Here is the ideal character count for blog posts and social media posts on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube:
Blog Posts
A lot of research has been conducted to determine the ideal length of a blog post. According to Medium, the average amount of time that an engaged reader is willing to dedicate to a blog post is seven minutes. Considering that the average reading speed of an English-speaking adult is 300 words per minute, the ideal word count to aim for with blog posts is 2,100 words.
However, it’s important to note that not all of your blog posts will need to be 2,100 words in length. Great content will perform well with readers whether your post is 800 words in length or 3,000. If you put in the effort to write a high-quality blog post that offers real value, your audience will be more likely to invest their time in reading it.
Facebook Posts
Like most social media platforms, Facebook posts have a character limit. While the character limit for Facebook posts is 63,206, research shows that the top performing posts on this social networking site are approximately 40 characters in length. With so much content to compete with on Facebook, you only have a few seconds to capture your audience’s attention. Creating a brief Facebook post with an eye-catching image is much more effective than writing a lengthy post.
Tweets
Anyone that knows anything about social media is aware that Twitter limits its tweets to 140 characters. However, don’t feel the need to use the entire allotment. According to social media scientist Dan Zarrella, the top performing tweets are between 120 and 130 characters in length.
LinkedIn Posts
LinkedIn allows users to share a status update of up to 600 characters. While research does not specify a magic number of characters to aim for with LinkedIn posts, users should still be cognizant of the length of posts, especially if they plan to share the content on other social media platforms. For example, if you choose to share a LinkedIn post on Twitter, you’ll want to stay under 140 characters.
YouTube Videos
Video needs to be a part of your content creation strategy, and YouTube is a social media platform that is focused on the sharing of videos. To get the most from your YouTube marketing strategy, always include a description of your videos. Keep in mind that a video’s description is cut off after one or two lines. Therefore, be sure to front-load the most important details and CTAs.
Using these guidelines and tips will help you to craft the optimal length blog posts and social media posts, therefore allowing you to get more results from your content creation strategy.