Word Count & SEO: What Content Marketers Need to Consider

If you’ve ever written a blog post or article online, have you ever wondered, how long is this supposed to last?

In other words, what is the ideal length of web content for SEO purposes?

Depending on the year and source, you may hear that the ideal word count for SEO ranges from 250 to over 2,000 words per piece.

Proponents of lower word counts will argue that it’s not the number of words but the quality of the information and the number of backlinks that matter most.

Those who advocate higher word counts claim that fewer words will be classified as “rare” content by search engines and therefore will not rank as high as their more detailed counterparts.

So what is the truth? Does word count really matter that much to search engines? And if so, what is the best duration for pieces of content?

According to John Mueller of Google, the source from which so much knowledge about search engines flows, the number of articles is not included in Google’s quality scores.

So that’s it, right? Case closed, the shortest article in Search Engine Journal history confirmed that you don’t have to worry about word count.

Word count isn’t a direct SEO ranking factor, but it’s still something you need to keep in mind.

Throughout this article, we’ll discuss why this is important, how the length of your pieces can indirectly help and hurt your ranking, and provide some tips to help you write pieces that are the ideal length for your needs. .

“Go With 2,000 Words & An Optimized H1”

That’s SEO advice in a nutshell.

But is it best practice, common knowledge or an urban myth?

As mentioned earlier, there is no consensus on the perfect word count, but there is a general rule of thumb to follow: generally speaking, long-form content tends to outperform shorter content.

If you think about it, this makes a lot of sense. Google’s algorithm looks to measure search intent, and longer pieces help give you a better idea of what’s on your page.

So bigger is always better, right? Not necessarily.

If you’re just fleshing out articles by adding extra phrases, unnecessary adjectives and adverbs, or purposely taking a circuitous route to the point, you’ll turn readers off. And it will hurt your quality scores.

Therefore, each article needs to be as long as necessary. Clear as mud, right? Don’t worry. We will explain better.

It’s Not Content-Length That Ranks An Article – But The Backlinks That Are Correlated With The Length

Yoast conducted a study in 2022 that included information on the correlation between post size and SEO ranking. He determined that a minimum word count depends on the type of page.

As a general rule of thumb, Yoast suggests that taxonomy pages (those used to classify content and data) should be 250 words or more, posts and regular pages should be 300 or more, key content pages should be north of 900 words, and Product pages only require 200+ words.

As you can see, there’s a lot of variety.

Taxonomy and product pages tend to work well with fewer words because they are highly specific. And users often don’t access them directly from search results and instead dive into them at the top of the site.

For example, if you’re shopping for a new set of kitchen knives, you probably aren’t looking for [Wusthof Performer Chef’s Knife 8”]. Instead, you’ll search for [Good Chef’s Knife] and drill down to the Wusthof or retailer’s general page.

At the end of the spectrum, longer content is often more focused on providing useful information. This, in turn, tends to earn you more backlinks.

Ahrefs.com screenshot, September 2022

A 2020 study by Ahrefs analyzed around 900 million web pages and found a strong positive correlation between word count and the average number of referring domains.

In another 2020 study, Ahrefs found that nearly 91% of all pages never receive organic traffic. And that seems to be predominantly because they don’t have backlinks:

“It appears that 66.31% of pages do not have a single backlink. And 26.29% of the pages have links from less than three sites.”

So the impact of content length on rankings seems like a two-step process rather than a “longer, higher ranks” equation.

The path to ranking success looks like this:

It seems that what may be ranking the site is not so much about the length of the content itself, but more about the number of links the page has received.

Tabs, skyscrapers, pillar pages and content hubs are the most interesting link destinations. Therefore, it is recommended to create the most conclusive, interesting and in-depth content on the web and to do a wide publicity campaign for it.

Making it sexy might not even need more words. Instead, it might just be a matter of more accurate targeting, better charts, or detailed market research results.

Answer Search Intent Effectively By Starting Your Article With The Most Important Information

Ahrefs advice on content length:

“Don’t shoot for a specific word count – just make sure you cover a topic in full. Whether that takes 500 words or 10,000, the key is that you are creating the best resource available for your target keyword.”

In other words, your content should be as long as necessary to provide search bots with enough information to determine what it is about, and long enough to satisfy user queries.

What Does It Take To Satisfy Search Intent?

For many years, SEO professionals have tried to write longer content, regardless of the usability cost. This led to super long, fluffy pieces instead of the relevant word count for your purposes.

It may also have inspired Google to send out the featured snippets – and give them answers instantly, instead of providing a bad user experience with scrolling marathons.

Screenshot of Google search, September 2022

It wasn’t long ago that a query “how to lower bounce rate” would return first page results that talked about the importance of bounce rate for 700 words before even revealing the first tip on how to lower it.

But if we needed an introduction to bounce rate, we would have googled it. These pieces clearly fail at search intent.

Fortunately, Google has gotten smarter and these types of returns are less common than before, but they should still serve as an invitation to rethink content creation and meet search intent.

I recommend turning your content structure upside down – and thus adding value to the user from the first second they land on your page.

Turn your SEO article into a journal article or executive summary:

Most important information first = Answer the question.

Then dig deeper as the play continues and detailed focus users continue reading.

Second, give users a clear path to convert and make next clicks.

This is important for your business, revenue and marketing goals, but also for users who came to the site with a certain intent. Make it easy for them to find what they need.

Fluffing Hurts The Content Ontology & Thus Your Keyword/Topic Targeting

The main reason I would like you to think about satisfying search intent is the ontology of content and the hierarchy between keywords and articles.

This is something Google is also considering, as thin pages, duplicate content, and keyword cannibalization can all negatively affect your SEO results.

Getting your search intent right will also allow you to create a clean site architecture, making it easier for Googlebot to crawl and index your site.

If we’re looking for 2,000 words to write about a topic like “apples” (as per best practice), we’ll quickly realize that most writers and SEO professionals tend to talk about “bananas” and “oranges” when running out of things to say about “apples”. They are trying to hit their word count goal no matter what.

This is diluting a page’s keyword targeting – and its ability to hit search intent.

Instead of making it clear to Google that this is the best page about “apples”, we are now confusing both users and the search engine about the purpose and topic of the content.

We call this content cannibalization when we talk about “fruits” in general to vigorously extend our article on “apples” to hit the target word count.

It’s called keyword cannibalization when we confuse Google so much that it doesn’t know which piece to rank for the query “apples”, which causes it to switch back and forth between the two – hurting its overall ranking performance.

The objective of creating the best content in “apples” will determine the duration of the content.

How Articles Rank: Satisfying Intent, Appropriate Word Count & Backlinks

If we keep in mind what page one competitors are currently doing in terms of content length, satisfying search intent, giving the best answer and inviting users to convert – not only do we create content that will rank well – we also create a piece which makes a great backlink target that will lead to successful rankings.

It’s Time To Move On From Word Count Obsession

In the early days of SEO, ranking high for a keyword often meant inserting that word or phrase into your content everywhere. Those days are long gone, and with them gone the hard and fast requirements for content length.

Yes, this article claims that longer is generally better for SEO purposes, but it’s for a more roundabout reason than you might think. And a higher word count alone will not help you rank higher.

Instead, you need to create quality content with the information searchers want.

Remember why users are coming to your page; fulfill their intent and give them what they are looking for.

By doing this, you will also make your content an attractive backlink for other content creators. And by the way, it’s a good idea to run outreach initiatives to build inbound links and increase your site’s credibility in the eyes of Google.

Featured Image: Many People/Shutterstock

In-post images #3-5: Paulo Bobita/Search Engine Journal

If you’re still wondering, “Is SEO worth it in 2023?” The answer is a resounding yes. ’ The process of adding keywords and metadata to your website will change over time, but the fact is, SEO is still one of the best ways to get your website to rank higher in organic search.

Is a low SEO difficulty good?

If it’s low difficulty but the keyword doesn’t have search volume, you won’t get traffic. On the other hand, without relevance, you won’t rank for the keyword even if the difficulty metric is low because the search intent doesn’t match your content type.

What is a good SEO difficulty number? To rank for them, you’ll need to produce quality, relevant content. 30-49: Possible. For these keywords, you’ll need quality content that is not only well-optimized for your target keywords, but also very well organized and structured. 50-69: Difficult.

Is keyword difficulty important?

Keyword difficulty is really important. Some may use it to determine which keywords to target and which keywords to disregard. Most of the time, it shouldn’t be a metric that determines whether you target a keyword or not. It’s simply a metric that lets you know which keywords will be the easiest to rank for quickly.

Is High keyword Difficulty good?

The higher the keyword difficulty, the harder it is to rank in the 1st SERP due to high competition from ranking sites. There are many factors (external and internal) that influence keyword difficulty, including the quality of your competitors’ pages and the quality of your page.

What is a good number for keyword difficulty?

With Semrush, you can understand the relative difficulty of a keyword using the keyword difficulty score (KD%) metric. It is displayed as a percentage, ranging from zero to 100. A score of zero means that a keyword would be very easy to rank for, while 100 is the hardest.

Do keywords really matter?

If you ask whether keywords in queries are essential for providing a list of relevant files to satisfy an information need, the answer is no. But if you ask whether keywords are important for Google’s indexing and retrieval system, the answer is absolutely yes. Let’s take a closer look.

What is low keyword difficulty in SEO?

Low competition keywords are keywords that you can rank for without much effort. Typically, you won’t need to build a lot of links or have high site authority (domain rating) to rank and get organic traffic to your site.

What is a low difficulty keyword?

This helps you to assess your chances and gauge how much effort you will have to put in to achieve your desired SEO ranking. A keyword with a low difficulty score is easy to rank high. You don’t need to invest a lot of resources and you can expect relatively quick results.

What is a good number for keyword difficulty?

How do you analyze keyword difficulty?

That’s why, to calculate Keyword Difficulty, we look at the search results for a keyword and look at the number of referring domains that the top 10 ranking pages have. In simple terms, the more referring domains on the top ranking pages, the higher the Keyword Difficulty.

What does SEO keyword difficulty mean?

What is keyword difficulty? Keyword Difficulty (KD) is an SEO metric that estimates how difficult it would be to rank on the first page of Google for a given keyword. It is measured on a scale of 0 to 100, with the latter being the most difficult to rank.

Can I learn SEO in a week?

☝️ To learn the basics of SEO, you need to spend 4-6 weeks studying SEO every day for at least a few hours. Once you’ve mastered the basics, you can decide if this is the career you want to pursue.

Can I learn SEO in a month? While it’s a long career journey, you can actually learn SEO in about a month – enough to make a big impact on your website, and therefore your business as a whole.

Is it hard to learn SEO?

SEO is not that difficult to learn, but it can be confusing and overwhelming to get started. Learning SEO means learning about a long list of individual digital marketing strategies, which can feel a bit like adding new weapons to your arsenal while you learn how to wield them.

How long will it take to learn SEO?

If you learn SEO for a few hours every day, you can master SEO fundamentals in 4-8 weeks and land your first SEO job in 3-6 months. If you learn SEO full time, you can master the basics even in 1-2 weeks.

Can I learn SEO in one day?

No, it’s not rocket science, but you also won’t learn how to do this overnight, or even in a year. If you start doing your own SEO, you will likely hurt your rankings and end up in a worse position than before.

Is it hard to study SEO?

SEO isn’t necessarily difficult to learn, but it does take time, effort, and persistence. If you’re just starting out and don’t know anything about search engines and how they work, it might feel a little overwhelming initially, especially if you’re trying to learn SEO on your own. However, it’s important to keep trying.

Can I learn SEO myself?

SEO is not easy. But it’s not rocket science either. There are things you can implement right away, and there are concepts that will take a lot more time and effort. So yes, you can do SEO on your own.

How quickly can you learn SEO?

Experts say it usually takes one to three months to learn the basics of SEO and a year or more to fully master the practice. How long it takes to learn the basics of SEO depends on several factors.

How long can it take me to learn SEO?

Is SEO easy to learn?

Can I learn SEO in one day?

Do SEO jobs pay well?

An entry-level SEO with less than three years of experience earns an average salary of ₹2.5 Lakhs per year. A mid-career SEO with 4 to 9 years of experience earns an average salary of ₹4.7 Lakhs per year while an experienced SEO with 10 to 20 years of experience earns an average salary of ₹7.8 Lakhs per year.

Is SEO marketing a good career? The simple answer is yes, SEO is a good career. SEO professionals can earn good money, achieve a comfortable work-life balance, find an industry position that suits their natural skill set, and challenge themselves creatively.

Is SEO high paying?

On average, an SEO specialist earns $49,000 per year, with the median salaries of SEO managers significantly higher at around $63,000. At the top are SEO Directors, who typically earn between $70,000 and $120,000, and SEO Team Managers and Campaign Managers, in the $50,000 to $100,000 range.

Is SEO in high demand?

Specialization in SEO is more in demand there, which means that those with less experience have access to higher paying jobs.

How much can you make working in SEO?

According to Edoxi’s Salary Trends Report, which forecasts salaries for digital marketing jobs in the coming year, entry-level SEO specialists in the US can expect a starting SEO salary of $35,000, mid-career SEO specialists likely will earn closer to $47,000. , and experienced SEO specialists will earn an average of $65K in…

Does SEO pay well?

The average salary for an SEO specialist in the US is $54,508. The average additional cash compensation for an SEO Specialist in the US is $5,205. The average total compensation for an SEO Specialist in the US is $59,713.

Is working in SEO a good career?

‘ Yea. SEO is a good career option as it is among the most sought after careers in the field of Digital Marketing. There are several organizations all over the world hiring SEO professionals to generate better content and consequently produce more business leads.

Is SEO an in demand skill?

Masters Program Pro Tip for Digital Marketing Specialist: Learn these and other skills with a structured SEO certification course. SEO professionals are in high demand as businesses need search optimization to compete in most niches.

Is SEO a stressful job?

Any job can be stressful based on the type of performance required by your company. It’s the same with SEO related jobs. However, it’s not as stressful as IT or other programming-related jobs.

Does SEO pay well?

Is SEO a hard job?

Is SEO a stressful job?

Any job can be stressful based on the type of performance required by your company. It’s the same with SEO related jobs. However, it’s not as stressful as IT or other programming-related jobs.

Is SEO a long term job?

There are different search engines and all the most popular search engines keep changing their algorithms to display the results. So SEO is definitely not a bad idea in the long run.

Is SEO fun for jobs?

It is the broader field of marketing. As a result, there is so much to learn and discover that a career in SEO is challenging and rewarding, exciting and interesting.

Is SEO job tough?

What are the 3 C’s of SEO?

Simply put, the fundamentals of SEO can be boiled down to the 3 Cs: Content, Code, and Credibility.

What are the 3 most important on-page SEO factors? Top 5 on-page SEO factors

On Page SEO Factor 1 – Keyword Research: …
SEO Factor On Page 2 – URL Optimization: …
On Page SEO Factor 3 Meta Tags: …
SEO Factor On Page 4 Header Tags: …
SEO Factor On Page 5 Content Optimization:

What are the three stages of SEO ranking?

The three stages of ranking are: discoverability, relevance, and authority.

What is a ranking model?

What is a classification model? Classification is a type of supervised machine learning (ML) that uses labeled datasets to train your data and models to classify future data to predict outcomes. Simply put, the goal of a ranking model is to rank data in an optimal and relevant order.

What is a ranking algorithm?

A ranking algorithm is a procedure that ranks items in a dataset according to some criteria. Ranking algorithms are used in many different applications such as web search, recommendation systems and machine learning.

What are ranking metrics?

Rank-Related Metrics. Ranking is a fundamental problem in machine learning, which attempts to rank a list of items based on their relevance to a specific task (e.g. ranking pages on Google based on their relevance to a given query).