How Long Should it Take to Write a Blog Post?

Last updated on 26 November 2024

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Ever find yourself spending hours on a single blog post, only to feel like it’s still not quite right? The problem isn’t that it takes a long time to write a blog post; it’s that you’re holding it too closely. And I get it—it’s hard when you’re a bit of a perfectionist. It’s tough to hit publish or schedule when you’re not convinced it’s ‘good enough’.

In this post, we’re going to take a look at how long should it take to write a blog post, and some of the things that will help us overcome that perfectionism in blogging.

How Long Should it Take to Write a Blog Post?

This will depend on the length of the blog post, as well as factors such as keyword research, topic research, finding images, writing, editing, promoting etc. But for an average 1000 piece blog post, it shouldn’t be taking you days and days.

Obviously, your blog post writing and my blog post writing and the way we do things is going to be different. That’s just how it rolls. But if you’ve been working on the same blog post for a week now, you’ve gotta take a step back and ask yourself why.

And one reason might just be that you’re holding it too closely.

Overcoming perfectionism in blogging

Perfectionism can be a huge barrier to productivity and getting things out there into the world.  If you keep waiting for your post to be perfect, you’re never going to actually publish it. And if you don’t publish it, not only are you stunting the growth of your blog, but your audience will never get to read it.

Here are some tips for overcoming that perfectionism when it comes to blogging:

1. Set realistic standards

Perfectionism and ‘getting it perfect’ is a bit of an illusion, really. Yes, we should be striving for high quality, and that’s super important, but aiming for perfection can be paralyzing and can stop us from actually hitting publish on those blog posts. We need to set realistic standards for ourselves that focus on creating content that we love to create and that we know our readers are going to love, too.

Instead of spending hours tweaking the wording of a single sentence, focus on whether your message is clear and helpful. Remember, your readers are looking for useful information and relatable stories, not a literary masterpiece. Heck, none of my blog posts are literary masterpieces, even though I’ve been doing this for years and years now.

As a quick example: if you have a recipe blog, your readers will appreciate clear instructions and good photos more than perfect, elegant prose. (And they’ll probably jump to the recipe anyway, right? 😉)

2. Embrace the 80/20 rule

The Pareto Principle, or the 80/20 rule, says that 80% of your results come from 20% of your efforts. If we think about this in terms of blogging, we should be spending our time creating great content with solid headings and answering questions or inspiring people … rather than spending lots of time on minor details like perfecting every single sentence.

If you’re writing a travel blog post, you might focus on sharing your unique experiences and practical tips, rather than obsessing whether you should tell your readers about how much you ate at the pasta restaurant in Rome. Tell them, or don’t. They’ll take what they’re given.

3. Set some deadlines (and stick to them!)

One way to combat perfectionism in blogging is to set deadlines for your posts. Choose a specific time to publish, stick to it, and then move on. This helps prevent endless revisions and second-guessing.

For example, decide that you will publish your new post every Tuesday at noon. Draft all your content ahead of time, and when Tuesday rolls around, you’ve scheduled it and it’s out there in the world. Having a set schedule can reduce the pressure to make everything perfect, as it prioritises consistency over little things that, ultimately, don’t matter.

The benefits of letting go when it comes to our blogs

So! We’ve looked at setting realistic standards, looking at the 80/20 rule, and sticking to deadlines … and hopefully with some of these tips, you’re able to draft, edit and publish your blog posts in a timely manner. You won’t need be Googling ‘how long should it take to write a blog post’ anymore, because you’re knocking it outta the park.

Remember, an imperfect post that’s published is infinitely better than a perfect post that never sees the light of day.

So take a deep breath. Pick a time to post it. Schedule it. Shut your tab. Walk away.

What strategies do you use to overcome perfectionism in your blogging? How long does it take you to write a blog post? Share your thoughts in the comments below.