Make Your Words Count

 

One goal I had when I started this monthly writing challenge was to make all of the blog posts short. I have noticed that, with online content, shorter is better.

 

In order to bypass this demand for shorter content, a lot of companies and website owners started using this trick: Making each block of paragraphs shorter. These short paragraphs normally contained 2 or 3 sentences.

 

This visual trick enabled the content to appear “short.” A fast read.

 

Unfortunately, most of my posts ended up being longer than I wanted them to be. A lot of them were over 500 words. I guess I just had too much to say or there was a lot of information to share.

 

With blogs, you really have a lot of wiggle room with how short or long your posts can be. It’s entirely your choice.

 

Many blog writers have found, however, that shorter is usually better. Shorter gets more clicks. Shorter gets more reads. Shorter gets more shares.

 

And, in some cases, shorter is all you get.

 

With both freelance writing and content writing, I have been assigned a certain word count on assignments. Some had to be under 1000 words while others could be as long as 2000 words.

 

But in other cases, I have had to write shorter content. Some of them with as low as 300 words.

 

When you are in a situation like this, you have to make your words count. You have to be selective in your word choice.

 

Your writing must engage your reader. So if you only have a low amount of words available to use, you have to use active language. Avoid passive writing and writing that rambles. Delete the fluff. Omit irrelevant words.

 

Another thing to keep in mind for writing short content is to make sure you stick only to the facts. Don’t add opinions or suggestions. Get right to the point straight out the gate.

 

Additionally, for short content, you need to get creative with words. Instead of “a lot of” you can use “many” instead. Use “some” instead of “a handful.” Think of other, shorter ways to rephrase your writing.

 

While most readers may not have a problem with reading lengthy content, editors know what their readers want – and how long they want it. Therefore, most will assign a shorter word count to writers.

 

As far as blog posts and social media posts are concerned, the shorter, the better. Grab your readers’ attention and take them to your content, where they’ll see that a short piece awaits their reading pleasure. And for shorter content, especially for online content, it will be a pleasure for them to read.