Word count and SEO in a nutshell: Most site pages and blog posts should contain 300+ words. Why? Because Google usually ranks longer content higher.
The length of each of your website pages and blog posts matters a great deal. If a page consists of, say, 100 words, Google is likely to consider it low-value content and rank it lower than content that seems more informative and of higher value.
More content often means more on-topic, high-quality information. A higher word count helps Google better understand your content, which is why Google usually ranks longer content higher (especially when that content is well-written and informative). In a longer page or post, you can add more headings, links, and images. You also have more opportunities to mention the keyphrase (or synonyms and related keyphrases).
Word Count and SEO Basics
Word count is part of an overall SEO strategy. Every page on your site, including every blog post, needs to contain a certain number of words to increase the odds that it will rank.
Before we get too far into the rabbit hole, let me pause for a minute. Yes, Google discovers new web pages of varying word counts by crawling the web. Google then stores those pages in their vast database, called an index. And, yes, Google’s ever-changing ranking algorithms at present seem to place more emphasis on quality of content than quantity of words.
Nonetheless, Google places a premium on high-value content, and high-value content often appears in longer-form pages and articles. For example, this post is around 600 words in length. I could have shortened it to 100 words (“just do this!”), but readers and Google both might lack clear context and ignore the post altogether.
6 Word Count and SEO Tips
Here are six word count tips:
- Choose a logical focus keyphrase. The most important thing is to choose the focus keyphrase for each page wisely and use it where appropriate on your page or in your post.
- Include at least 300 words on almost all site pages and blog posts.
- Create cornerstone content to help grow your organic traffic. Cornerstone content consists of the most important information on your website — the pages or posts you want to rank highest in search engines. These long, informative pages combine valuable information from multiple pages and posts. What constitutes “long”? Opinions vary, but experts rarely say fewer than 900 words.
- Write high-value site pages and posts: Good quality content addresses real wants, needs, and pain points. What problems do you solve for your clients, and what guidance do you provide? If you’re stuck, do keyword research to see what your audience wants to know.
- Avoid keyword stuffing: Gaming the Google system is old school. Nobody wants to read poorly written filler content on site pages and posts stuffed with keywords. And by nobody, I mean both readers and Google. Readers don’t like BS. Google doesn’t, either.
- Link to your longer content: On your site pages and posts, include links to your cornerstone content in order to increase organic traffic to that content.
Fast Wins + Zero Fluff = Game Changer
The word count of your site pages and posts can influence your Google rankings. However, word count is part of a bigger SEO picture involving quality content that addresses the wants and needs of your audience.
Not sure what to do or how to do it? I can help.
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