How Many Words Should a Blog Post Be for SEO? A 7-Step Plan for Small Businesses

How many words should a blog post be for SEO? There is no magic number, and Google says it has no preferred word count. For most small business how-to posts, 1,200 to 1,800 words is a sound starting range, and the real answer is however many words it takes to answer the question better than the pages already ranking. The table and 7 steps below show you how to set the length for each post.

I’m James Porter (JP), founder of JP Digital SEO in Fort Lauderdale. I’ve been doing SEO since 2018, and I write and publish blog posts for clients across the country. How long should a blog post be for SEO is a fair question, and the top guides give very different answers. Below you’ll find what they say, a table of working ranges by post type, seven steps, and a checklist.

How Long Should a Blog Post Be for SEO? What the Top Guides Say

On November 5, 2026 I read several of the guides that rank for this search, along with Google’s own advice. Google’s helpful content page lists “writing to a particular word count because you’ve heard or read that Google has a preferred word count” as a warning sign, and answers: “No, we don’t.” Yoast says word count is not a ranking factor by itself, but it flags posts under 300 words as thin (900 for cornerstone content). SEO Savages says most informational posts land between 1,200 and 2,000 words. Huckleberry Branding recommends 1,500 to 2,500 for blog posts, and Wix puts its sweet spot near 2,450 based on its own blog.

What they all agree on

Every guide I read agrees there is no fixed number that works for every post. Most add three more points: search intent decides how much you need, look at what already ranks, and don’t pad. I agree with all of it.

What most of them leave out

The ranges conflict (from 900 to 2,500 words), and none of them shows a small business how to turn a range into a plan. They don’t say how many words each section gets, how a blog post differs from a service page, or what a monthly posting pace costs in time or money. That’s what the rest of this post covers.

Blog Post Word Count by Post Type: My Working Ranges

These are my working ranges, built from what the guides above say and what I write for clients. They are starting estimates to check against the live results, not Google rules.

For comparison, SEO Savages lists 900 to 1,500 words for a standard how-to post and 1,800 to 3,000 or more for in-depth guides. Yoast’s 300-word line is a floor, not a target.

7 Steps to Choose the Right Blog Post Length

Here is the process I use, with a local service business as the model.

Step 1: Write the Exact Question Your Customer Types

Start with the customer’s words, not yours. “How much does a roof repair cost” is a customer’s question; “roofing investment insights” is not. Pick one main keyword for the post and write the question out in full. The question tells you what kind of post you’re writing, and the post type sets the range.

Step 2: Search It and Open the Top Five

Use a private window and open the first five organic results. Skip forums, videos and product pages, because they answer in a different format. Don’t count their words yet. Read what they cover.

Step 3: List What They All Cover, and What They All Miss

Write two short lists. The first is the minimum your post must cover, because every ranking page covers it. The second is what all five skip, and that is your reason to exist. For a service business it is often local prices, your process, a worked example or a mistake you see customers make. For this post, all five guides said “no magic number” and none gave a small business a plan.

Step 4: Pick the Post Type and Range

Use the table above to set a range for your blog post word count. If the top five all run around 1,000 words, a 3,000-word post isn’t stronger, just slower to read. If they run 2,500 and up, a 600-word post probably can’t cover what searchers expect.

Step 5: Budget Your Words by Section Before You Write

This is the step the guides skip. Here is an illustration for a 1,500-word how-to post:

• Direct answer at the top: about 80 words
• Short intro: about 100 words
• Seven steps at about 110 words each: about 770 words
• One table or checklist: about 150 words
• Five FAQ answers under 50 words each: about 200 words
• Closing call to action: about 100 words

That adds up to roughly 1,400, which leaves about 100 words of breathing room. The numbers are a planning example, not a rule.

Step 6: Answer First, Then Cut

Put the answer in the first two or three sentences, then support it. Keep paragraphs to two to four sentences so they read well on a phone. Draft until the topic is complete, then delete anything that doesn’t help the reader. Your final word count is whatever is left. A long page full of filler is still a thin page.

Step 7: Check Search Console and Refresh

A few weeks after publishing, open Google Search Console and look at which searches the post appears for. If people are finding it with questions you didn’t answer, add a short section. If a section repeats itself, trim it. Update the date only when the content really changed, since Google lists faking freshness as a warning sign too. No one can promise a ranking, and I don’t.

Checklist: Setting Your Blog Post Length at a Glance

• ☐ The exact customer question is written out, with one main keyword
• ☐ The top five results are opened and read, not just counted
• ☐ A list of what they all cover and a list of what they all miss
• ☐ Post type chosen and a working range set from the table
• ☐ Words budgeted by section before drafting
• ☐ The answer sits in the first two or three sentences
• ☐ Filler cut, and paragraphs kept to two to four sentences
• ☐ Search Console check on the calendar a few weeks after publishing

How Many Blog Posts Per Month for SEO?

Length questions usually lead to this one. Ubersuggest shows “how many blogs per month for seo” at about 10 US searches a month (Ubersuggest, 2026-11-02), and Google doesn’t publish a number for it either. Its helpful content guidance warns against producing lots of content on many topics in hopes that some of it performs. My view: one well-built post a month that answers a real customer question beats four thin ones. Start with a pace you can keep without cutting corners, and raise it when your time or budget allows.

Write It Yourself or Have It Written?

If you have the time, the steps above will get you there. If you don’t, my Blog Writing service covers it. Each post is about 1,500 words, published on your own site (not a guest post), at $149 per post for Standard or $199 per post for Premium, as a one-time fee per post. Premium adds a custom featured image, your pick of anchor text, a custom meta title and description, image alt text and caption, and a ready-to-post social blurb for Facebook or Instagram. If I didn’t build your site, I’ll need a temporary admin login to publish.

Service pages are a different job, closer to 500 to 1,000 words, because their goal is a call, not a lesson. My Website Content service writes those pages, with keyworded copy and a clear call to action on every one.

FAQ: Blog Post Length for SEO

How many words should a blog post be for SEO?

There’s no set number, and Google says it has no preferred word count. For most small business how-to posts I’d start at 1,200 to 1,800 words, then match what the top results cover and add what they miss.

Is 1,500 words good for a blog post?

Yes, for most how-to and explainer posts. It leaves room for a direct answer, steps, a table and FAQs without padding. A narrow question may need fewer words, and a broad guide may need more.

Is 2,000 words too long for a blog post?

Not if every section helps the reader. A cost guide or comparison can need 2,000 words. If the top results answer your question in 1,000, a 2,000-word post is mostly a slower read.

What is the minimum blog post length for SEO?

Google sets no minimum. Yoast flags regular posts under 300 words as thin, and cornerstone posts under 900. Treat 300 as a floor, then let the question decide the real length.

Do longer blog posts rank higher?

Not by themselves. Thorough posts tend to be longer because they cover more of what readers need, but padding adds nothing. Matching intent, being useful and clear structure matter more than the word count.

Want Help With Your Blog?

If you’d rather hand the writing off, send me a message through the contact form, call (954) 372-6077 or email jp@jpdigitalseo.com. I’m in Fort Lauderdale and work with owners nationwide.