Choosing the Ideal Character Counts for Content
With so many different algorithms and metrics to evaluate, weigh and ponder in today’s world of content marketing, content creation and broader SEO tactics, it’s no wonder that many a content creator is ready to pull out whatever hair hasn’t already turned grey. Despite the subtle nuances of content performance, it is absolutely necessary to understand how even the smallest difference can play a huge role in how well or poorly your content performs. As crazy as it seems, character count seems to impact impressions and performance in just about every type of content imaginable. Below, we’ll discuss how you can choose the ideal character counts for titles, posts and subject lines in order to ensure optimal performance.
Social Media
Tweets, posts and blurbs are all commonplace in the world of content marketing – sometimes used to tease a particular piece of content, while other times it is the actual content. On Twitter, the optimal number of characters for a tweet appears to be around 85, despite the fact that you’re allowed nearly twice that. Even though Facebook will allow you to post as much as your heart desires, aiming for around 40 characters in a given post (whether it be standalone or whether you’re pinging users with images and video) is ideal. On Google Plus, the ideal number of characters has been shown to be around 60, so keep that in mind when sharing content on Google Plus from YouTube and other sources. What about hashtags? Ideally, the character count on hashtags should be around six characters (and you should strive to use no more than 2 per tweet or post for maximum effectiveness).
Domains & Web Content
How short is too short in the world of domain names? In reality, the shorter the domain name, the better it ranks – to a point. We’ve found that an 8-character domain name is the perfect middle ground with respect to performance and legibility; the hard part is finding a desirable and accurate domain that fits your brand’s needs that is just eight characters. When introducing an audience to a new blog post or piece of content, how big should the opening line be? We’ve found that around 50 characters tends to be the ideal way in which to tease audiences who may be sceptical of your content into reading more. Title tags are another important consideration – if they are too long, then they will be cut off. We recommend ending the title tag after no more than 60 characters.
Some of the elements above – such as the opening line and blurbs – can apply to email, the oldest form of mass digital marketing. The most important element to consider is the one that will determine whether somebody opens the email or not: the email subject line. We’ve found that pinging users with email subject lines that are 30 to 40 characters in length produces the best results. In large part, this is due to the visibility maximization being reached on mobile devices without the remainder being truncated. As more people now read their emails via mobile devices than desktop devices, optimization through this format is absolutely crucial.
