I’m still new to content creation. I am a straight shooter and straight “to the point” kinda person. My question is how long or how many words makes a good length of article or content on my blog?
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Hey Kate,
Great question… and a very common one for those starting out on this journey 
Short answer: there’s no ideal word count. What matters is whether your content fully answers what someone came for.
Let’s use your grey blending niche to illustrate.
Different searches need different levels of depth:
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Someone searches “what is grey blending hair” → they want a clear explanation.
That’s probably 800–1,200 words if you explain it cleanly with a few examples. -
Someone searches “grey blending vs full dye” → now they’re comparing options.
You’ll need more detail, pros/cons, maybe maintenance differences…
That naturally becomes 1,500–2,000+ words. -
Someone searches “how to blend grey hair at home step by step” → they want a guide. You’re walking them through it properly, so again 1,500–2,500 words is normal.
-
Something specific like “best toner for grey blending on dark hair” →
you can satisfy that well in 1,000–1,500 words without dragging it out.
So the real rule is: Write until the reader’s question is fully answered… then stop.
No padding just to hit a number.
A simple way to gauge it:
Search your keyword, look at the top results and ask: “What are they covering… and what are they missing?”
Google’s ‘People Also Ask’ section is a great window into what you should think about covering in your piece.
Then:
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Match their level of detail
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Add clarity (this is where your “straight to the point” style comes in)
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Fill any gaps they’ve missed
That’s how you give yourself the best chance of ranking organically - not by writing longer, but by writing better.
One small tweak to your natural style:
Being direct is a strength… but online you often need to add just a bit more context.
Instead of:
“Grey blending is lower maintenance than full dye.”
You’d expand slightly:
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why it’s lower maintenance
-
who it works best for
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when it might not be the right choice
That’s what builds depth and topical coverage … word count follows naturally.
If you want a rough guide (not rules):
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Simple explanations: approx. 800–1,200 words
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Standard blog posts: approx. 1,200–2,000 words
-
Guides / comparisons: 1,500–2,500+ words
… and that really is a rough guide. If you get to 650 words and you feel you’ve covered everything you need, that’s fine too.
I’ve seen plenty of examples of pages ranking with only a couple of paragraphs of text on there. Granted, they may have been doing a lot of off-page SEO but still. Google certainly didn’t penalise the low word count.
Oh … and if you’re not using AI to help you write then I highly recommend you give it a go. For planning articles out and ensuring you hit that topical coverage, AI is hard to beat. Just make sure you inject some of your own voice in there and your extensive experience.
Add more value to what you already see ranking on Google for your target search phrase and that will go a long way to increasing your chances of gaining visibility in the SERP.
So I hope that helps you on your way a bit. If you need any more clarification, let me know.
- Rohan
You’ve provided such detailed information it gives me a lot to work with, I appreciate the guidelines, thank you for taking the time.
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You’re most welcome Kate
Another thing I was going to mention but conscious of overwhelm … your brand new website may take many months to build up the authority needed to outrank others in Google.
So a great strategy is to concurrently publish content on Medium.com - Medium ranks really well for many types of content and is a great supplement traffic source for your main domain.
When you publish something on your website, ask your favourite AI : “what piece of content naturally comes before my article in the visitor journey?”
AI will give you the perfect angle for an article one level up in the funnel → you then link back from Medium to your article - ideally with the lead magnet prominently visible.
Like I say, I don’t want to overwhelm you but wanted to mention this because it can be a great way to drive traffic to your lead magnet in the early days 