Article length may sound like a trivial concern, but believe it or not, it’s one of the most hotly debated topics in the sphere of online brand management services. On average, most article submission sites set the minimum word count at 500 words, but there’s no cap. One SEO agency can rally behind the battle cry behind “the longer the better” while another SEO firm can advocate for conciseness and brevity. Less talk, less mistakes.

Qualifying What “Better” Means

To say that one thing is better than the other, there should be a set of criteria to quantify or qualify the claim. When it comes to the duel between short articles and long articles, some of the questions an SEO agency should ask are:

• Will a short article generate more click-through compared to a long one and vice versa?
• Does length actually impact the number of views your content gets?
• Does word count have a bearing in terms of SERP performance in Google?
• Does brevity or otherwise encourages more syndication?

To settle this battle of length once and for all, can an SEO agency stake its credibility and point blank provide answers to the questions posted above? The reason that this big enigma in brand management services is still being discussed is because no one can present irrefutable proof that a short article would outperform a long article and vice versa.

Content First before Length

The reality is, the safest and probably most accurate settlement for this standoff is “it depends.” Specific topics, in order to serve the best information to an audience, needs to be explained lengthily. These are topics that have numerous dimensions and to omit even one will undermine the credibility and reliability of the material.

On the flipside, there are topics that do not need to be belabored if you can already present a case in just 500 words. Or even less for that matter. The fact is, it’s up to the discretion of the content experts in an SEO agency to determine whether an article should be in-depth and detailed or short and sweet.

It’s All about What the Readers Need

When someone goes online and runs a search, he or she already have pre-set expectations on how long an article should be. If a researcher looks for information on “Divorce Rates and Its Causes”, he or she, more or less, expects to read about historical data, expert analyses and so on and so forth. However, if someone searches for “Technical Specs of the New iPhone 5,” that the searcher may be expecting an easy-to-read fact sheet presented in the most concise way as possible.

At the end of the day, it’s all about the quality of information being offered and how it fits in the expectations of internet searchers.

Article Length Rules are Not Carved in Stone

Article marketing, just like any other facets of brand management services, aspires to be guided by definitive rules, hence the non-ending search for optimal article length. However, it’s really on a case-to-case basis and this is when they know-how and the expertise of article marketers will be put to the test.

About the author

Richard Franklin is an Internet marketing expert and wants to share his knowledge with people who are about to hire a social media marketing company for their business. He has also given words to many articles where one can find the latest trends popular in SEO companies.