3 of a five-part series.
The reading time of this article is 3 minutes.
What do you think when you see this information? Do you find it long or short? Does it encourage you to read? Do you switch off? This simple indicator, which shows how long it will take you on average to read the article, is increasingly being used by news channels, blogs, and other websites.
Stating reading time fits the 'speed' of our current (online) life. The deluge of information that comes our way daily not only forces you to create distinctive content, which we will discuss in part 2 You have already discussed this series extensively. You also have to make an extra effort to win a little of your potential customer's time. But don't try too hard, because if a text is too long, the consumer will disengage.
The question of the optimal length for your text depends on the goal you want to achieve with your content. Do you want to inform? Enthuse? Warn? How many words do you need to convey your message clearly and package it attractively? Ultimately, with your website, you are of course always aiming for conversion (for example, filling out a contact form or requesting a quote). So be careful not to consider your goal achieved simply because you have created a nice package of content. With that package, you do not hold your goal, but rather the means to achieve it.
The length of your text
The saying goes, writing is cutting. The idea is that visitors to your website click away if they have to scroll too much. And that idea is often supported by test results from, for example, heatmap research. But can you really package your message in barely 200 words? And will Google have indexed your text optimally then? Not really, is the answer to that last question. There is no specific minimum, but Google prefers to see at least 300 words in your text to be able to index it better. More on that next week.
A short text is read in no time and quickly provides the information you are looking for; a long block of text is off-putting. In general, therefore, using few words prevents visitors from disengaging. However, you must ensure that you choose the right words, and that is quite a challenge, precisely because you are only 'allowed' to use so few. But some messages simply cannot be packed into 300 words. Complex topics require explanation, and you can only convince your visitors if they understand you. If you opt for a long text (more than 1000 words), a good introduction, a clear common thread, a clear paragraph structure, and the right subheadings are of paramount importance to hold your reader's attention.
Conclusion: the perfect length does not exist. It depends entirely on your subject, goal, and style. However, I can offer you the following tip. Ask yourself the questions: have I conveyed what I want to convey in the desired way? If so: can this be shorter? If you answer yes to the second question as well, dare to cut so that only the essence of the story remains.
Content is a means (and not an end)
Content is a means to achieve your goal. This means that you must align your means with that goal. Therefore, be careful not to consider your goal achieved simply because you have created a large amount of content. Sometimes it is not necessary to create a lot of content; rather, a single in-depth article is precisely what makes your website significantly more valuable.
Of course, you want to bring in more customers with your entire website, but tailoring all your content to that specific goal isn't smart. It's even excessive. Conversion buttons in strategic locations work better than 'Call now!' ten times on a screen. Give your customers the impression that reading your text is actually worthwhile. Dress your ultimate goal in a good coat—a coat of attractive, meaningful content. Of a good length.
Next week, in part 4, we write about SEO and the value of feedback.