B³H³ Blog Network

Here’s a popular question from bloggers both old and new:

How long should a typical post be?

I think that what bloggers who ask this question would really like is a firm number - for example, “the best length for a blog post is 336 words.”  Unfortunately, there isn’t a firm number that I can give you.  However, I can give you some guidelines for the ideal blog post length.

• Make it as long as it needs to be and no more!
  Sounds like one of those sarcastic replies, but it’s true.  Make the post as long as it needs to be to say what you want it to say and no longer.  If you can say that you want to say in a couple of sentences, then that’s how long it needs to be.  Don’t feel the need to pad it out.
• Give your post a title - and stick to it!
  If your post is called “How to do XYZ with ABC” then make sure that you post tells the reader how to do XYZ with ABC.  Be careful about wandering off on tangents and asides - this can bulk out your post unnecessarily and make your reader lose interest.
• Maintain your reader’s interest
  If your post looks like it’s entering “heavy reading” territory then think of ways to make is more interesting - add images, break up the text into bullet points, etc.
• Part 1, Part 2 …
  If your post looks like it’s going to become a monster, consider breaking it up into multiple parts over a few days.  This way you don’t overload your readers.
• What are your readers used to?
  What kind of post length are your readers used to?  If you normally write one or two paragraph posts and you dump in a War and Peace you are apt to upset readers (same goes in reverse).  Give your readers what they are used to!

And by the way, this post is 336 words long.

Dave Taylor asks - Is WordPress the fabled Blog Police after all?

The more I think about it, the more that I’m bothered by what Matt Mullenweg and his team at Wordpress.com are imposing upon the thousands of bloggers using this hosted version of the splendid Wordpress software. As came to light through a posting from blogger Colleen on her weblog, they’ve sent out a letter to their customers warning that any sponsored or paid blog entries are grounds for immediately deletion of their blog and a permanent ban from using the service in the future.

I’m not going to enter into this particular battle - the folks at WordPress have contributed greatly to the blogging community with both a free blogging platform and a free hosted service.  What I am going to say is that if you are planning a commercial venture (even a small one) then you should find web space and host the blog on web space that you pay for.  That way it’s your blog and your rules (web hosts have policies on what’s acceptable on their servers but most only cover things like warez and adult content).  Don’t make a free service the backbone of any online venture you have planned.

Remember, with a free service you get what you pay for. 

Robert Scoble (of Scobleizer fame) made a post earlier today on how Wordpress.com doesn’t allow PayPerPost and SEO (Search Engine Optimization) gaming tricks to be used on their blogs.  Fair point.  However, a visitor calling themselves Remarkable posted the following comment:

“Also, if you want to put lots of ads and things on your blog, why are you using a free service? Pay for a host and put that stuff somewhere else.”

Says Robert, advertising his book (twice) on his free Wordpress.com blog Not saying you shouldn’t. But, it’s not that different from a sidebar of Google Ads.

To which Robert replies:

Remarkable: good point, but stuff on the sidebar isn’t treated as SEO the way that stuff in the content area is.

Now, partly I’m confused as to what Robert is trying to say here.  Taken literally the sentence doesn’t make any sense  but what I believe he’s trying to say is that the sidebar on a WordPress blog doesn’t influence SEO - Wrong.  Wrong big style. 

First off, the commenter wasn’t talking about SEO, they were talking about putting ads on a free WordPress account.  Secondly, whatever is on the sidebar can heavily influence SEO on a blog - After all, the sidebar appears on every single blog page!  Robert, Robert, Robert, as VP of Media Dev at PodTech.net you really should know that already.  Or is Robert skirting around the issue.  After all, he has probably one of the most commercial blogs on WordPress.com that he used to drive traffic to a number of third-party commercial sites on a regular basis.

If you think getting people to your site is tricky, you want to try getting them to sign up to newsletters.  Now that’s what I call tricky!

There are a number of reasons as to why this is the case.  The first reason is simple - people just have to do more work.  You can’t make a newsletter sign-up process so simple that all someone has to do is click on a link.  At the very least they have to put their email address into a form, and if you have an opt-in system going, they have to confirm their desire to join the list by clicking on a link in the conformation email they receive.  That may not sound like a lot of work for a go-getting Internet entrepreneur, but for your average user, it’s a lot of work.

On top of that you have to appreciate that people don’t want more spam and junk coming to their inbox.  They have enough to deal with as it is and don’t want more.

So how do you overcome these resistance factors and get people to sign up for your newsletter?  Here are a few tips:

• Make the sign-up process as easy as possible
  Ask the minimum of questions - this isn’t the time to survey your audience.  If they have to jump through too many hoops, they won’t bother signing up.
• Give them a reason to sign up!
  Explain what your newsletter has to offer in terms of benefits to the recipient.  You gotta make them WANT your content!
• Offer a freebie
  The offer of a free gift of some description is a great way to get people to sign up!  Even just using the word “free”, as in “free newsletter” will increase take-up!
• Free sample
  Make available a sample of your newsletter.  This way people know in advance what to expect. If you don’t make or sell a product, this could be a free download, PDF or white paper for example.
• No spam!
  Guarantee, on your mother’s life, that you’re not going to spam your subscribers.  Also pledge that you’re not going to sell their email address to someone else who will spam them. Ever!  Period. (And make 100% certain that you never go back on this promise!)
• Offer the subscriber a way out
  The last thing that you want on your email list are people who want out - make sure that you offer a simple unsubscribe system for those that no longer want your newsletter.