The problem with chasing 1,000+ words
I used to have a simple rule for publishing: if a post was under 1,000 words, it was not done. Longer meant more authoritative, more “in-depth,” more likely to rank. That was the story I told myself.
When I read back through those posts now, I can see the point where the useful part ends and the vanity metric begins. It is usually somewhere around the 500-word mark. After that, the signal drops and the padding starts.
The extra words were not extra depth. They were throat-clearing, bonus anecdotes, and slightly different ways of saying the same thing. The reader was paying with attention for my decision to optimize for a number instead of their time.
How the “SEO sweet spot” bent the writing
