what's the proper word counts to give a pleasant reading experience?

1. 82

   Burgeonposted 12 years ago

   Creating a pleasant reading experience depends on many factors. If we just look at word counts, what can we get? Personally, internet reading for me is more for leisure. I do remember I would lose patience myself if the reading material is a little bit too long even if I am interested in the topic. Unless I am extremely interested in something and especially when I am looking for some specific information, I would go with the lengthy articles. If just casual reading, I prefer it short , I would say around 700-1000, not longer than this.  How about you?  Any input would be appreciated.

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      WriteAngledposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      For me, 1000 words is the lower limit of acceptable for an everyday topic that does not require much complexity. Anything below that is not going to have enough scope to treat the subject at an acceptable level of detail to be worth reading.
      
      If I am looking for information on a complex topic, 2000+ words is more like it.
      
      I do not see pictures and videos as an acceptable excuse to cut words. I find videos totally useless when I am seeking factual information and am offended and angered by people thrusting videos at me in such a context. I am only interested in looking at videos if they concern the performing arts.

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      1. 82

         Burgeonposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         For instruction type like "how to" topics, I would prefer pictures or videos. Explanation with only words might not be straigtforward, pictures / videos speak louder.

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         1. 72

            WriteAngledposted 12 years agoin reply to this

            Not for me, they don't.
            
            Pictures and diagrams make things more complicated, especially when not backed by a detailed description in words. I have bought equipment and thrown it away unused because I was unable to understand how to use it from the wordless diagrams supplied.
            
            Videos are a total waste of time. They cannot be printed out to be used somewhere where a laptop is not available, do not permit knowledge to be absorbed at exactly the speed I want to absorb it, are a total pain to move through backwards and forwards, and often involve people talking in thick accents that I am unable to understand.

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2. 89

   Will Apseposted 12 years ago

   Flagship hubs have done well, They have a minimum of 1500 words.
   
   http://blog.hubpages.com/2012/01/truly- … ship-hubs/

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      Burgeonposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Thank you for the link. Very useful.

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3. 71

   David 470posted 12 years ago

   In my experience, 500 words is fine, however, it greatly depends on the topic. If it's a topic that has a lot to cover then 750-2000 words would be optimal.
   
   My best performing hubs were 500-1000 words. I had a few 250-300 word short hubs that got traffic quickly, but then it disappeared. Not saying it's because they were short, but the keywords were only being searched temporarily.
   
   In general, stick with 500-1200 words, unless the topic is very complex etc...

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   1. 82

      Burgeonposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Yes, it depends on the complexity of the topics as well as the readers you target.

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4. 73

   Cagsilposted 12 years ago

   It is solely dependent upon the topic.
   
   It has nothing to do with your targeted reader. It has to do with how complex the topic is because the explanation is what matters.
   
   I have some hubs that have about 700 words and they do well. I have others which are longer and they also do okay.
   
   The smallest article(written- excluding my celebrity hubs) is around 700 words. I don't like to write short things because I purposely use a lot of words to explain my message.
   
   I find that articles between 700-3000 words are decent hubs.

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5. 75

   Blawgerposted 12 years ago

   I think anything over 1500 words is probably too much for one hub.  For subjects which require more words its best to break it up into more than one hub rather than write one really long one.  For example, I have noticed some people who take their college or grad school papers and post them as one long hub.  I NEVER read them!!!!!  It only takes a few minutes to break up a long hub into parts. Plus, writing as succinctly as possible is always preferred.  Nobody wants to read a hub for thirty minutes.

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6. 62

   Lisa HWposted 12 years ago

   For me it depends on the subject.  If I'm looking to find out how to get a wine stain out 100 words or less ought to do it.  If I'm looking to find out how to bake cookies, a few hundred words ought to do it.  (I don't want a song and dance and family history with the recipe).  If I'm looking for a discussion of one thing or another (and most often that's one I'm looking for), I'm looking for something along the lines of a 3000-word magazine article.  Of course, I pretty much don't search online for much information at all (other than occasionally looking up how old some actor is) because the Internet doesn't tend to have those 3000-word discussions I'd like to find.
   
   I'm old enough to pretty much know most of the "standard-life-things", like how to get out wine stains.  I don't generally cook/bake what I don't already know how to cook/bake..  If I have a health question I go straight to health sites (and hope to find at least a 1000-word article on there).  Plumbing question - straight to a plumbing site.   On a site like this one; if I'm looking, I'm looking for "real reading" (at least 1000 words).

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7. 80

   TheNerdyGardenerposted 12 years ago

   I find that hubs that are longer than about 1000 words get a bit tedious if I'm only slightly interested in the topic being discussed.  However if the writing is good and  holds my interest I'll enjoy reading it no matter how long the length.

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