I've read that articles in the 500-700 word range sell the best, but was wondering if, generally speaking, a large amount of short articles sells better over time than half as many longer ones. In other words, if an author writes a hundred 450-word articles one year, then writes fifty 900-word articles another year, which year do you think will be more profitable for him/her? I guess what I'm asking is: long-term profit-wise, is it better to churn out a ton of short, snappy articles or half as many that are twice as long? I assume there are no statistics on this, but perhaps some of the long-time authors might have gained an impression of an answer over the years...
And hello from sunny Brisbane, Australia - it's nice to be on a site that respects quality writing...
One 600-word article or two 300-word articles?
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remoteriverman
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Re: One 600-word article or two 300-word articles?
In general, two shorter articles will make more money than one longer article of the same quality and sales appeal. It also has the added advantage of being able to sell one article while waiting for the other to sell. However, the roughly 500-700 wordcount range sells best; so if you split an 800 word article into two, you're best move is to fill them out to reach the 500 word range (which is pretty easy, as you'll need to add an introduction or conclusion paragraph to each of the shorter articles). Once you're over 1000 words, you're almost always better off breaking it into two shorter articles for the sake of having it sell in a reasonable timeframe.)
Consider it from a buyer's perspective. They usually generate revenue through pageviews. An article about the pros of snow tires and a second article about the cons of snow tires might give them two pageviews per unique visitor (one per article), whereas a longer articles about the pros and cons of snow tires might only give them one pageview per unique visitor. Therefore, they get a better ROI buying the two shorter articles for $30 each than they do buying the longer article for $50, even though it costs them more.
All that said, the most important thing is to make sure that every article is complete, coherent and cohesive. Too often, writers split a longer article into two but don't re-read them to make sure the shorter articles still make sense on their own and don't reference information that's been moved to the other article.
Consider it from a buyer's perspective. They usually generate revenue through pageviews. An article about the pros of snow tires and a second article about the cons of snow tires might give them two pageviews per unique visitor (one per article), whereas a longer articles about the pros and cons of snow tires might only give them one pageview per unique visitor. Therefore, they get a better ROI buying the two shorter articles for $30 each than they do buying the longer article for $50, even though it costs them more.
All that said, the most important thing is to make sure that every article is complete, coherent and cohesive. Too often, writers split a longer article into two but don't re-read them to make sure the shorter articles still make sense on their own and don't reference information that's been moved to the other article.