Typical article length, 500 words or 1000 words?

[tntpower]

Hi folks,

When it comes to the length of an article, shall I keep it around 500 words per page (excluding header/footer/navigation, etc)? A 500-words article would be 2 pages (A4 page, double space). If there is a pretty long article (say 1500 words), shall I separate it into 3 articles (part 1~3) or just have it as one article?

Thanks

[Quadrille]

It's a good question, but I don't think there's a good answer!

But here's a few points to think about ...

1. Think about your audience; what will annoy them most, a long article (for some, a slow to download article), or having to click and wait in the middle. Age matters here!

2. Think about the content; is it a light, 'trivial' topic - no offense ;) - or a piece of fiction, or a dense scientific papper ... or what?

3. Think about the design of the site / page.

4. Are there 'natural breaks'; logical section divides, etc?

5. Will dividing it confuse people, or complicate your navigation? (If it is a long article, always duplicate key navigation at the foot, or - at the very least - have a 'top of page' link).

In general, I'd lean a little toward not dividing all but the very longest, unless images, etc., seriously slow downloading. I don't think people mind vertical scrolling, but they may resent being moved along; they got there, why risk them thinking "might as well click away, if I'm going to have to click anyway!"

[kostis]

It seems that a smaller article is more usable (easier downloaded-viewed), but it requires more effort to segment content and optimize a higher number of pages - it is a trade off.
K