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Many companies highly value long-form content; in-depth instructions over 2,000 words are common. But it’s important to remember that content quality, relevancy, and the number of reliable backlinks it creates are more important than strictly adhering to a word count for SEO optimization.
Is there a minimum word count for Google?
The word count of your web page or blog post is irrelevant to Google, as Google does not use word count as a ranking factor. In August 2019, John Mueller declared, “Word count is not a ranking factor.” That said here are a couple of guidelines that have proven efficient:
- Sales Landing Pages: 350 words is the minimal word count; however, the length of the content varies depending on the service or product and what the reader needs to view.
- Blog posts: It is contingent upon the search term. Generally, for extremely specialized requests, at least 250 words. Some questions are better suited for a lengthy response.
- Longer content? Read below on 2,000 words.
It’s not necessary for content creators to always develop long-form content. To “help the page rank” and highlight high-quality content, writers are not required to heedlessly add more content to already existing pages.
From our point of view, the number of words on a page is not a quality factor, not a ranking factor. So just blindly adding more and more text to a page doesn’t make it better.
John Mueller in 2021 So, create the best content you can to both answer the user’s question and give them the attention-grabbing response they desire. Despite Google not having a formal word count guideline, research indicates that longer blog posts rank higher. Ahrefs found a moderate relationship between organic traffic and word count (up to 2,000 words). The somewhat negative association observed in text longer than 2,000 words is noteworthy. This implies that a higher ranking is not a given for longer content. Not more words will result in more visitors. That said, kink popularity can be increased by longer content. Yes, certain broad subjects are well suited for in-depth writing, e.g. what is b2b marketing? However, you’ll confuse your reader if you try to write 1,500 words about menial topics. People want their questions answered, not to be forced to read through fluffy, pointless stuff. If the search query can be answered in 500 words, just type 500 words.
Are You Ready for First Page Rankings?
Is there a minimum word count for SEO?
Before you write, see who your top ten competitors are and what content length they are using. For your viewers, “fluffing up” a page to satisfy a word count requirement is terrible. and it won’t improve your Google search engine rankings. As John Mueller of Google put it, “It’s difficult for search engines to figure out what you’re trying to say” when it comes to fluffy content. There is no percentage to adding more text “just in case,” thus shorter copy can still be positioned well. Write with the intent to answer the question not to please the search engines. For example, research your top 10 competitors:
- How are people searching for the keyphrases you want to use?
- In what way have other websites handled the content? While you don’t want to mimic them, you still need to figure out how to set your content apart.
- Does the rival website have links to other websites? Although they are beneficial to your users, outbound links to reputable websites won’t improve your SEO.
- How could you make the page title more clickable than the one currently ranking?
- Are there any ranking opportunities not exploited by your competitors?
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