As part of a little research I’m doing for a post (or a short series of them) next week here at ProBlogger I’d like to ask readers to answer this question:
How Long Do You Take To Write a Blog Post?
I know each post varies depending upon what it is – but on average how long would you say you take to write a blog post? I’d be interested to not only hear the time it takes you but also you usually write posts in one sitting or come back to them over time. Also it’d probably help a little if you told us the type of posts you generally write.
Typically one hour just to write the post. But if I included the research it take between 2 hours and 3 hours. Research take most of the time since my blog is about domain names industry (from owning the name to domain dispute) and domain names marketing using blogs (tools, trick and trades).
How long it takes me depends on 1) the type of post I’m writing, and 2) what you mean by *writing” a post.
If you mean by “writing” a post, sitting down at the computer and actually doing the writing, then usually only 5 or 10 minutes. Being the introvert that I am, most of my post is generally pretty well written in my head before I put fingers to keyboard.
However, if you look at the entirety of the post from getting the idea, to doing research, to finding appropriate images, doing the SEO work and proofing it, then it’s anywhere from 1/2 hour to a couple of hours. If I’m doing a how-to post on a technique in Outlook or some other software, then I’ll probably spend a great deal of time making screen prints and then optimizing them in GIMP before I start writing the post.
And, of course, I’m not counting the time I spend trolling other blogs and websites gathering ideas for posts. I tend to keep a list of ideas that come to me as I go through my daily list of blog reads so that when I’m ready to write a post, I have a starting place.
So, like I said, it can be as little as half an hour if all I’m doing it sharing a great site I found with my readers, to a couple of hours if it’s an involved how-to.
i usually took up to 1 hour to finish up my 1 blog post.
Takes me anywhere from 1 to 8 hours. Often falling in the middle or a little bit less of that range.
I always keep going back to my posts; I don’t write it in one sitting, nope.
Everyone must figure out their own tao, but I find hovering over a single post for a few days can make it its absolute best. You see things differently over time. You can add and take away over time, making the beast as formidable as possible.
And, that’s what I’m all about.
I write a blog on creating happiness and many of my posts tie in to something I’ve read or viewed. After the research is done, the actual writing takes an hour, not counting the time it takes to find just the right image.
Lately when I get an idea for a post I go to my blog, choose a title (which I usually change) and make a few notes or insert a link to go back to when I write it.
On some occasions I start writing a comment on another blog that goes on for so long that I decide to turn it into a post on my own log and trackback to the blog that inspired it.
Half an hour in one sitting.
I usually take 2 to 3 hours per blog posts if they’re longer than 400 words.
For our LiveWorkDream RV travel blog, posts take about one to three hours to write, not including uploading photos.
For our Tripawds website for three legged dogs, posts take about an hour.
We try to save up topics to make them informative and useful. Generally we don’t post short, personal thoughts kinds of writing, we usually write about our road trip sabbatical observations, or medical profiles and helpful tips for three legged dogs.
Omg, maybe 5-10 minutes. I write really short posts, because I don’t have a lot of time. I should write longer posts, but I find that personally, I prefer to READ short ones myself, so that’s how I write.
I write them all in one sitting as well, unless I’m interrupted, but the interruptions are always brief.
I blog about trail running and ultramarathons and generally take between 2 to 5 hours to draft a post. Most of the posts are about trail running gear, companies, running teams, and races.
I’ve certainly had a number of posts that take more than 10 hours. There were “articles” and were either interview based or required extensive research as well as quite a bit of writing time. These articles have included a company profile, summaries of ultrarunning teams, and issue based stories like environmentally sustainable efforts in trail gear.
While these stories how a back bone of the iRunFar blog, I’ve noticed that I get as much or more traffic and very often more comments when I publish short posts on either controversial issues or a broad category of gear. I can draft the post in an hour or less and golks end up writing the full story for me.
1-3 hours to write a post + 1/4 hour – 1 hour to edit the next day.
Self development blog with posts generally between 600-1200 words.
Most of the time it is one sitting. But if it is a complex topic for me to phrase I’ll do a couple of sittings.
If I’m writing a programming tutorial it generally takes me about an hour to get all the details written out properly.
If I’m just writing a regular post anywhere between 30minutes to 1 hour. Every week I’ll write a shorter link post that’ll take 10 minutes :P
I’m a food blogger, which entails adding pictures to my food. So part of the time building a post is in getting the images to look right. The actual writing can take 1-2 hours because I constantly edit along the way. I’m not one of those who can just pound out text in 15 minutes. Then I proofread, etc, etc until I feel it’s the best that I can do. So total time I would say is 4 hours per post. I wish I could get it down to under 2.
I use to take about a half an hour to an hour, but I found the articles I made read like I rushed them. So when I can I write the article and proof read and revise off and on for two days. Sometimes longer if I find too many errors and revisions. I admit my gramar stinks so I need the time to proof read.
I am a novice blogger. I only have 2 posts. But the actual writing take very little time, perhaps 30 minutes to an hour. But getting it to look like I want takes much longer. I am new to WordPress and still working out some kinks in my blog.
I’m a food blogger, so my process is a bit different to anyone else’s previously mentioned. My posts can be split into quickies (menu plans and updates), recipes and howto/stories. The quickies take 15 minutes, and I usually only do one a week. They are either quick links or menu plans.
Recipes take time. I won’t include cooking time – but writing them up (and checking) taking a photo (and tweaking) usually takes over an hour.
How-to’s, stories and blog-events usually incorporate everything in the recipe post, plus finding links and taking more photo’s. Probably 2 hours.
I never do a whole post at once. Generally each week I have a good idea of what I want to post. I’ll cook something and photograph it – and then it won’t get posted until the next week.
I can be pretty slow with my writing and researching. One of my latest posts about colour ended up taking about 4 days, working 4 hours each day on it. Other times I can finish an article in about two hours.
30 minutes
I review podcasts. So before writing the post, I spend various amounts of listening time – I won’t count that. I write on average three paragraphs about a podcast. I add a picture and some links to relevant other posts, as well as to the podcast, its website and its feed.
It takes me some 20 minutes to write the post and then an additional 10 to get the links and the picture right.
Takes me the better part of an hour for almost every post. I tend to be somewhat investigative, compare and make parallels, pull in several links, and write consistently 400-425 words. No matter how I try to shorten! Too often choosing an image takes 20 minutes. I write as a writer on the brain and blogs and Boomers and social media. I’m starting to do long series and writing them in a big batch to try to cut down the time while keeping the content value. I long for microblogging to take the place of articles, want to do podcasts and am concerned they’ll take even longer. Doing a bunch of pre-posts for a 3 wk vacay, so I’m a bit burned out. cheerios! -Suzanna
I just started my blog and now I can kind of answer this question. Today I wrote two “pillar” articles and they both took me about 45 minutes from beginning to end.
Everyone seems to be able to write posts so quickly! I take 2 – 3 hours per post, sometimes more. Every time I edit my post, I find more things to fix/add on it.
Each posts takes around an hour, split as follows;
It normally takes me 5-10 mins to plan, then 30-45 minutes to write a post around 500-800 words, which I’ll then spend probably 5-15 minutes editing, tweaking sentences, removing typos etc. (Those tend to be the ones I do as a staff blogger.)
The planning, writing and editing phases are sometimes all in one session, but more often split across two or three. I often do outlines for a batch of posts at a time, then go back and write & edit then one by one.
For my own blog, The Office Diet, it again takes about an hour for regular posts — but I sometimes do special ones (like my recent Dieting Glossary) which need more research and time.
Interesting discussion topic with some interesting answers above. I find I usually take 2 to 2.5 hours to complete a blog entry, including prior research.
Mine vary HUGELY from a couple of minutes to a couple of hours. I sometimes write consecutive posts but generally not for the same blog. I may sit down and write 2-3 posts in a row for different blogs. I’d like to get into writing more posts in advance (a block of writing) but haven’t quite gotten that organised (or ahead) yet.
The posts that take me the longest are the instruction type posts, particularly if I’m taking screenshots to use. The quickest are quick update or note style posts on my personal blog. My gardening blog posts can be quick but often include photographs so that side of thing adds to the overall composition time.
It depends what blog I’m writing for. Articles for my personal blog are usually written in about an hour. Looking, optimizing and putting a picture in place, together with proofreading probably takes half an hour more.
For my blog Istanbul Trails, it takes much more time since I have to do research for it, or go through the notes I took when I visited the spot. For that blog, writing a post can easily go up to three hours.
Cheers,
Max
Usually about half an hour or so. Writing about my profession as a musician is a great advantage because the research part is very small. Writing the music takes a bit longer of course.
I write a dental practice management weblog and it takes me about 40 mins. to write a post. Basically, I get an idea and then the post just flows from that. Sometimes, if I add links it takes a little longer.
Linda
Usually I am blogging about something I have already researched (since my blog is following me starting up a company) so it only takes me about 15/20 mins to write it out based on the research.
If it is a proper article rather than just an update then i will leave it a day or so and then edit it, taking about 30 mins or so to do that.
The best posts take between 1.5 and 3 hours complete. I usually do these at one sitting, with an occasional review a day or so later.
I write three types of posts – original articles, example articles with a resume assessment and recorded interviewers. Average writing times:
Orginal articles: roughly an hour to hour and a half
Example Articles: 30 minutes
Recordings: 2 to 3 hours
I write my articles at least a day ahead and spend 15 to 20 minutes proofreading to catch any types right before I post.
i don´t post anymore everyday, maybe once a week…. so i take close 4 hours and during the week 2 hours per day for to save the drafts for future posts
I tend to incorporate a lot of my own pictures into my blog posts so I spend the majority of my time manipulating them.
I love my subject matter so much that I can write a 400 word post in about 15 minutes.
Anywhere from 15 minutes (when I don’t need research) to 5 hours (when I’m writing a blog series).
Stanley Tang
How long does it take me to write a blog? Depends. I’m a speedy typist so – physically – only minutes. I’m the author of a number of books and articles so – mentally, from conception to birth – half an hour? I’m a perfectionist so – editorially, you want absolute honesty here? – could be days, weeks even.
What do I blog on? Anything that takes my fancy. My catchphrase is: I’m passionate about bringing hope to those who are hurting. So any health, current affairs, social or spiritual issue which is deserving of a rant and a remedy fires me up.
Mel Menzies – author of ‘A Painful Post Mortem’, a contemporary story of love stretched to its limits
1 hour to write post
up to 1 hour to edit
up to 2 hours to get the format right in the WordPress TinyMCE editor, including finding a picture, inserting it, tags, and just plain look and feel. I wish TinyMCE was more like Word. Otherwise, I would post a lot more in a week.
I surf around the net all day…but I write an average of 15 posts a day for three sites…so it takes me about 15 minutes to actually write them after I have found the story and resized pictures and things like that.
it takes me almost 4 to 6 hours to write a blog but i dont write it online at once i just write it down on a paper not necessarily in front of the computer.and then just type it when its done.
It generally takes me between 45 minutes and 3 hours to complete the entire process from research to publishing the post. A lot of this depends on the type of post I’m typing, how much information/experience I already have on the product/topic.
Being that my blog is only a couple weeks old I’m still getting used to the writing process so sometimes posts take me longer to develop. I write my posts in one sitting and before posting, I will walk away for 15-30 minutes to clear my head before proof-reading.
I write these different types of posts:
1. Original articles
2. Product/Website Reviews
3. Interviews
4. Other interesting sites/information
-Justin
Wow, I seem to take a good bit longer than most, probably 3-4 hours, but the posts tend to be more instructional with quite a bit of research and cross checking etc.
Since I broke my neck, leaving me paralysed from the neck down, typing a 1,000 word post (my average length) probably takes a bit longer than the majority of people, at least that’s my excuse!
Including the time spent on research, it takes me about 5 to 6 hours to complete a post.
It can take me as little as 10 minutes on my pet and beauty blog if I already know what to say when I sit down to write, or over two hours to write an in depth product review.
Sometimes it takes longer if I have to find products to feature on Sarah’s Surprises.
I usually sit down and write everything at once, unless the post is taking a long time to write, or unless I’m getting frustrated trying to figure out what to write, or how to phrase something.
My posts, which are about ways to improve your blog, are usually written in 2-3 hours. Of course it varies from post to post. Sometimes I’ll spend 5-6 hours, other times I’ll bang it out in 20 minutes.
Sometimes it can be frustrating when the posts you spend hours and hours on get little response. Yet, the one you threw online in 20 minutes sets the Internet on fire.
I write about cross-cultural communication issues among businesspeople in the West and in Greater China, and about learning Chinese.
Short commentaries on news items related to a topic I’m interested in take about 30-60 minutes from article selection to commentary.
“Bedrock” posts that explore issues related to Chinese culture, cross-cultural communications between East and West, and learning Chinese take me from 2-4 hours to write.
I’d love to write more, but I have a number of ongoing consulting, training, and writing projects that prevent me from writing more of the longer, bedrock posts (and from learning how to add the bells and whistles so many blogs have).
Cheers.
My posts are generally short (250 – 300 words), and are usually making a simple point (in my case, it has to do with encouragement to teachers to use ICT in their teaching). I gather ideas as I go along, recording them on my PDA, and adding thoughts, content and some “flesh” over time. Then, when I sit down to write the article, it takes me about 90 minutes to complete it, edit it and post it.
Usually an hour for the actual writing. I write about 500 words daily.
But then I’m always working on the back end, reading veterinary literature, pet news, etc.
On average then, including research time, probably two full hours per post.
I usually write out my thoughts in my notebook, then type it up a few days later and edit it at that time. Then I post it. This gives time for the ideas to stew and see if I can think of anything else to add, and it helps to come back to it a few days later because you’ll notice more that needs to be edited for grammar and style.
My financial blog takes up to 3 hours per post because I have to take financial language and put it “In Simple Language”. That usually takes quite a few re-writes.
Financialman
5 minutes.I already know what I’m going to write.So it takes a few minutes to set all the links up in my post,to the high ranking dofollow sites that I link to in which are always many.Like just now right before I came here I finished my post saying hey go to Problogger.net cause I have learned so much from there and Darren is always looking for ways to help the new guy.Check it out if you get a chance:)
Thanks for everything
You da man
There are a couple of different kinds of posts I write. Some take surprisingly little time. Maybe 10 minutes plus a little research. I try to do one longer think piece a week and that can take an hour. Interviews also take some time because I have to transcribe them.
I would say about 2 hours on average – from idea conception – thru research and execution. Definitely longer than once might suspect reading my blog entry.