One of the trickier aspects of proposing, pitching and submitting writing jobs is word count. Many clients submit a request for shorter word count that seems insufficient to fill the provided space.
When publishing blog posts, the more words you include in the post, the more value in that content and the more likely you’ll drive qualified traffic and leads to your website. First, because the search engines favor longer articles, and second, because people who are actually searching for tips will appreciate the advice and regard you as an expert based on what you’ve shared.
That said, let’s get familiar with word count.
This way, when someone says they need a blog post that’s “300 words,” “600 words,” “1,200 words,” and so forth, we can envision what that translates to in terms of written pages.
How many pages is 300 words?
300 words is less than a full page of content. For a blog post, 300 words falls short. In some cases, though, the integrity of the page design is maintained by keeping to that 300 word count. So if someone asks you for a 300-word blog post, and you feel doubtful that you’ll be able to adequately cover the topic in so many words, ask to take a peek at the layout. This way, you can envision the copy placement and modify your word flow to work within the parameters.
What types of blog posts generally will run just around 300 words?
The short sales pitch.
The sales pitch should introduce the client problem, presenting the company solution, and bulleting out the benefits, then adding the call to action.
The Q&A blog post.
The Q&A works nicely in this limited amount of space. You can use this section of the article I’m typing right now, as an example. Type a common question, then answer it.
The short press announcement.
Sometimes you need a quick news release to let the world know what’s happening with your company or in your world. Cover the Who, What, When, Where, How and Why, and you’ll more or less hit half a page of content, or 300 words, without any great effort.
The punch list of quick tips.
If you’re looking to fire off a quick set of bullet points, publish about 5 one-sentence tips, or list out a set of product benefits, 300 words or a half a page of content should cover it.
A section of content.
Sometimes you just need a copywriter to step in with 300 words to cover a long page of content that includes multiple sections. Let’s say you’re working on your website’s services page. You offer several different levels of service.
In the case of a freelancer, your content creator who is developing this page might section out their services as Blog Updates, Email Newsletter Creation, Static Web Page Writing, and Sales Copy Jobs. 300 words can cover each of those services, or sections of the over-arching services page of your website or brochure.
How many pages is 600 to 800 words?
Six hundred to 800 words is about a page or a page and a half worth of text. This is about the right length to create a meaty blog post or website article. The content will be developed enough that search engines will quickly index and categorize it. It will also be enough information for your knowledge-seekers to regard you as an authority on the topic, assuming that you’ve included good details.
What’s a good formula for hammering out 600 to 800 words quickly? Create a title. Type out five main supporting points. Fill in a 2- to 3-sentence intro paragraph. Write 2 to 3 sentences for each supporting point. Include relevant examples and details. Add a short conclusion with call-to-action if applicable.
TIP: If you put five or so 600-to-800 word articles together on a single topic, you have a mini ebook that you can offer as an opt-in gift to get more subscribers to sign up for your email list.
How many pages is 1200 to 1400 words?
When someone proposes to create 1200 to 1400 words of article text, how many pages will that work out to be? In the case of word processing program such as MS Word set at 12-point type, 1200 to 1400 words is about 3 pages of writing.
This is about the right length for a more in-depth blog post, a feature article to appear in a monthly print magazine or e-zine, or a web page that goes deeper into the details of your topic of interest.
What are some content creation tips to help you fill up a page with 1200 to 1400 words?
If it’s a step-by-step article, break down the steps into smaller steps so that you’re going into more detail and a very clear explanation.
Add other content elements. So if it’s a blog post sharing cooking techniques, you can include a recipe, or several of them. If it’s an article about a certain dog breed, you can add a few bulleted sections such as unique personality traits and characteristics of this type of dog, or situations that work work well for this breed of dog.
How many pages is 3,000 to 5,000 words?
Eight to ten pages of written text set at 12-point type works out to be about 3K to 5K words total. This is the right length for a short ebook, printed pamphlett, white paper or special report on a topic of interest. So let’s suppose that you publish to a home and garden audience. You want to create a quick little PDF download that readers can access for free. The download can work as an opt-in gift to get more people on your list.
It can also be a suppelemental piece that you include in a bigger course sold on a site like Teachable, where you might also share an educational pictorial, video how-to, or other educational materials. The 8-to-10 page publication works well when educating readers on a specific, sub-category of your main topic. So if you’re running a gardening website, you might come up with 3,000 to 5,000 words that cover a specific area of interest, such as best practices for growing tomatoes, the new gardener’s guide to cultivating potatoes, herb gardening 101, or organic composting practices for the healthiest, heartiest veggies.
How many pages is 7K to 10K words?
Seven to ten thousand words will result in about 15 articles, depending on how long you make those articles, for a total of about 20 pages give or take. Twenty pages of articles that all relate to one another and cover a single topic of interest make a decently informative ebook that teaches your readers something new that they’ve been wanting to know. An ebook can be any length, just as long as the topic is covered in good detail so that the reader walks away having learned something that he or she didn’t know before.
If someone tells you that they’d like to create a 20-page or so publication on a specific topic, you can make the writing go faster by creating a simple list of articles that walk the reader through the basics of the subject matter.
A typical approach to creating a 20-page written document would be the following:
- Intro and overview of the topic
- What is (the topic)
- Why is (the topic) important
- Benefits of (the topic)
- Who Does (the topic) benefit and how?
- FAQ or Q&A on (the topic)
- Common challenges of (the topic) and how to overcome them
- Where to Find Help and Support for (the topic)
- Tools to Help You Succeed at (the topic)
- Best Practices if You Want to Become an Expert on (the topic)
- Do’s and Don’ts of (the topic)
- Step by Step Guide to (the topic)
- Reasons Why You Should (the topic)
- 5 to 7 Tips on (the topic)
- What to do if (whatever on the topic)
How many pages is 20K- to 40K- word count?
You may have come across a request to have 20, 30, or 40K words written. Or you might want to let a writer know that you need support creating a document of about 20 to 40K words. How many printed pages is this? If 10K words is in the ballpark of 20 pages, then double the word count would be double the pages, so in this case you’re looking at probably a 40 to 150-page publication. But take into account that type size factors in, so if you change the font from 10 point to 12 point, you will end up with more printed pages in the end.
What’s a good method for coming up with a 20 to 40K publication?
In the same way that you outlined your approach for a 10,000-work ebook, you can write a list of article titles to help you flesh out the topic in detail. But here, instead of writing 15 articles, you’ll come up with 30. It can be difficult to come up with 30 articles around a single subject matter, it’s true. That’s why you might want to break up the topic into 2 specific areas of interest.
So let’s say you’re working on an ebook covering the topic of stress management. Here’s your approach for coming up with an abundance of written text that’s in the ballpark of 20K to 40K words:
- Part 1 of the ebook could be defining and explaining stress and how it affects the body. Now you’ll come up with 15 article titles detailing that topic.
- Part 2 of the ebook might be identifying sources of stress in your life. Tackle 15 more article titles and drill down into the details of each.
- Part 3 of the ebook, can be techniques for managing stress in your life.
If you still have more word count to cover, you can come up with a journaling, quizzes and goals section where you invite the reader to apply what they’ve learned and come up with an action plan to help them decrease stress, as well as manage the stress that is beyond their control.
How to stretch word count when it feels like you’ve hit all the hot points already with your copy:
- Add a set of bulleted points such as features and benefits, common questions, troubleshooting tips, step-by-step mini tutorials
- Add journaling assignments and questionnaires for user to fill out
- Summarize key points at the end of each chapter
- Insert expert quotes and cite the source
- Add a list of resources
- Add statistics and cite all sourced material
- Include a guest post
- Add charts, graphs and tables
Need ebook editing or writing assistance?
Want to have an ebook written from scratch that works to build your credibility and drive more qualified traffic and leads to your website? Contact Us for a custom ebook writing quote today.