Should you create a series or one big post?

Jessica asked me the following over on Twitter:

“Right now, I’m grappling with writing one BIG massive post on a topic or breaking it down into a series. Would love your thoughts!”

A year ago, I would have told you that I prefer writing a series. But lately I’ve been working to create longer-form guides as blog posts on the things I need to be able to share easily. Here are a few questions to ask yourself when considering if you should create a blog post series or write one big post.

Is this a topic I want to be known for or am asked about often?

It’s so much easier for you — and your readers — to share one link rather than five. Furthermore, people are more likely to take notice of a longer post and bookmark it for future reference. When you write a series, there’s always going to be people who miss parts of it, so you may find yourself answering questions you’ve already answered in previous posts. Also, one big post will give you a boost in search results as search engines will see your post as a more complete resource on a specific topic.

Is it worth the extra time?

Naturally, writing one big post is going to take you more time than writing a series, especially since you then have to come up with more post ideas for the days you could have been publishing a series. If you can’t see yourself spending the time to write one big post and then spending more time writing other posts to fill your schedule, go for the series.

Remember that you can always repurpose your series later, and it’s better to choose the format that’s going to help you get your work out there. Maybe you republish it as one big post with updates and redirect your series posts there. Or maybe you turn it into a free download for your email subscribers.

Can’t see yourself spending time to write one big post? Go for writing a blog series.
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How much do I have to say on the topic?

There’s a lot — and then there’s A LOT. If you find your post reaching novel length, break it up into a series so it’s easier for your readers to digest. Better yet, turn it into an ebook, and pull sections from it that can be easily understood alone as blog posts! Built-in marketing for your new book.

Make sure your blog post is easy to digest. Getting too long? Turn it into an ebook!
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Ultimately, there is no one right answer to this question — there are so many ways you can share your content, and the best thing to do is to pick the one you’ll actually follow through on.

As a reader, what do you think? Would you rather read one big post or a series? Let me know in the comments.

What do you think? Would you rather read one big blog post or a series?
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P.S. A can’t-mess-it-up checklist for creating an awesome blog post.

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