By: 69.140.73.114

69.140.73.114 — Thu, 12 May 2011 12:45:05 +0000

I say anything over 500 words is too much. Then the reader becomes bored and loose track of what he/she’s reading.

By: Daniel Ray

Daniel Ray — Wed, 11 May 2011 10:27:41 +0000

Thanks, Robert, for pointing out the obvious but not often spoken truth: Good writing need not be short. Bad writing must be.
I’ve been an online editor (and Omniture junkie) for 12 years now, and have had to endure many bouts with various SEO gurus and genius consultants who insisted online articles must be short. Sadly, many outlets have been unable to resist, and have imposed artificial, absolute story length requirements.
Hornswoggle.
The analytics I’ve viewed daily for more than a decade testify that engaging, well-written articles can run as long as they need to (and not a word more). A Poynter eye-tracking study in 2007 showed that readers facing a lengthy story were MORE likely to stick with it longer online. (http://eyetrack.poynter.org/keys_01.html)
This has consequences for your trustworthiness as a site. If you want to be a trusted news source, sometimes you need to spend the words.
The Web has evolved into a medium in which readers desire the content they want on the platform they want at the time they want — and in the depth they want. There are different types of readers, and even the same reader’s appetite for news can vary.
I’m all for bite-sized stories for the busy reader – but if he or she wants to do a deep dive into a complex topic, I want to be there for them, too.

By: 64.27.5.211

64.27.5.211 — Sat, 07 May 2011 09:25:14 +0000

This article is way too long. It ought of been cut in half.

Comments on: What's the ideal length for an online news article?

By: 69.140.73.114

By: Daniel Ray

By: 64.27.5.211