eBook Profit Spiral

What is the optimal length for articles on your eBook Website?

Since you write for both human readers and Search Engine robots, you need to take the preferences of both into account.

Fortunately, you have plenty of leeway. Article that are from 200 to 500 words seem to be the correct length for most pages.

However, consider that longer sales pages are needed to sell higher priced products.

Folks seldom search for and read sales pages, but the visitors that do search for your sales page are so interested in your eBook product or service that they will read long sales copy. Of course, someone that interested in your product is a prime target, and worth getting to your sales copy, even if you have to pay for the advertising that gets them reading your offer.

On the other hand, consider the readers’ attention span. The Internet trains your readers to expect instant gratification, and reading a computer screen is more difficult than reading the contents of your Web pages from a printed piece of paper.

Your eBook can be printed and read, but almost no one prints a sales page. So, keep online articles short and focused on a single topic.

If the article is too long, break the article into several sections; and provide a way to jump from section to section with a menu. This method respects your readers’ time.

Also, put the most important information at the top of the article. Summarize the article, then provide details. Use the style of writing that newspaper reporters employ, most important information at the top, next most important next, etc.

Get to the point. Avoid fluff, filler. Think "fillets," not skin, bones and scales. Pretend that your readers are on a "word diet" and give them nutrients, not empty calories.

Use short words and avoid showing off your "superior vocabulary."

Use categories (subheads) that catch your readers’ eye, and pull their interest and attention down the page.

And if you are describing a product, spin the focus towards solutions. Relate benefits and back each benefit with specific facts and features.

Above all, know who your audience is and write for them as if you were talking to a personal friend.

Center your attention on their needs, tell their story, not your story. Answer the "What’s in it for me?" question early and often.

So, the optimal length of an article on your eBook Website is the length that satisfies your reader’s need for information. Provide that information as concisely as possible and you will have the optimal article length. Worry about satisfying your readers’ wants and don’t sweat word count. Short and focused writing automatically gets the correct (and optimal) article length for your eBook articles.