Data is telling me to write more long-form posts.

I looked at the data around my blog posts in Google Analytics. My most-visited pages are longer posts about biographies I’ve read. This post about Ted Turner’s wealth is my most-viewed post over the last six months and ranks on the first page of Google (search “Ted Turner net worth”). It’s part of a series I wrote on Ted’s autobiography.

People like these longer posts about entrepreneurs and books more than my shorter posts. I suspect the segment who read these longer posts in their entirety is small, but they’re also more likely to share a post (one was shared on Reddit).

The dilemma is that I write posts every day, and sometimes I need to write a short post about something that’s been on my mind. I’m worried that if I commit to writing only these longer posts, I’ll lose the ability to write short posts that help me crystallize ideas or problems. Writing has become a valuable tool to help me think clearly and I want the flexibility to write about whatever.

I noticed that some people who share their thoughts online separate their writings. The shorter ones are considered blog posts; each can be read in a minute or two. But the longer posts, called “essays,” require much more time to consume and are in a separate section of their website.

I started linking related posts at the bottom of each page, and I think that’s helped readers quickly find all posts in the same series. But it’s still pretty hard to find them among my 1,850+ posts, most of which are short. Discovering a long post if you’re already on my blog isn’t a great experience and needs to be improved.

I’m not sure if I’ll do this, but I do like the idea of making it easier for people to see all the longer posts in one section. I’ll think about this more. If you have feedback or suggestions, I’d love to hear them.