Poll: big 5000 words articles or smaller 500 words?

Rosath · Dec 19, 2015

Hello everyone!

I'm running an new Amazon affiliate WordPress in a highly technological niche with products over 500$. People are used to read a lot of information before deciding to buy or not.

I was wondering if I would be better off with A) 5000 words detailed articles in a single post and a few smaller ones pointing to it or B) Cut these 5000 words article into pieces of 600 words-ish with a lot of clear interlinking.

Goal is both to satisfy readers, push them to buy and rank.

What do you think?

ThopHayt · Dec 19, 2015

Why don't you try both on different items and see which ranks easier? 6k seems like overkill, but you won't know if it works better for YOUR needs unless you use it.

Rosath · Dec 19, 2015

Already have two different methods running but this is my first website and I could use some external advice

I also heard it takes 8 months before really seeing the results?

T2tkid · Dec 19, 2015

I recently created an amazon site like 4 months ago, all the articles are 2000 to 6000+ words. And they are naturally ranking for long tail keywords. My main keyword is on the 9th position. It is making $20+ daily. The articles rank naturally without backlinks...

At the same time, i started a site with 500 to 800+ words, it is ranking on the second page of google for its primary keyword, but not selling anything yet, and not ranking for longtail keywords yet.

You can start this in the same niche and see which one will be the winner. But for me, i will go with 2K words per posts.

AquaticGamer · Dec 19, 2015

Smaller 500 word articles are definitely the way to go it's not likely that someone would actually bother reading 5,000 words in one go.

teranu · Dec 19, 2015

The only way to go is something between. There are too many variables that affects the length of your articles. You will need longer articles for seo purposes, and shorter articles for sales. But this topic is too broad to be explained in one paragraph. Practice makes it perfect.

Hawkster · Dec 19, 2015

Not 5000 not 500

But 4678, 3598, 2234, 351, 489 you get the idea

I go big if i feel i need too, like if im talking about a bunch of products and comparing them etc.

ThopHayt · Dec 19, 2015

I'd say 500+ words is needed, but thousands is OVERKILL. Plus its a lot of work. Start with 500-600 words of QUALITY content. Quality over quantity in a good rule of thumb.

hekke · Dec 19, 2015

My average article is around 3000 words long. I want to be the best source for information and I don't feel like 500 words can do that. But then again, I ranked 3rd page on a 800K searches month term with a 300 word article, so yeah. It depends on how much there is to say about the topic.

T2tkid · Dec 19, 2015

hekke said:
My average article is around 3000 words long. I want to be the best source for information and I don't feel like 500 words can do that. But then again, I ranked 3rd page on a 800K searches month term with a 300 word article, so yeah. It depends on how much there is to say about the topic.

Why not optimized that 300 words article to maybe 2k and see if the ranking will improve.

LJ Junior · Dec 19, 2015

For me 700-750 words articles gave better results, ofcourse the keyword competition is less. But if your targeting high-competition keywords then 2000 words is the way to go. Analyze your competition and split your articles accordingly.

hekke · Dec 19, 2015

T2tkid said:
Why not optimized that 300 words article to maybe 2k and see if the ranking will improve.

I sold the site, not in my hands anymore.

Rosath · Dec 19, 2015

Awesome answers guys.

Polls says 50/50 but I guess it's because it's an in between. Thanks a lot, I'll do that and also split my 5000 words into fewer pieces. That's really going to help me, so thanks a lot!

blogzandstuff · Dec 20, 2015

Now mobile use of the internet has increased, people skim more than they used to. Can anyone be bothered nowadays to read huge tech manuals on a small screen, specifics quickly delivered with reviews rather than technical info.

Zander152 · Dec 20, 2015

As an article writer who has worked with hundreds of clients, most of the times the demands are between 500-2500. I have rarely heard someone want a 5000 word article. It seems to be a bit overkill. Try putting yourself in the customer's shoes. Would they be reading a 5000 word article at once? Highly unlikely. When you say they read a lot, maybe they do, but they compare different sources of information rather than one big wall of text. I'd stick to the 500 to 2500 limit. Anything 1000+ should be ranking for long tail keywords and you should be fine then.

Plus, 5000 word articles are a pain for us article writers. And if you want a good one, it's going to cost you a lot of money. You can't afford having a 5000 that's written in a rush. These can go for as high as $250 in some places, but you would be looking at at least $150 for decent to good quality.

Don Draper · Dec 20, 2015

Consumers love to research, yes... But are they willing to spend a huge chunk of their time reading a 6,000 word article? I'm not so sure.

Actually, based on experience as BOTH a consumer and a content writer, I'm not feeling 6k words, let alone anything above 3K for a product review.

The key here is to STAND OUT to your readers. You need to rank on Google, sure. But even with a 1K words (or less) article, you can craft a well-optimized article that gets the job done in terms of SEO rankings.

So how do you go for the kill and get that elusive sale? It's not about the length of the article, that's for sure.

Think about how you're going to turn that visitor into an actual customer. So, in other words, don't think about writing a 6k article just cause Google loves long-form content and it helps with you targeted keywords.

THINK LIKE A MARKETER.

Now, if you've done your homework and the numbers/data is telling you that your target market actually loves reading novel-esque product reviews, then by all means go for it. But at this day and age, it's best to think like a marketer, rather than trying to please the Google gods.

Aty · Dec 20, 2015

I would place my bet on 500 words. Not everyone has time to read a freakin` 5k word article.

Rosath · Dec 21, 2015

Thanks

I therefore split up my 5k words articles in smaller parts (between 500 and 2000 words) and did some good interlinking. I really appreciate all the tips you gave here. It means a lot. :3

Frozen27 · Dec 23, 2015

Being a highly technological niche I would put my money on 5k articles. If you provide value within those articles, I think you'll both rank and convert.

Poll: big 5000 words articles or smaller 500 words?

Which is better: Big 5000 words articles or a lot of short 500 words articles?

Option A), big 5000 words articles

Option A) big 5000 words articles but only with products with a big price tag

Option B) smaller 500 words articles

I don't know

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