How long is too long?

1. 69

   theluckywriterposted 10 years ago

   OK, I'm pretty sure I already know the answer to this. But I have a 3700 word hub about learning Spanish using online resources, and I'm worried that it's too long. Am I allowed to post a link here for advice, or is that considered spamming?
   
   While I suppose that I could break it into a series smaller hubs, I'm afraid that it might be less useful - or that it might look like I'm just fishing for page impressions, making people click from hub to hub to learn about all of the resources.
   
   What is the optimal length for a hub? At what point do you throw your hands up and say "Forget about this! Who does she think she is, writing an entire novel and expecting me to read it?"
   
   Thanks for any advice!

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2. 59

   paradigmsearchposted 10 years ago

   My opinion. Don't know about the readers, but Google should love it. As to the readers, hopefully they'll have enough brains to bookmark it, and keep coming back to it for another lesson. We can only hope.

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   1. 69

      theluckywriterposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks for the feedback! I'm not sure if Google will love it...but I'd be very happy if people bookmarked it!

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3. 30

   Writer Foxposted 10 years ago

   Some Wikipedia articles run 25,000 words.  I have a Hub that is 9,800 words.  The more comprehensive your article is, the more search queries it will answer.  Here is an article about a study of long vs. short blog posts:
   http://moz.com/blog/what-kind-of-conten … ks-in-2012

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   1. 69

      theluckywriterposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Interesting article! Thanks for sharing! I think I still have to get used to the idea that hubs are articles, rather than blog posts.

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4. 91

   Polly Cposted 10 years ago

   I think it's fine. I have several long hubs and one of my best received is 5500 words. I'm not sure people always bother to click from hub to hub for the next part - I have a hub that continues from another hub, sort of like part 2, but most people don't seem to click through. Learning Spanish might be different though,but if it was me I'd keep it as it is. That's just my opinion.

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   1. 69

      theluckywriterposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks for the feedback! And here I thought everyone was going to tell me that I'd need to shorten it. Ha!  I'll stick with it as is for now and see how it goes.

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5. 83

   Marcy Goodfleischposted 10 years ago

   I have several really long hubs, and they actually do well.  I agree - Google may well love it.  And I will be sure to read it - I'm trying to improve my Spanish!

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   1. 69

      theluckywriterposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks Marcy...I hope it's useful! I'm trying to teach myself Spanish for an upcoming trip to Spain, and I figured that since I've already spent hours sifting through resources, I might as well share.

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6. STAFF

   Paul Edmondsonposted 10 years ago

   It's not length it's depth that's important.  Also important is organization.  Breaking the hub into several text capsules, bullets...making parts scannable etc are all important.

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   1. 91

      Jean Bakulaposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      When I first came to HP, people always told me my hubs were too long. But to date I have found every one of the longest ones, that were the hardest to write, are my most successful. It is said people come online to find quick info, and that is true. But they also come online to learn more about subjects that interest them. I have at least 20 hubs that are more than 3,000 words. If they don't appeal to people who have the attention span of a gnat, I don't care. It's the people who share my interests that inspire me to write, and give me new ideas. Do what comes naturally to you. Some topics and hubs by nature are meant to be shorter. But I see people following through and adding thoughts to articles that were attached to each other and on the same topic. Listen to yourself!

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      1. 69

         theluckywriterposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         That's encouraging! I'm a very wordy person, and I do tend to write A LOT, so it's nice to know that your longer hubs are well-received. Thanks for the feedback!

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   2. 69

      theluckywriterposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      @pauledmondson I think I'm ok with organization. I tend to write in short paragraphs with lots of breaks when I'm writing online. The only thing is that I feel like the subtitles on hubpages sometimes aren't big enough to really separate one section from another, so that things tend to run together a bit.

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7. 0

   Beth37posted 10 years ago

   A customer just offered to teach me spanish and tried to give me his number last night. I told him "Mi esposo no gusta." Im pretty sure he was thinking "Uh, yeah... you could use the lesson."

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   1. 69

      theluckywriterposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Haha! I'd make a joke about what you said...except that I don't have enough Spanish to think of a good one. Ack, learning a language can be so hard.

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