olivetalks

Today I’ve read an article by Jakob Nielsen “Long vs. Short Articles as Content Strategy“. The author discusses different models used to describe the selection process of readers when they’re deciding what to read. He starts from a simple model and then proceeds to a more complex scenario. I’m going to summarize here what I’ve understood from reading it and how can this be applied to writing blogs.

“I have made this letter longer than usual because I lack the time to make it short.”

- Blaise Pascal

Jakob initially assumes that shorter articles have slightly higher information density than the long ones. The assumption makes sense - in most articles one can remove some fragments without affecting the value provided by the text. It might take extra time spent editing but the readers will appreciate it. With that model the preference is for the short articles so make sure to spend some time editing your articles with intention of reducing the length.

“Variety is the soul of pleasure.”

- Aphra Behn

Later though Jakob takes into account situations where the longer articles provide more value because the reader needs in-depth information. The readers still generally prefer short articles but not exclusively. Their “diet” now contains both short and long articles since the readers are trying to optimize their cost/benefit ratio. So with this mixed model you need to write both short summaries and longer comprehensive posts. This way you provide better match for the readers’ needs.

In the end there’s no simple answer. Too much depends on the target audience of your blog. If you’re looking for lots of visitors then shorter articles will be more useful for you since people find it easier to spend one minute reading a short post than five, ten or even more to digest a much longer paper. If you’re writing for people who really need to know something then longer articles are the way to go since there’s a limit to how much you can fit into a short summary. There’s also the middle road where you write both short and long posts to attract large readership and to also cater for a smaller but more interested subset seeking a deep understanding of the subject matter. What exactly should be the perfect ratio of short and long articles is a matter of defining your audience, trying out different options, experimenting and then choosing what works best. This article should give you a good starting point but the final answer is up to you.