How much does the length of your content factor into your SEO? Is there a “sweet spot” when creating a blog post, for example? In this article we’ll take a closer look…
You’ll find conflicting information everywhere
Depending on the year the article was published or where you source your information from, you’ll hear SEO experts claim vastly different numbers. Apparently the ideal word count for SEO falls anywhere between 250 words and 2,500 words.
And then you’ll find other experts saying that it’s not the length of the content but the quality of the writing / information provided.
So, who do you believe?
According to John Mueller of Google, the number of words in an article is not a ranking factor that Google considers.
That being said, it doesn’t mean that you should ignore your word count entirely or aim for writing as little as possible.
“In as little or as much as is necessary”
One important thing to consider is the content type. For example, if you write 2,500 words for a product description then you are almost certainly overdoing it! Just as if you write the “Ultimate Guide to SEO” in under 250 words then you have definitely not provided the ultimate guide.
As a rule of thumb you should aim to write about a subject in as little or as much as is necessary. If you stick with that mantra when creating content, then you will always create the ideal amount.
There is a correlation between content length and referral links
Another very important consideration is that longer posts do tend to get more referral links which is very important for SEO. There’s a great infographic on Ahrefs that clearly demonstrates this correlation.
This is largely because the longer the content the more information provided and when it comes to citing resources and sharing information, we marketers are always far more interested in providing our readers with as much, in-depth information as possible.
There are more important ranking factors to consider
As you can see, there are more important ranking factors to consider. So, rather than get too caught up in the length, think about the following:
- What is the search intent behind the focus keywords in this piece of writing?
- Does your article meet those expectations?
- Does your content include visuals that add value to the piece?
- Is your writing spaced out accordingly with the appropriate headers and bulleted lists to help improve legibility?
- Have you included certified statistics from trusted sources?
If you keep the above in mind when writing your content and ensure that you cover a subject in full, everything else will fall into place.
Conclusion: Say everything that needs to be said
In conclusion, you really do not need to get too hung up on the word count. The fact is, when you cover a subject in full and provide well-written and genuinely valuable information, you will be far more likely to attract backlinks and thus rank better as a result.
Focus on quality and completion.
If you are struggling to produce content or come up with new ideas, it may be worth outsourcing these needs to the professionals. An SEO agency in Dallas can help you put together a content development plan and ensure that you are hitting the ideal word counts every time with exceptional, ‘share-worthy’ content.
In any case, we hope that this article has been helpful and that you now have a much better understanding of word count in relation to SEO.
