Very true about research, and I agree–these long word counts can feel prohibitive, but I’ve also found that with some topics it’s actually harder to write less because there’s so much to say.

Especially love the point about research for keywords and topic freshness. 90% of the blogs out there don’t follow the path of researching the topic thoroughly and THEN getting to the writing. And because of that, we end up with the internet we have: bloated and way too fluffy. ;)

Also, 3k+ posts feel a lot smaller when we work through an outline that gives us a narrower space to work in (and transition through). People often forget that great writers aren’t the folks with the best vocabulary, they’re the folks with the best plan.

This post has sparked a lot of thoughts at the office. Thanks for sharing! -!dris

I don’t think pillar content has to be an exact length, it should be as long as it needs to be. But 1,000 does seem rather on the bare side for a post to be considered a pillar post.

Jen,

Good point. I have also been reading about how well-written long-form content performs better in social and search. But this depends, as you say, on other factors as well, such as the topic and what the competition is doing.

Thank you for sharing your insights and explaining how to make cornerstone pages easier to write.

I do think, though, that for a lot of topics 1,000 words may not be enough. That’s not to say you’re doing it wrong in particular–like I said, if you’re getting all the SEO and backlink benefits from content you write at that length, you’re doing it right. But 1,000 words isn’t that hard to hit for a lot of topics, and for many industries, the competition may also be writing guides and articles that long too. Not to say that “longer” automatically equals “better,” but if it’s well-written it should equal “more in-depth” and thus be higher value.

I’m not the only opinion on this, of course; I’ve read advice that says between 3,000 and 5,000 words or even as short as 1,500 words works. But in general, all other things being equal, I’d err on the longer side as long as you can sustain organization and focus at that length.