Prior to a hydraulic fracturing treatment, ΔSGPS for a desired propped fracture length, DPST, may be estimated wherein ΔSGPS=SGprop−SGfluid (SGprop being the specific gravity of the proppant and SGfluid being the specific gravity of the transport fluid) in accordance with Equation (I): ΔSGPS=(A)×(1/qi)×(DPST)B×(1/CTRANS)×(1/d2prop)×(μfluid)  (I) wherein: A is the multiplier and B is the exponent from the Power Law equation of velocity of the transport slurry vs. distance for the fracture geometry; qi is the injection rate per foot of injection height, bpm/ft; CTRANS is the transport coefficient; dprop is the median proppant diameter, in mm.; and μfluid is the apparent viscosity of the transport fluid, in cP.