“Does word count in your content affect SEO rankings?” is one of the most popular questions among people who are just getting started with SEO. It has to be acknowledged that in the world of doing SEO to get a website onto the first page of a Search Engine, the most popular strategy for writing content is to know how to adapt to the constant changes in Search Engine algorithms.
Many people who are just starting out with SEO may have come across advice about boosting SEO rankings by increasing the word count in your content, whether from experts or various articles. It is time to seriously understand whether word count actually matters for SEO rankings.
Is “Word Count” a Ranking Factor?
John Mueller, Google’s Webmaster Trend Analyst, has confirmed this himself, stating that word count is not one of the Ranking Factors for boosting SEO rankings. He noted that “simply adding text to a page at random does not help improve SEO rankings in any way, because Google’s algorithm looks for content that is original and high-quality rather than judging by the number of words on a page.”
Why “Long Form” Content Tends to Rank Well
Although Google confirms that word count does not directly affect SEO rankings, you will still find plenty of articles and tools that try to recommend making your content longer. For example, popular SEO Specialist tools such as Yoast and Clearscope also have features that help with counting words.
But in reality, there are a few reasons that should help clear up this question. Even though word count does not have a direct effect, indirectly, writing longer content does help Google’s algorithm find your page more easily. In addition, if your content is an appropriate length and is able to cover the topic comprehensively, Google will view that content as having good potential to be ranked.
How Many Words Is the Right Amount?
At the moment, there is no fixed rule to follow. The recommendation is to review various insights on your website to help determine the length of your content, check your competitors, or use other methods as follows:
Word count is a good metric for comparing the performance of your content against competitors. If you are unsure how long your content should be, one of the best ways to check the appropriate length of your content is to look at competitors who rank better, then study and compare them to see whether you should increase or decrease your content.
- Use Search Intent to Help Determine Length
Besides considering your competitors, don’t forget to always pay attention to “Search Intent,” because having good Search Intent helps people recognize which content is useful and relevant to them. For example, if they want comprehensive information, you may need content that is shorter and more to the point. This shows that Search Intent can help you decide how to differentiate your content by determining its length.
- Check Your Data
Don’t forget to review various insights on your website to find the most appropriate content length, because regularly checking SEO performance is a good way to keep an eye on how the content on your website is currently doing. There may be some short pieces of content that are not ranking as high as you would like. If that is the case, you might try going back to Keyword Research and finding ways to make the content longer, for example.
Ultimately, it can be concluded that optimizing content for good SEO rankings is no easy task, because in the end content has to be suitable in many ways in order to respond to and attract your audience. Word count may not be the main factor that determines SEO rankings, but it can help make your content more appealing to the Search Engine’s algorithm. For anyone just getting started with SEO, you can use the recommendations above as a solid foundation for finding the right length for the content on your website. But remember that every word of your content must always provide good value to the reader, because that is what the Search Engine wants most.
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