Quantity VS Quality: Is it Better to Write One Long Blog Post or 10 Short Ones?

Source: Neil Patel

We’ve all heard someone say it. Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock, you’ve heard several people use the cliché.

Whether it was in a meeting, on a conference call, or by the water cooler, we’ve all heard that one guy swear that “content is king.”

And it’s true. Content is critical.

One great content piece by itself won’t get you the rankings you want so badly, though.

But if you combine that content with marketing efforts, such as outreach and content amplification, you can create a strategy that will boost your site traffic and rankings.

Outstanding content can be the distinguisher between you and competitors, ultimately helping you snag a spot at the top of SERPs and catching the attention of customers.

Everyone is ready to get on board with content.

So how exactly do you get started with creating game-changing blog content? That’s what I’m going to show you today.

Blog post quantity versus quality

The root of outstanding blog content is simple. It’s all about serving your customers and meeting their needs.

So, how well are you serving your customer base with your content?

Your company should ask:

Does our blog cover a wide range of topics? Are we answering questions that potential and existing customers are asking? Do our blog posts answer them in-depth?

These are the types of questions that you need to ask to gauge the quality of a blog.

At the same time, you also need to take a look at the quantity of the blog posts.

How many blog posts are we publishing each month? What is the ideal frequency or quantity? How many do we need to create each year to make a significant improvement in rankings and traffic and thus make the investment worthwhile?

Quality and quantity are both important. But there is a huge debate over which is more important.

If you had to choose between writing ten low-quality blog posts or one high-quality blog post, which would be more beneficial?

Industry findings on posting frequency

Researchers at HubSpot gathered blog data from 13,500+ Hubspot customers and analyzed it carefully.

They sought answers to the ongoing question of how many blog posts a company needs to publish each month.

The conclusion was that in nearly every case, more monthly blog posts inherently led to higher inbound traffic.

The research shows that publishing more will only increase your inbound traffic.

Hubspot broke down the ideal number of blog posts per month based on the following sizes.

Companies with 1-10 employees: Small companies that published 11+ blog posts per month had significantly higher traffic than those that posted fewer than 11.

Compared to those posting one post or less per month, these companies had three times the amount of traffic.

Compared to those posting two to five posts per month, these companies had double the traffic.

Companies with 11-25 employees: When companies with 11-25 employees published 11+ blog posts per month, they experienced three and a half times more traffic than those posting once a month or less.

Companies with 26-200 employees: Companies in this range experienced a little more than double the amount of traffic compared to those posting once a month or less.

So quantity is clearly important.

But these results don’t tell the whole story.

With this data alone, you might want to charge ahead and write as many blog posts as you can with no concern for their quality.

And if we stopped here, that would be a sound conclusion.

But the problem is that the data from the HubSpot study doesn’t discuss the quality of the blog posts.

The notion that writing more will boost your traffic and rankings only rings true if you don’t sacrifice quality.

If you want the benefits to last in the long run, you need more than sheer numbers.

Google heavily weighs the quality of the content and how well it serves the people online.

Brian Dean of Backlinko has proven this by analyzing the word count of top-ranking content.

And almost all the way across the board, he found that longer content out-performs shorter content.

Why is this the case?

Is longer content inherently higher in quality than shorter content? Not always.

But the reason is that long-form content tends to solve the problems of users better than short-form content.

And Google wants to put content that will serve its searchers best at the top of the results.

So don’t simply create as many blog posts as you can.

If you want to reap long-term benefits, then create high-quality content that is genuinely helpful to your audience.

Hone in on the topic, do proprietary research and analysis, and offer exclusive information that others cannot.

But don’t let your content calendar rule the day (or strategy).

Getting swept up in the content calendar

With the exciting, forward-moving energy that comes with creating a new content approach, it’s easy to get maniacal with the details and get pulled away from what really matters.

Companies often have a rigid idea of what they want their content topics to include and they want their scheduling to work like clockwork.

“For this month, our blog posts will be A, B, C and D. We’re going to publish these each Monday at noon.”

The drive to publish content on a regular schedule can sometimes compete with the need to create content that will actually serve your audience.

In these situations, we find ourselves in the dilemma of quality versus quantity. What is more important: routinely posting fresh content or crafting high-quality content?

Consider the value that your blog would offer if you were to stay up-to-date with the questions that came up online and tailor your topics accordingly.

You’d be able to supply more relevant content and increase the opportunity for new visitors.

Have a plan for your overall image and the purpose of the blog.

Determine a general posting schedule.

But, remember to leave room for flexibility and creativity. You need to remain audience-centered.

Too often, we forget the most important aspect of writing: producing content that speaks to your audience.

You should supply the audience with information they seek, provide them with resources related to their typical interests, and meet them where they’re at.

That should be the intent.

The quality of the content comes first.

Quality is more valuable than providing content on a set, high-frequency schedule.

In terms of importance, quantity is a close runner-up.

But you shouldn’t sacrifice quality just because it’s Monday and your content calendar says that you must publish a blog post every Monday.

Conduct in-depth research before writing

Research your audience before you begin writing. Understanding your target audience is key.

Ask questions like, “What types of people are we talking to?”

This may seem like an obvious step, but bloggers skip it too often.

Dig deep to identify what your target audience is asking about online, their interests, their habits, demographics, and more.

The more you learn about your audience, the more effectively you can create content that will resonate with them.

You can get information by digging into your analytics and insights, reviewing previously-collected data from studies, and interviewing customers.

All of these methods will help you gauge what types of people come to you and why they choose you.

Use analytical tools

There are many tools available to help you learn about your visitors.

One of the most common tools to use is Google Analytics. Google Analytics provides you data about your audience like age, gender, affinity categories, and in-market segments.

You can also view metrics like bounce rates, transactions, and revenue by segment and then download the reports to share with your content team.

Review collected data

Don’t forget about the data you’ve gathered over the years from past studies.

You may be pleasantly surprised to find that you already have data that you were…

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