On average, how long will people spend reading my blog post?
This is such a good question. The first thing to say is that we do have an average amount of time that people spend on blogs “ it’s about 2m20s across the legal sector’s blogs and insights for the past 18 months. In a way, that’s the absolute answer to your question.
But as to what constitutes a “good” average amount of time to spend on a blog, the answer is more nuanced:
Perhaps it’s 4 minutes “ to allow for the number of people who bounce from the blogs as soon as they land on them?
Maybe it’s “as long as the article takes to read” or some version of that, expressed as a percentage?
Perhaps it’s “as long as it takes until they click onto our call to action”?
What is a good average read time for our practice or sector or service?
Finding out the answer to this question is an excellent idea as it could well inform how you write for your target audiences. Some audiences are ready to buy and won’t need long on the page to convince them to use your the call to action.
How do I work out average read time for my blogs?
Using Google Analytics, examine your pages, and you can narrow the focus to be on just your blogs easily – especially if you have part of the called Insights or Blogs or similar.
Is total read time a useful metric?
It is, as it tells us if the amount of time that went into drafting a blog has been outweighed by the total amount of time spent reading it. It’s not a perfect measure – but it is a useful yardstick. We believe that every blog should pass this minimum test.
How long should my blog be?
Blogs should be the length that it takes to cover the subject sufficiently. Our stats tell us that well-structured, longer articles are better shared on social media and have higher average read times. So 1,000+ words do well, but longer articles with over 2,000 words perform even better if they are created in a way that suits the reader.
How many words do people read per minute?
People read at just over 200 words per minute so a 2,200-word article would take ten minutes to read. (For context, people speak at about 120 words per minute.) You can use Grammarly to work this out or use this read-o-meter.
How do people read blogs?
Except that people read in an F formation. They read the title and the first paragraph and then scan through the subheadings to find what they really want.
That’s why using H2 headings is so essential in blog writing – Google knows that this is how people read and rewards them accordingly with higher rankings.
Is it worth telling people how long the article will take to read?
This article will take you 2m20s to read. The jury’s out on this question. It’s going to come down to what’s appropriate for your target audience. If you write in a way that people know how long it takes to read your articles and can allow for it, then they often will do. Issuing a collection of pieces to be read on a Friday lunchtime may well prove popular if the total length is always around the same. This is how the Metro newspaper is written – to be read in 20 minutes each morning. People dip into that paper via their favourite pages and move forwards or backwards from there, much like they do in good web design.
How do I start to improve the average read times of my blog posts?
Always start with an audit of how well you’re doing as of today. Let us know if you’d like help with that.
