What’s the ideal word count for a webpage?

There are general ‘rules of thumb’ for how long a webpage and a blog should be, but this is only opinion, based mostly on what we expect to see when we look at a well-written website. If you’re asking this question based on what’s best for SEO purposes, again, there’s not really a definitive answer.

Word count alone is not a ranking factor for Google

It’s true. Google does not class word count alone as a quality signal or ranking factor. So, the truth is, there is no ideal word count for a webpage or blog when it comes to SEO.

However, there are attributes of longer content, such as links, that may mean it ranks higher than shorter content. The longer the content, the more links it’s likely to contain.

What do your readers want?

The question should be, instead of what’s best for Google, what’s best for your readers. What length of content do your readers want and enjoy. If they’re looking to you for insight and depth, that’s what will increase your ranking. If they want short, snappy and to the point, then this will increase your ranking.

All content should have the needs of its readers at its heart, not those of search engines’.

Longer form content is back in fashion

We used to think readers had the attention span of goldfish and could only take in a few hundred words at a time. And still, this is true if the content subject only warrants a few hundred words. Remember some readers want this, but it’s always a mistake to add extra words into any page just for the sake of it. Don’t risk turning your readers off with waffle.

If there is quality content to write that answers the intent of a browser’s query, and that’s what the browser wants, then longform content will inevitably rank more than short, but beware, it has to be relevant, and well-written (more on quality in a shortly).

Longer content tends to rank higher… up to a point

Nowadays, folk read a lot of content online. We have evolved from our goldfish-like state!

As such, there has been shown to be some correlation between length of content, particularly of blogs, and higher ranking. HubSpot have said in the past the ideal blog post length should be 2,100-2,400 words but this was taken from their top 50 most-read articles only and a third of these were under 1500 words, so there’s still room for less weighty length pieces.

Rule of thumb for webpages

Again, we stress, there are no definitive answers here, but we suggest around 600 words for an informative sales or information page on a website. Clearly, you are not going to need 600 words on a contact page, so the word count needs to be appropriate for the page.

Word count does not equal quality… BUT…

If you have two competitor companies and, all other things being equal, one has a web sales page of 300 words and the other 600, the 600-word page will likely gain more traction. Again, it’s not word count alone that will secure this, it needs to be relevant and what the reader wants.

For SEO purposes there is no idea length

Truly, there is not ideal length when it comes to SEO so we may as well just say it as it is. There are just too many other factors to take into consideration when it comes to quality content for a reader, than just mere word count alone.

Just make sure it’s quality content

What you can do, instead of looking for the SEO crystal ball is to make sure your content is quality information, written in a readable and engaging way, that answers browsers intended searches.

• Use short paragraphs 
• Use a clear font 
• Make lines no more than 60-80 characters long 
• Include bullet points and headings 
• Use images to support your content

By looking after quality in this way you will enhance your readers’ experience, and that’s really what will look after your SEO in the end.

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