SEO Content-Length? Does Size Matter? - greatcontent (2024)

When pondering theideal length of SEO unique content, should you aim for short and sweet or take the 'supersize' approach? Frankly, length matters. When it comes to search engine rankings, you're as likely to find 300-word articles in Google's Top Ten as pieces that stretch to well over 2,000 words.

However, with thousands of businesses competing for better visibility, it's certainly worth taking a closer look at the role length plays in SEO copywriting. The text type often determines the optimum length of a piece, and, ultimately, content quality is always the most critical factor.

Just a few years ago, some SEO experts claimed thatblog postsshould be about 250 words long. Unbelievably, some thought that texts of 250 words were on the long side. Today, 1,500 to 5,000 words are the norm, and a blog post that's under 300 words is likely to be perceived as "thin content".

The Google Top Ten isnow frequently dominated by articles of 2,000 wordsor more. Simply put, longer content produces higher rankings, as astudyjointly produced by Ork Dork and Buzz Sumo so aptly illustrates. Longer content gets more shares and backlinks, and pieces in the 3,000 to 10,000 range perform consistently well.

Longer posts are popular for many reasons: they tend toprovide more information and appear to be more useful or relevant. Ten years ago, Google was less advanced, and there was no need topublishlonger pages as the algorithm wasn't equipped to understand editorial content, meaning it was easier to manipulate SERP (search engine results pages) rankings.

Longer blog posts are also more likely to lead to social shares, again influencing ranking factors and leading to higher placement. A recentstudybyMozandBuzz Sumoanalyzed 1 million websites in their search for the optimal content length for SEO. They concluded that85% of online content was below the 1,000-word count. Therefore, if you want your blogging content to go viral, you should be aiming for longer posts of at least 2,000 words.

As a website manager, your aims are probably fairly clear. You want torank higherand see an increase in organic traffic, which then translates to leads and sales.

According to recentresearch, the volume generated from organic searches to URLs is significantly higher when posts are longer. The optimum post length for SEO appears to be from 2,250 to 2,500 words.

You also want to see yourposts shared and backlinkedas much as possible. Longer posts are more likely to generate quality backlinks which, in turn, affect ranking factors. This handygraphfrom Hubspot perfectly illustrates the relationship between ideal content length and backlinks.

That's not to say that shorter content doesn't have its place. While 1,000 to 3,000 words is a good length for a blog post, the same doesn't apply when users are searching for fast answers to specific inquiries.

In addition, short texts of between 300 and 500 words are the ideal length for landing pages orcategory descriptions, for example, and you can link them to more detailed longer pieces where relevant.

Writers should aim for quality as much as quantity, addressing factors like user intent. These days, Google invariably places higher-quality SEO content at the top of its rankings.

The search engine aims to provide users with the best results and has reached the logical conclusion that longer blog posts are more valuable and more likely to answer a reader's questions.

In SEO,user intentis viewed as evenmore important than keywords. While a specific keyword defines the primary subject matter,user intent speaks to the typeand length of the content itself. For example, someonesearching for information on today's weatherwill generally find that search results withunder 300 words are sufficientto satisfy their needs. However, when a website user wantsmore information, theoptimal blog post lengthfor SEO is likely toexceed 1,000 words.

Algorithms likeGoogle's Hummingbirdare committed to understandinguser intentand the reasoning behind specific searches.

User intent can be looked at most easily as two main categories and two subcategories, and doing so will enable you to find theoptimal blog post lengthmore easily. These categoriesdefine whether1) auser is looking for specific informationrelating to a keyword or 2) they want moregeneral informationon a subject.

The main two categories can then be split according to a)how specific the user is? specific users tend to have narrower search parameters and are less likely to deviate from a keyword or topic. and b)how exhaustive the user is? total users are more inclined to search for more information regarding specific topics.

Themobile-first indexis fast becoming one of the more important elements in SEO ranking as Google strives for ways to address current user trends and make the internet more mobile-friendly.

The basic premise is that yourmobile site becomes Google's starting pointwhen determining to rank. Although called the mobile-first index, that doesn't mean that it's mobile-only since desktop versions will still appear on searches when a mobile version isn't available.

Sites that offer abetter experience for mobile devices are ranked higher, but the optimal blog length for SEO tends to be somewhat shorter.

That's becauseshorter piecesareeasier to read when you're using a smartphoneor tablet. Google recognizes the value of SEO-optimizedmobile-friendly contentand rewards it with higher rankings.

While studies show thatlonger articles(1,500+ words) getmore shares, it is generally thought that shorter landing page texts are the most effective. Keywords and keyword variations should be spaced evenly throughout the page for natural readability, and although users may initially search for just a couple of words, your SEO content should be rich and informative.

If you want to have your content rated as a "rich answer" or are trying to create text that's optimized for long-tail keyword phrases, a shorter and more focused landing page text may be preferable.

To summarize,SEO content lengthis undoubtedly a factor today, but it's alwaysless important than posting quality contentthat offers readers something ofvalue. Because Google searchers can recognize the mainindicators of user experience, great content written by a reliablecopywriting agencywill give you an advantage.

Plus, when you create goodevergreen content, you can add to it and further increase your rankings, as we've done with this original piece.