There are many tricks of the trade when it comes to article copywriting. Being a good writer is about finding a good balance and a combination of many factors, pulling all these things together to make a perfect piece. One of the most important factors to pay extra consideration to is the length of the article. Here, we will talk about how to hit that perfect sweet spot when writing your articles.

Too Short

Writing an article that is too short is dangerous. It is highly unlikely that you can fit all the necessary content into a short article. Depending on what the topic is, a safe length is probably 500 words or more, because anything less than that risks being void of information.

Of course, sometimes, shorter is sweeter and if the topic is quite concise then it is best to be succinct rather than repeating yourself and finding irrelevant ways to lengthen the article. However, this does not mean that every article should be short.

Another risk involved with short articles is cramming. It is quite possible to write a short article on a detailed topic by cramming too much information into very few paragraphs. This, however, makes the article very hard to read and is likely to deter readers due to its complexity.

Too Long

Getting carried away and writing an excessively long article is all too easy. Sometimes, you might want to over-explain certain aspects of the article and end up writing too much. Other times, you might just want to add extra bits of information here and there.

Long articles are very hard for readers to digest, especially if it’s an article that isn’t broken up into subheadings and categories. In this day and age, people have a relatively short attention span, and therefore they may get distracted or bored when reading a long article.

So, it is much better to cut down on the word count sometimes and stick to the point. But how?

Cutting the Length

There are several ways to cut the length of an article:

• Read back through your work and try to see if you have repeated yourself. If some parts of the article explain really similar concepts, cut it down to just one explanation or example.
• Don’t ramble. Always stick to the point and don’t go off on a tangent, and this should keep the word count down to a minimum.
• Make use of simple sentences. Scattering simple sentences throughout the article avoids the excessive use of long, complex sentences and can make it easier to get straight to the point.

A Final Tip

After you have finished the whole piece, go away and do something else for a few hours, maybe sleep on it. Then, after spending some time away from the screen, read back through your article as if it was someone else’s work. Are you bored or tired? Do you feel like there was enough information included? Asking yourself these questions can help you to understand whether the article needs to be longer, shorter, or if it’s just right.

Now, that brings this article to an end, before I go on too long!