A blog post should be as long as it takes to answer the search better than the pages already ranking, and no longer. For most informational posts that ends up somewhere between 1,500 and 2,500 words, but a simple definition can do the job in 800 and a big list can need 4,000. There is no magic number, and Google says so itself.
I wanted to go beyond the usual “it depends”, so I measured two things for this post: the length of the pages that rank for this exact question, and the length of every post on this blog against how many keywords it still ranks for. Some of the results surprised me, and one of them is a warning.
What Google says about word count
Google’s own guide to creating helpful content includes this question for site owners: “Are you writing to a particular word count because you’ve heard or read that Google has a preferred word count? (No, we don’t.)”
So length is not a ranking factor on its own. What longer posts often have is more coverage: more subtopics answered, more examples, more of the questions a reader brings. That coverage is what helps. Words without it are padding, and padding is exactly what Google’s helpful content system was built to push down.
What 234 posts on this blog show
This blog has a long history, including a hard fall after Google’s helpful content update in September 2024. That makes it a useful test case. I took the 234 posts published before September 2026, counted their words, and crossed them with the keywords each one ranks for in the US top 100 (DataForSEO, measured on October 6, 2026).
| Post length | Posts | Posts ranking for at least one keyword | Keywords per post |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 1,500 words | 12 | 1 (8%) | 0.1 |
| 1,500 to 2,000 | 46 | 3 (7%) | 0.2 |
| 2,000 to 3,000 | 91 | 12 (13%) | 0.7 |
| 3,000 to 4,500 | 69 | 19 (28%) | 1.2 |
| Over 4,500 | 16 | 6 (38%) | 4.3 |
The median post here has 2,564 words. The posts that still rank have a median of 3,415, and the ones that rank for nothing have 2,416. At first sight that looks like “write longer”. I don’t think it is.
When I looked at the posts behind those numbers, the long ones that rank are mostly big list posts, like my lists of Instagram niches or AdSense niches. They target broad searches where people expect dozens of options, so they are long because the topic is long. Meanwhile, many 3,000-word posts on this blog rank for nothing at all, because they were padded versions of what everyone else had already written. Long did not save them in 2024.
So the honest reading of my own data is this: the posts that answer a big question completely tend to be long. Writing long to answer a small question does not work.
How long are the pages that rank for this question?
I measured the US results for “how long should a blog post be” (about 480 searches a month). Google shows an AI Overview at the top. Below it, the articles I could measure ranged from about 1,550 to 2,230 words. Two of the first six organic results were Reddit threads where people ask the same thing and get short, direct answers.
That mix tells you a lot. Nobody needs 5,000 words to answer this question. Readers want a straight answer, a reason, and a way to decide for their own post. That’s why this post is under 1,800 words.
Blog post length by type of post
These ranges are rules of thumb from my own writing and from checking SERPs for years, not a study. Use them as a starting point and adjust after looking at what ranks for your keyword.
| Type of post | Typical length | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Definition or quick answer | 600 to 1,200 words | The answer fits in a paragraph, the rest is context and examples |
| How-to guide | 1,200 to 2,500 words | Steps, screenshots, mistakes to avoid |
| List post | 1,500 to 4,000 words | Depends on how many items the reader expects |
| Product review | 1,500 to 3,000 words | Testing notes, pros and cons, pricing, alternatives |
| Comparison (X vs Y) | 1,500 to 2,500 words | Side-by-side criteria and a clear verdict |
| Pillar or hub page | 2,500 words and up | It covers a whole topic and links out to the details |
A hub page is the exception where length is part of the job. If you are building topic clusters, my guide to topical authority explains how the hub and the supporting posts split the work, so no single post has to cover everything.
How to find the right length for your post
- Search your main keyword and open the top five organic results, skipping forums and videos.
- Paste each article into a word counter, or use a browser extension, and note the range. Don’t average them blindly, one giant outlier can skew it.
- List the subtopics and questions they cover. This list matters more than the word count.
- Add the questions that none of them answer well. Look at People Also Ask and at Reddit threads for real wording.
- Write the post to cover that list, then cut every paragraph that doesn’t help the reader do or understand something.
If your draft ends far above the range of the top results, read it again with one question: what would the reader lose if this paragraph disappeared? If the answer is nothing, delete it.
When a longer post hurts
This week I renewed an old post on this blog with vlog ideas. The 2023 version had 2,125 words, most of them generic intros and filler like “the landscape of vlogging is vast”. The new version has about 1,900 words, and it adds things the old one never had: monthly search data for 20 topics, a way to test an idea and real eligibility numbers for monetization. Shorter, and more useful.
Padding hurts in three ways. Readers bounce before they reach the answer. The real information gets diluted, so the page looks thinner on the topic, not thicker. And it takes you longer to update, which means it goes stale faster. I wrote more about keeping posts current in my guide to evergreen content.
How long should your first blog post be?
Don’t worry about length on your first post. Pick a question you can answer well, answer it in the first two sentences, and then explain it with your own examples. For most beginners that lands around 1,000 to 1,500 words. Learning to write a clear post matters more now than hitting a number, and the SEO for bloggers guide covers what else to get right from the start.
Blog post length FAQ
How many words should a blog post be?
As many as it takes to fully answer the search. For most informational posts that is 1,500 to 2,500 words. Check the top results for your keyword to see what readers expect.
How long should a blog post be for SEO?
There is no SEO word count. Google says it has no preferred length. Longer posts often rank because they cover more of the topic, so focus on coverage and let the length follow.
Is 500 words enough for a blog post?
It can be, for a news update or a very narrow question. For most search topics, 500 words is too short to cover what the ranking pages cover, and the post will struggle to compete.
Should I make old posts longer to rank better?
Only if they are missing something readers need. Adding words to an old post without adding information is padding. When I audit old posts, I cut as often as I add. My content audit guide explains how to decide.
Next time you plan a post, skip the word count target. Write down the questions the top five results answer, add the ones they miss, and stop writing when the list is done.
