Target the Best Social Content Length

They say more is better but I can think of several examples where that’s just not true. More dental work, for one. More time spent in line at the DMV, for another.

But one example that doesn’t come to mind so easily is, well, the length of your social content. I’m not a fan of blog posts that are simply a scant handful of words and a link back to the original article, but the solution isn’t a 4,000-word essay, either. Same goes for Facebook, where you don’t want to make your followers click the “See More” link just to read your full post.

Twitter makes it easier with a character limit per tweet, but many other platforms allow for unlimited post length. With so many different platforms out there, how in the world can you keep the optimal post length straight for each?

“Every piece of content should be as long as it takes to convey the message, and no longer.”

That’s where this infographic from Buffer and SumAll on the ideal length of everything online comes in handy. Some points that may surprise you:

• Facebook posts with just 40 characters get more than 80% more engagement than longer posts.
• If your title tag is longer than 60 characters, it will get shortened with an ellipse.
• B2B LinkedIn posts should be limited to just 16-25 words.

One thing I wish this infographic would have clarified is whether the recommended post length for Twitter includes images and links. Adding a URL to a tweet uses up 22-23 characters and attaching an image accounts for another 22. By the time you include both you’re down from 71-100 to just 26-55 characters for text.

My Twitter length tip: Try to be as succinct as possible but don’t sweat it if you have to push some of your Twitter posts to the max 140 characters. In my opinion, including a link and an image is more important for engagement than is trimming a couple dozen letters and spaces from your message.

For more, check out the infographic below. Then come back and let me know how your online content compares. Do you usually fall in the recommended range for length or are you all over the map?