A 500 word article will always outperform a 1000 word article

[yourreviewer]

I just stumbled upon an article syndication pdf in Ezinearticles in which they state the following,

Be Clear & Concise in Your Writing: A 500 word article will always outperform a 1000 word article. You are writing for a medium that embraces instant gratification: the Internet. Keep your articles clear and concise, so the reader can quickly comprehend the quality content you are sharing.

You can find the source in the link below.

http://media.ezinearticles.com/pdf/e...arketing-2.pdf

Is it just me who finds that statement ridiculous and utterly false?

[Troy_Phillips]

Originally Posted by yourreviewer

I just stumbled upon an article syndication pdf in Ezinearticles in which they state the following,

Be Clear & Concise in Your Writing: A 500 word article will always outperform a 1000 word article. You are writing for a medium that embraces instant gratification: the Internet. Keep your articles clear and concise, so the reader can quickly comprehend the quality content you are sharing.

You can find the source in the link below.

http://media.ezinearticles.com/pdf/e...arketing-2.pdf

Is it just me who finds that statement ridiculous and utterly false?

You need to remember this is coming from a site that has failed miserably in terms of what it's own expectations were.

It is not just you .. they are wrong.

[fin]

I'm getting a bit sick of longer articles these days. I wouldn't actually mind if it was more than filler content.

[connorbringas]

Originally Posted by yourreviewer

I just stumbled upon an article syndication pdf in Ezinearticles in which they state the following,

Be Clear & Concise in Your Writing: A 500 word article will always outperform a 1000 word article. You are writing for a medium that embraces instant gratification: the Internet. Keep your articles clear and concise, so the reader can quickly comprehend the quality content you are sharing.

You can find the source in the link below.

http://media.ezinearticles.com/pdf/e...arketing-2.pdf

Is it just me who finds that statement ridiculous and utterly false?

Couldnt agree more. However, for ezinearticles they give preference over a shorter article that is more concise than a longer article..

[timbonitus]

It really depends on how the article is written. Sometimes I like reading long articles sometimes I don't. But generally, I think they are wrong.

[Alexa Smith]

Originally Posted by yourreviewer

Is it just me who finds that statement ridiculous and utterly false?

Noooooo ... it's always been there, and it's always been nonsense!

A 1,000-word article gets me far, far more traffic (and even far more backlinks!) than the same word-count set out as two 500-word articles. On absolutely any niche at all that I've tried. No comparison!

I'm always grimacing when I see people here, in conversations about article length, saying that "people get bored by more than 500/600 words and won't get as far as your resource-box". Sheeeeeeesh, talk about missing the point.

[yourreviewer]

Originally Posted by Alexa Smith

Noooooo ... it's always been there, and it's always been nonsense!

A 1,000-word article gets me far, far more traffic (and even far more backlinks!) than the same word-count set out as two 500-word articles. On absolutely any niche at all. No comparison!

I'm always grimacing when I see people here, in conversations about article length, saying that "people get bored by more than 500/600 words and won't get as far as your resource-box". Sheeeeeeesh, talk about missing the point.

Alexa, personally, I have found longer articles get better quality leads (these subscribers are more likely to double opt-in, open my messages, click on the links and buy products) than the leads I get from shorter articles. Given a choice, I will always prefer fewer better quality subscribers to a higher number of unresponsive subscribers.

[Kevin McNally]

Shorter article might work better on EA since the visitor has so many distractions with all those pesky adsense ads !

Clever advice, 2 articles for the price of 1 for EA .

[Alexa Smith]

Originally Posted by yourreviewer

Alexa, personally, I have found longer articles get better quality leads (these subscribers are more likely to double opt-in, open my messages, click on the links and buy products) than the leads I get from shorter articles. Given a choice, I will always prefer fewer better quality subscribers to a higher number of unresponsive subscribers.

Yes, same here - I agree completely.

I think the length "qualifies" the leads. You build a list that's going to have a higher open-rate if the visitors have come from 1,000/1,200-word articles than if they've come from shorter ones.

But even just in terms of SEO (not that I care much, to be honest), you'll get more relevant-site backlinks out of longer articles, too, simply because far more people will re-publish them.

Originally Posted by Kevin McNally

Shorter article might work better on EA since the visitor has so many distractions with all those pesky adsense ads !

Clever advice, 2 articles for the price of 1 for EA .

Ah yes, good point. EZA might possibly prefer shorter ones from the perspective of their AdSense income. Hadn't even thought about that.

[fin]

Originally Posted by yourreviewer

Alexa, personally, I have found longer articles get better quality leads (these subscribers are more likely to double opt-in, open my messages, click on the links and buy products) than the leads I get from shorter articles. Given a choice, I will always prefer fewer better quality subscribers to a higher number of unresponsive subscribers.

Do you mind giving a quick explanation how you test all this?

Are you saying the quality and topic of the article has no bearing, people just buy your products because you write long articles?

[Make Money Ninja]

Honestly, article length is BULLSHIT.

I am going to repeat that again... article length means nothing when it comes ranking in Google.

It is all about how engaging the content is and how your visitors react to it. Ever wonder why Youtube videos always rank in Google yet have no text content? It's because Google is getting better at evaluating content quality, so if your content is awesome it doesnt matter whether its 100 words, 500 words, 1000 words or 3000 words. All that matters is user experience.

Say a visitor comes to your site from Google and then spends an hour viewing 20 pages on your site. That is a good user experience, it doesn't matter if your articles are 500 or 1000 words long.

Say your visitor comes to your site, finds it ugly, disgusting, too many ads and leaves straight away. That is a bad experience. Google is getting better at distinguishing the too and rewarding sites with good user experience.

[myob]

There certainly are exceptions, but short articles generally don't contain enough value to engage the reader for taking the intended action. A highly effective article involves a delicate balance of emotion and logic, which is impossible to achieve in just 500 words. Vague, abstract generalities are hard to relate to. But content that sustains attention with relevant, specific details has a much higher probability for conversion.

[yourreviewer]

Originally Posted by fin

Do you mind giving a quick explanation how you test all this?

Are you saying the quality and topic of the article has no bearing, people just buy your products because you write long articles?

No, I am not referring to articles which are longer from fluff and filler. I am talking about articles that are longer and filled with useful, engaging content. I map out the frequently asked questions by the people in the marketplace and organize an article answering many questions in one. Other formats include '7 Tips to, 11 Ways to' type articles which always do well. I use two different urls for squeeze pages for testing purposes.

[Frank Donovan]

My initial reaction to that statement was to wonder by what criteria EZA was measuring performance, but I see that the advice is from a tutorial about syndication. That being the case, it's not only an incorrect assertion, but a wholely misleading one and EZA should be required either to back it up with hard statistics or remove it.

It's almost impossible to believe that, all else being equal, publishers looking for content wouldn't prefer the longer article in the vast majority of cases.


Frank

[fin]

Originally Posted by yourreviewer

No, I am not referring to articles which are longer from fluff and filler. I am talking about articles that are longer and filled with useful, engaging content. I map out the frequently asked questions by the people in the marketplace and organize an article answering many questions in one. Other formats include '7 Tips to, 11 Ways to' type articles which always do well. I use two different urls for squeeze pages for testing purposes.

I still don't understand how you're doing it.

Are you using 2 articles on the same topic with one being a compressed version?

And if you did have 2 articles on different sites, wouldn't the different audiences have a bearing on the outcome?

Could it be possible that you write longer articles on the topics you're passionate about, therefore it's the quality rather than the length?

When you think about everything that makes a great article, it seems crazy to say that size matters.

[MissTerraK]

I think it is utter nonsense too, well, unless your site caters to those suffering from Attention Deficit Disorders.

It is much more difficult to provide pertinent information combined with empathy as well as the tone for the piece whether it be humor, utilizing analogies to make concepts crystal clear, or a real life personal experience correlating to the information provided in a mere 500 words.

I understand that holding your reader's attention is important, but making a piece short in order to do so isn't wise if you're causing them to feel that reading that piece was a waste of time, however short that time may have been.

Terra

[yourreviewer]

Originally Posted by fin

I still don't understand how you're doing it.

Are you using 2 articles on the same topic with one being a compressed version?

And if you did have 2 articles on different sites, wouldn't the different audiences have a bearing on the outcome?

Could it be possible that you write longer articles on the topics you're passionate about, therefore it's the quality rather than the length?

When you think about everything that makes a great article, it seems crazy to say that size matters.

Yes, I am talking about the same topic. If the shorter version says 5 Tips to, the longer version would be 9 Tips to (and the tips would be different, so it is not the same content).

I am not saying you cannot write a good article for 500 words, what I am saying is that for me, I have been able to deliver more value through a longer article than a shorter one.

[Geordie John]

I bought a Nat Geo magazine not so long ago for a story on a new-ish theory on how the monolithic heads were transported and erected on Easter Island to read on a plane trip... I'd have been severely disappointed had that turned out to be a 500 word article.

I'm the same when it comes to researching and learning online too. When i am looking for something to actually read because i am interested in the topic, it doesn't matter if the article turns into a book, i'll still keep reading if it's well written and presented and is giving me what i wanted when i chose to read it.

I don't tend to stay on websites long if it's a bunch of 400 and 500 word pages.

Not sure why i ever thought that was a good way to market my own stuff when it wasn't even anything alike to my own behavior...

Good old times...

[yourreviewer]

With regards to length, if I am looking for a topic like 'how to start a podcast' I would personally prefer the third content piece compared to 1 and 2 and the second content piece over 1.

I agree that the content below is not an article per say and so it is not the same as comparing an Ezine article vs another Ezine article, but the concept is the same. And personally for me, I am able to achieve that "Wow" factor in my articles more easily when they are longer than when they are shorter.

1. 5 Steps to Starting Your Own Podcasting Show | Social Media Examiner

2. How to Start Your Own Podcast: 11 steps - wikiHow

3. How to Start a Podcast – Pat’s Complete Step-By-Step Podcasting Tutorial

[fin]

Originally Posted by yourreviewer

Yes, I am talking about the same topic. If the shorter version says 5 Tips to, the longer version would be 9 Tips to (and the tips would be different, so it is not the same content).

I am not saying you cannot write a good article for 500 words, what I am saying is that for me, I have been able to deliver more value through a longer article than a shorter one.

Fair enough.

It's something I'm thinking about a lot at the moment. My audience seems to react better to little wins, so giving them a huge article with lots of different things to implement would seem to go against that. Obviously it all depends on the niche.

[Sandra Martinez]

A 500 words article gives you a taste of whatever you are writing about, you can´t give any real information in that length for most subjects.

The last article I wrote was 2000 words, and one guy asked me to expand on some of the sub items... sigh

[Sandra Martinez]

Originally Posted by fin

Fair enough.

It's something I'm thinking about a lot at the moment. My audience seems to react better to little wins, so giving them a huge article with lots of different things to implement would seem to go against that. Obviously it all depends on the niche.

Maybe it is your style. If you have good results with that length then go for it.

[Geordie John]

Originally Posted by fin

Fair enough.

It's something I'm thinking about a lot at the moment. My audience seems to react better to little wins, so giving them a huge article with lots of different things to implement would seem to go against that. Obviously it all depends on the niche.

Could that be the nature of the niche you are in, and the audience you are marketing too?

[fin]

Originally Posted by Geordie John

Could that be the nature of the niche you are in, and the audience you are marketing too?

I don't think so. I think it would apply to any niche where you're teaching something and you want people to see results. But most people I follow don't tend to use list posts.

[Dmarcotte]

Originally Posted by Make Money Ninja

Honestly, article length is BULLSHIT.

I am going to repeat that again... article length means nothing when it comes ranking in Google.

It is all about how engaging the content is and how your visitors react to it. Ever wonder why Youtube videos always rank in Google yet have no text content? It's because Google is getting better at evaluating content quality, so if your content is awesome it doesnt matter whether its 100 words, 500 words, 1000 words or 3000 words. All that matters is user experience.

This is so true - the quality of the article is far more important than the length.

[Alexa Smith]

Originally Posted by itejsin

if you have quality articles even 350 could be nice.

Well, not for Ezine Articles, it wouldn't: they have a minimum length requirement of 400 words (and in a range of popular niches it's 600 words instead). "Just saying".

Originally Posted by MissTerraK

I think it is utter nonsense too, well, unless your site caters to those suffering from Attention Deficit Disorders.

LOL, it's one of those "you very nearly owe me a new keyboard" comments ...

[clever7]

It’s very hard to write something meaningful in only a few words, but if you can do that, you should do it.

I always believed that long articles attract more readers, but there are all kinds of readers online. There are also readers who hate long articles.

You should write articles of all sizes. A short 450 word article can be more attractive than a 1000 word article about a certain topic. A very long 3000 word article can be far superior and attract numerous readers because you are giving away important information you could even charge for.

EZA’s rules and their blog, their guidelines, etc, are far from being helpful. They care about volume. This is why they encourage all authors to write short articles, which are simple.

If they would tell you that you have to spend three hours writing a quality article with real lessons perhaps you would immediately conclude that you should do something else to get traffic instead of wasting your time with article writing. This is why they tell you that short articles are the best ones. They hope you’ll write many short articles per day instead of writing one long article per week.

Their interest is to get people to their website, and not to send people to your website. This is their secondary intention since if you'll never get traffic you’ll stop writing articles, but for you, this is your basic intention. You only want to send traffic to your links.

You don’t want to make people read your article and then look for a better one at EZA because your article is not good enough.

[Alexa Smith]

Originally Posted by clever7

You don’t want to make people read your article and then look for a better one at EZA because your article is not good enough.

You don't want your potential customers to be reading a copy of one of your articles in an article directory at all, do you? That's not who those EZA copies are there for. How do Article Directories work?

[Ken_Caudill]

EZA is a joke. Their editors are semi-literate at best. Please don't take them seriously.

[Randall Magwood]

I cant remember the last time i sat down and read word-for-word a 1000-word article. Skimmed through it, yeah. But read it fully? No. I dont know.... i may have ADHD or something.

...haha just kidding.

[MikeTucker]

Originally Posted by yourreviewer

Be Clear & Concise in Your Writing: A 500 word article will always outperform a 1000 word article. You are writing for a medium that embraces instant gratification: the Internet.

The basic premise is wrong. I do not write for those people.
Therefore any point built off that statement does not apply.

***

Originally Posted by yourreviewer

Alexa, personally, I have found longer articles get better quality leads (these subscribers are more likely to double opt-in, open my messages, click on the links and buy products) than the leads I get from shorter articles. Given a choice, I will always prefer fewer better quality subscribers to a higher number of unresponsive subscribers.

1. Clearly I am not Alexa, but I am going to open my mouth here anyway.
2. Don't concern yourself with "double opt-in". Single opt-in is just fine.
3. I agree 100% with your final statement there.

PS. It is always your choice.


***

Originally Posted by Make Money Ninja

Honestly, writing articles for Google ranking is BULLSHIT.

Fixed that for you.


***

Originally Posted by Geordie John

I bought a Nat Geo magazine not so long ago for a story on a new-ish theory on how the monolithic heads were transported and erected on Easter Island to read on a plane trip... I'd have been severely disappointed had that turned out to be a 500 word article.

I'm the same when it comes to researching and learning online too. When i am looking for something to actually read because i am interested in the topic, it doesn't matter if the article turns into a book, i'll still keep reading if it's well written and presented and is giving me what i wanted when i chose to read it.

I don't tend to stay on websites long if it's a bunch of 400 and 500 word pages.

Not sure why i ever thought that was a good way to market my own stuff when it wasn't even anything alike to my own behavior...

Good old times...

Great example. Cannot imagine Nat Geo publishing very many
500 word articles, even with their reputation for superb photos.

And if you're going to invest your time and effort in building a
business, do you want it to be like:

1. Nat Geo
2. the tabloids

???


***

Originally Posted by Ken_Caudill

EZA is a joke. Their editors are semi-literate at best. Please don't take them seriously.

I don't even use them anymore.

[MissTerraK]

Originally Posted by MissTerraK

I think it is utter nonsense too, well, unless your site caters to those suffering from Attention Deficit Disorders.

Originally Posted by Alexa Smith

LOL, it's one of those "you very nearly owe me a new keyboard" comments ...

Haha! Sorry.

I was wondering if anyone would catch my little bit of sarcastic humor.

Terra

[Jordan Kovats]

Originally Posted by Alexa Smith

Noooooo ... it's always been there, and it's always been nonsense!

A 1,000-word article gets me far, far more traffic (and even far more backlinks!) than the same word-count set out as two 500-word articles. On absolutely any niche at all that I've tried. No comparison!

I'm always grimacing when I see people here, in conversations about article length, saying that "people get bored by more than 500/600 words and won't get as far as your resource-box". Sheeeeeeesh, talk about missing the point.

Sorry, but you lost me at grimacing....

[Zotti]

Originally Posted by myob

A highly effective article involves a delicate balance of emotion and logic, which is impossible to achieve in just 500 words.

I would add "depth" here. Longer articles are often read by people who like to think/read about matters with substance.

Originally Posted by fin

I think it would apply to any niche where you're teaching something and you want people to see results.

I frequently read articles for the sake of learning [about] things (e.g. scientific matters) and/or for seeing other perspectives on a particular matter, event, or controversial issue, etc. (A kind of meeting of the minds.). From those articles, I don't necessarily expect any immediately implementable solutions; yet, the intellectual value I get from them makes me more likely to trust the solutions offered later by the same writer.

I look for short articles when I need a quick fix for something. But, I have a more frequent need for intellectually/emotionally engaging reading than for a quick fix to cover the ink that got on the chair.


Articles are like physical products.

Bread and milk = Short articles
They are mass-marketed, short-lived quick-fixes, and their producers must compete on price. Besides, there is a limit to the ability to compete -- nobody can afford to bake bread for $1, and sell it for $0.90. And it really doesn't matter where I buy it.

Furniture, jewelry, etc. = Longer articles
Fewer merchants, long-term benefits, less competition on price. The real way to build trust and customer loyalty.

[Leejeong]

Articles will be only effective if the content is clear and consistent to the topic. It does not vary on the length or words it has. You create the article to divert the readers directly on your page and possibly rank your site. I suggest not to focus just on Ezine. I'm only wondering if there are really organic visitors visiting/reading the articles, or its just the traffic from the SEO and advertisers was the reason why it attained such traffic.

[tpw]

Originally Posted by yourreviewer

Is it just me who finds that statement ridiculous and utterly false?

Ridiculous and utterly false? Absolutely.

But it is not actually the word count that affects the outcome, but the power of the story.

[Michael Ten]

Whatever they are saying, or anyone else is saying, I'd like to see good research data to back it up.

[Chris Worner]

Originally Posted by Ken_Caudill

EZA is a joke. Their editors are semi-literate at best. Please don't take them seriously.

I always chuckle when I see writers advertising their services using the, "EZA Expert Author...." logo.

I laugh even harder when I see the prices they charge, like $1 per hundred words.

-Chris

[BernardR]

I am a big fan of Alexa Smith who in my mind is one of the great authorities on authentic article marketing.

However I have to say that I only ever write a maximum of 500 words as it seems to generate the best response for me.

What I am saying is that I was unaware of the Ezine Article write up on this but have discovered through testing that 500 words is about right for my articles and content. I always put videos and images in the mix, plus use formatting to break up the text.

My best article written a few years ago now and published specifically for clicks (apparently not the way to do it) still has a CTR of between 84 - 86%. My average is over 50% CTR.

It may just be that I have a completely different approach.

BernardR

[GeorgR.]

Originally Posted by yourreviewer

http://media.ezinearticles.com/pdf/e...arketing-2.pdf

Is it just me who finds that statement ridiculous and utterly false?

I think it's utterly ridiculously generalized, 500 words might work for some things but not for many others.

Let's say I were to write a concise and good post about "How to do SEO after Panda"...500 words would hardly be enough. And some people WANT in-depth information and not just a short overview.

Edit: Looking at the source...ah..ok...ezinearticles...

[Martin.Avis]

Have you ever eaten popping candy? The stuff that explodes in a galaxy of sensations on your tongue?

Good writing is like popping candy, except that the explosions are in your mind's eye.

As a general principle, longer articles allow good writers to fill your mind with a kaleidoscope of thoughts and ideas, which makes for a more satifying read. However, a poor writer, who is just aiming for wordcount without much thought for content doesn't have the same effect at all.

Wordcount is clearly important for the development of ideas, but it is not the be-all and end-all! Stimulation of thought is what it is about.

After all, the following six words (attributed to Ernest Hemingway) explode like popping candy in the mind more than many a long article (by a pedestrian writer) ever could:

"For sale, baby shoes, never worn."

[myob]

Originally Posted by Michael Ten

Whatever they are saying, or anyone else is saying, I'd like to see good research data to back it up.

You can test this yourself with your own reading audience. If your target demographic is in the "instant gratification" mindset, then 500 words may get clicks from a number of casual readers who, for example, will subscribe to your list for a freebie. But from my own experience in some of the most hotly competitive markets, reader expectations including style and substance are much higher.

Meeting these expectations (as measured in direct traffic and sales from every article) would be impossible in 500 words. The article length sweet spot appears to be around 1200 words for maximum leverage at the intersection of syndication acceptance standards, reader experience expectations, and conversion of traffic to sales. This approach, writing scintillatingly sesquipedalian articles suitable for syndication, consistently beats the competition all-to-hell.

[Steven Wagenheim]

A "Buy Now" Button with the words "$10 Bills for Only $5 Each" will outperform
just about anything.

Short articles can be very effective, as can long ones.

Depends on your target market and what you're trying to accomplish.

Absolutes in this business will KILL you.

I should make a bumper sticker with that phrase, I've used it so much.

[MissTerraK]

Originally Posted by Steven Wagenheim

Absolutes in this business will KILL you.

Especially if you drink too many of them and then drive.

Sorry, I couldn't resist.

Terra

[MKCookins]

I believe length has very little to do with traffic. It is all about value!

If you can get your point across in 300 words then great, if you need 1000 words then that's great too. As long as you make your point as short and to the point as possible without any fluff.

[MissTerraK]

With all due respect to Steven and Martin and others, I thought we were talking about articles. Not sentences, slogans, quotes, etc. What you all say is 100% correct and I agree completely, however I don't think I'd consider those articles at all.

Perhaps what differs here is the the idea of what an article actually is.

Terra

[myob]

Quite often, "articles" can be summarized in one word.

“There is not much to be said about the period, except that most writers don’t reach it soon enough.”
- William K. Zinsser, On Writing Well

[fin]

Originally Posted by MissTerraK

With all due respect to Steven and Martin and others, I thought we were talking about articles. Not sentences, slogans, quotes, etc. What you all say is 100% correct and I agree completely, however I don't think I'd consider those articles at all.

Perhaps what differs here is the the idea of what an article actually is.

Terra

This is the online world. You're not in Kansas anymore, Dorothy. Time to put feelings about those 2-page spreads out of your head.

[MissTerraK]

Originally Posted by fin

This is the online world. You're not in Kansas anymore, Dorothy. Time to put feelings about those 2-page spreads out of your head.

I'll make a deal with you Fin.

When my online and offline clients get over those "2-page spreads", then perhaps I will. Until then, however, I will continue to give my clients what they ask for. I'd rather please them than you at this point as it would be much more lucrative for me and just good business sense. Don't ya think, Darlin'?

Oh, and by the way, I've never been in Kansas for one whole day of my life.

Terra

[Frank Donovan]

Originally Posted by MissTerraK

With all due respect to Steven and Martin and others, I thought we were talking about articles. Not sentences, slogans, quotes, etc. What you all say is 100% correct and I agree completely, however I don't think I'd consider those articles at all.

Quite right, Terra. This thread has veered toward a discussion about effective writing and, for sure, some good points have been made. But the EZA line was taken from a tutorial on writing articles for syndication. As such, it was ridiculous for them to claim that a shorter piece always outperforms a longer one. Nearly all publishers (the targets for syndication) are likely to prefer the longer article, all else being equal.


Frank