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What’s the best tweet length?

Plus: What’s the best hashtag length, word length and reading grade level for Twitter?

Sure, Twitter has a relatively new 280-character limit. But just because Twitter doubled its 140-character limit doesn’t mean you should use all of those characters.

What’s the best tweet length?
Tweet this! What’s the most effective length of a tweet that Twitter users will retweet? The best character limit for a hashtag? The best character count for a word on Twitter? Image by Tero Vesalaine

So what’s the ideal length of a tweet? A hashtag? How else can you make your tweets more readable and engaging? Let’s look at the research:

Get more social media engagement with Ann … >>>

1. How long should tweets be?

So you’ve written your blog post, and now you want to get the word out on Twitter. How long should your tweet be? 190 characters? Longer than 140 characters?

Turns out medium length performs best.

Retweets increase with word count — to a point
Retweets increase with word count — to a point. You’ll get the most retweets if your tweets are between 70 and 110 characters, according to Track Social research. Chart by TrackSocial

Why?

  • Retweets increase with length. You’ll get more retweets if your tweets are 71 to 100 words, according to a Track Social study of 100 well-known brands popular on Twitter.
  • Engagement goes down with word count. Tweets shorter than 100 words get 17% higher engagement, according to research by Buddy Media.

The solution? Aim for about 100 characters.

100 characters on Twitter is the new black. Here’s what 100 characters looks like, including spaces.

Get a writing workout with Ann

Ever wish you had a writing coach — sort of a personal editorial trainer? Now you can, with Ann’s one-on-one content writing coaching. Interested? Contact Ann for details.

 

2. How long should Twitter hashtags be?

What about hashtags? We’ve all seen social media writers use 140 characters to 280 on hashtags. So how long is too long?

Let’s look at the research:

#Hashtags work
#Hashtags work … But don’t overuse them. Chart by Buffer
  • Use hashtags, according to research by Buffer Media. Tweets with hashtags get twice the engagement of tweets without them.
  • But don’t overuse them. Tweets with one or two hashtags get 21% higher engagement than those without, Buffer found. But engagement drops when you add more.
  • Make them short. Keep them to 6 characters or less, recommends Vanessa Doctor from Hashtags.org.

Get the best reading grade level & more for Twitter. >>>

Cut Through the Clutter in Content Marketing

You’ve read the studies: The less readable your content marketing pieces, the less sharing you’ll see. The more information you pack into your paragraphs, the less people will read. Get Clicked, Liked & Shared, content-writing workshop on Feb. 5-6, 2020 in Durham, NCThe longer your sentences get, the less your readers will understand.

Want more tips and techniques for writing readable blog posts and content marketing pieces that don’t overwhelm readers — even on their smartphones?

If so, please join me at Get Clicked, Liked & Shared — our 2-day content-writing workshop on Feb. 5-6 in Durham, North Carolina.

You’ll leave with a free paragraph-by-paragraph analysis of your piece to identify the best opportunities to radically increase readability.

Save $200 when you book by Dec. 31.
Plus: Get a free book if you’re one of the first 5 to register.

Register now.

Book an in-house
writing workshop.

“Good tips and how-to’s for punching up your online content and getting the job done in fewer words.”
— Sara Stewart, account coordinator, Maxwell PR
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December 10, 2019

Get Clicked, Read, Liked & Shared - Ann Wylie's content-writing workshop on Feb. 5-6, 2020, in Durham, NC

Save $200 when you book by Dec. 31.

Register now.
  • What readability level makes sense for your audience?What readability level makes sense for your audience? Even rocket scientists and brain surgeons don’t want it to be harder
  • How to write an engaging blog postHow to write an engaging blog post: Use the Awwwww Factor to make content marketing pieces go viral
  • 8 writing tips I’m thankful for8 writing tips I’m thankful for: These techniques have really helped me out this year
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Upcoming Workshops

Get Clicked, Read, Liked & Shared - Ann Wylie's content-writing workshop on Feb. 5-6, 2020, in Durham, NC

Rev Up Readability - Ann Wylie's clear-writing workshop on April 1-2, 2020, in Austin TX

Think Inside the Inbox - Ann Wylie's email-writing workshop on May 6-7, 2020 in Los Angeles

Master the Art of Storytelling - Ann Wylie's creative-writing workshop on June 16-17, 2020 in Cincinnati

How to Write Better, Easier and Faster - Ann Wylie's writing-process workshop on July 22-23 in Portland

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