Websites, word counts, and SEO—how many words do you actually need to rank well?

If you have a website, you may have wondered how many words you need on each page for your website to rank highly in Google.

Perhaps you’ve heard or read that you need at least 500 words on a page for it to start ranking? Maybe the number is 600? 800? 1,000? More?!

The truth is that if anyone is telling you there’s a magic number you must hit so you rank well—they’re wrong.

When it comes to Google, word count is not a ranking factor.

This means the number of words on a page has no bearing on how well that page ranks.

None at all.

This is something that Google has outright confirmed numerous times—and if you visit Google Search Central and look up their own SEO fundamentals you can find the following in black and white, plain as day:

“Are you writing to a particular word count because you’ve heard or read that Google has a preferred word count? (No, we don’t.)”

Their SEO fundamentals even state that if you’re answering yes to the above question, then that’s ‘a warning sign that you should probably reevaluate how you’re creating content’.

It’s about quality content and choice of words, rather than quantity.

The number of words should be precisely the number needed to get your message across—no more, and no less.

If you’ve said everything you need to say to adequately cover a topic in only 100 words or 200 words, don’t drone on and pad out your content just to hit an arbitrary word count because you think that’s what Google likes.

It doesn’t.

In fact, Google recommends creating content for people first and not search engines—after all, it’s people who will be using your website. Your content needs to engage them and compel them to act.

BUT (there’s always a but), don’t take this to mean that you can rank highly on any topic for any audience with a lean word count.

It’s about effectively answering search queries.

In essence, Google rewards quality, authoritative, and original content that sufficiently answers what users are looking for.

If the topic you’re writing about requires 500 words to cover it, then write 500 words. If it needs 1,000, write 1,000.

Write however many words a topic deserves, but avoid fluffing on ad nauseum. This does nothing but make users work harder to get the answers they seek, creating a less enjoyable user experience and increasing bounce rates (where users ‘bounce’ away from your website quickly)—both of which sabotage your search engine performance.

Remember, keeping it simple is difficult—which is why we help you make it easy.

Everyone can waffle on and on and on and write a lot of words on a topic. It’s harder to stay concise and still say everything that needs to be said.

Our in-house content creators and SEO copywriters know how to put together words that engage your audience and which Google likes, helping you grow your brand so you can succeed in the digital battleground that is Google’s search results.

Need help with your website content? Start the journey today—contact us on 08 8223 3099 or email info@argon.com.au.