Blog articles come in all shapes and sizes and range widely in both formatting and word length. Heck, some of them have (almost) no words at all, sharing instead an infographic or a video, for example.
For the purpose of today’s article, we’ll compare two different articles that are on opposite ends of the content spectrum – quick articles, or short articles, if you will vs. epic articles.
Quickies
While there is no set number to define a quick article or an epic article, in my mind, short articles are anything under 500 words. Some may define it by a lower number. To me, the article you’re reading right now is on the long end of a quick article, and not just because of the low word count. More on that in a minute.
Long & Thought-Out
Epic articles, on the other hand, are long, well-thought-out articles that convey a lot of information. They are usually at least 2,000 words long. They also take a lot more research and aren’t something you can quickly sit down and write in an afternoon.
Which brings us to the next big difference between quick articles and epic articles – and one that I think distinguishes between the two better than some random word count. A quick article is something you can sit down and write quickly. An epic article, on the other hand, requires some research and planning.
Adding Extras
Adding ExtrasYou gather your thoughts, figure out what you want to share and convey and then come up with a plan or an outline. From there, you spend some time writing a long post that covers a lot of ground. You may also choose to include several images or graphics to illustrate your point or embed some videos. You may even go so far as to summarize the main points of your article in an infographic.
There’s a lot more work that goes into an epic article, and it isn’t something you’ll want to publish two to three times per week. Instead, it’s a rare project you put together to gain authority, links, and hopefully a lot of traffic via social media and the search engines.
Quick articles, on the other hand, are something you can write and share quickly. They are shorter and to the point and, frankly, easier to read. These are your bread and butter articles. Quick articles are the articles that you’ll publish several times per week to keep your readers happy & engaged and your blog fresh.
The Rundown
Each type of article has its place in your publishing schedule.
Do you use both types of articles?
