Can you have too many words on a page for SEO?
-
One line of thinking is that you can not have too many words on a page because the more words you have the higher the chances that a long tail phrase will attract traffic. But can you go overboard with this? Is there a limit to the number of words on a page in terms of SEO?
-
I usually add the largest portion of content to the home page, around 1200 words, and then make the inner pages around 300-600 words, but it really depends on what the page is about. If I have a page with a good topic I will add more text as long as it is relevant to the keywords.
-
Irving,
When you say minimum of 500 words on a page, what are you basing that on? Typically, depending on type of page, we look at a low of 100 words and try to max out around 300 if possible. (Obviously, there are exceptions to any of this).
Thanks
-
Minimum of 500 words on a page. If the page is informative and not repetitious you can make it as long as you want you'll never get penalized for adding too much good content. Some wikipedia pages for instance are extremely long.
But the reality is if you're not a site with user generated content
a) who's got that amount of time to dedicate to every single page
b) overly wordy pages on a commerce site kills conversion rates
c) chances are that much content could be broken up into a few pages which all target different keywords better
-
When optimizing your site's txt content, mys suggestion is to write for your audience. Write txt that accurately describes the overall theme and tone of the page. Of course you want to implement certain long tail & short tail key phrases, however this MUST be done in a way that reads for the audience and not for Search Engines.
So to answer your question a bit more directly:
- You want to write enough content that will accurately explain or convey your overall on page message. Typically more than 1-2 paragraphs. How do you know when to stop? When the txt begins to become repetitive or less relevant. Quit while you are ahead
- In regards to long & short tail key phrases, I would keep it to about 20-30% of the overall content. I would split up as follows; Include in the beginning somewhere in the middle and at the end. (I know that sounds simple) The trick is not over doing it and having it read for your audience ! Ask yourself would I read this?
Hope That Helps
-
I completely agree with you, Robert. Content for the sake of content doesn't help anyone, including the SEO working on the website. Each page should have a focus and should stick to that focus; concise, informational and clean. Thumbs up to you, sir.
-
I wouldn't say there is a limit but you if you are writing about a limited topic, the more you write, the less focused your content may become. Although it will improve long tail, could hurt the target phrase you are trying to rank for.
In addition, if you just start repeating yourself over and over again, it wont do you any favors. You are better off writing more succinctly with high quality so that people looking to solve a specific problem can visit that page and find a solution (and hopefully link back to it!). If its too long, it might be harder for a person to find what they are looking for.
-
Well, I disagree with that line of thinking. I think each page should be optimized around a general keyword (with variants as applicable) and that the content should be such that it is something users want. If I am searching and find a page with a 1,000 words and it starts deviating from answering my query, I leave.
Best
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
How realistic is it to get to googles first page
Hello, I cannot say what my website it for, as it is very unique ( or will be for the next 4-6 months ). I am currently developing this site now with the view to launch next month. I will be doing every bit of on-site SEO as possible. Spending countless late nights perfecting it, referring to MOZ checklists and blogs. When the site goes live my team of 4 will be constantly marketing/SEO for around 5 hours each a day. Things like doing guest blogs, normal blog posts, link building .... essentially all aspects that need to be covered. As well we are consulting with an SEO company to help us too. I have 1 main keywords which I need to rank for ( I can't show these ). This keyword has a 62% keyword difficulty, however, the website with number 1 position for this keyword only has 8 Domain Authority and 23 page authority. Given the fact 4 of us will be doing non-stop of-site SEO, aswell as paying an SEO company and in general my content and site structure will be a lot more releveant for the user. Is it possible for me to rank in the top page of google within 3 months of launch, and become rank 1/2 after 4-5 months? Thanks
Content Development | | Matthew_smart0 -
Duplicate Content for Non-SEO Purposes
Duplicate Content for Non-SEO Purposes There are a few layers to this question, but at the most basic level the question is... -Will having the same article (in the form of archived e-newsletter issues) on multiple different websites' newsletter archives HURT those sites? I'm fairly sure it won't HELP any of them in terms of SEO, but will having these back issues of their e-newsletters archived on their websites get them penalized? For the purpose of this question, these are not clients we are doing SEO for, just hosting and their e-newsletters. So it's fine if the archives provide no SEO benefit, we just don't want to leave them up if they will become LIABILITIES for the websites. -If having the same article in archived issues of e-newsletters on multiple different websites WOULD be harmful, would moving these archives to a sub-domain change anything or would it be best to simply take the archives down altogether? -Alternately, would spinning these articles make any difference in whether or not these sites get penalized? -Lastly, would spinning make the articles usable for archived e-newsletters for clients that ARE signed on for SEO services? I have a hunch about this, but I'd love to hear your expert opinions. Thanks!
Content Development | | BrianAlpert780 -
Lonely lonely pages
On my site I have tons of blog posts that have never been visited. (Falls on floor in tears). I of course know why. The content is mediocre in most cases and when it was average to good I didn't market it more. My question is should I go and just scrub the non visited pages or spend the time making these pages better and work on making the content above average? My competition above me do not have as many pages and their ranking is purely (I have researched this to death) from links from sites they have developed - with good authority.
Content Development | | GrangeWeb1 -
Authorship on Pages
Hi there - I have just been told that it is a big "no no" to add authorship to a standard page and that it should only be used on blog posts. Is this true? What are the negative effects of using authorship on a page? I added the rel="author" tag to a page that talks about a member of our team and a few weeks ago his picture started showing next to the search results entry on Google - great for click through rate, however is this improper usage? Any help welcome!
Content Development | | DHS_SH0 -
Can I get Google to re-evaluate my comany's website?
For the last few months I've been rewriting website descriptions for the company I work for, trying to comply with the Panda algorithm as best I could. There are about 400 items. Today I am going to begin working on titles and descriptions. Question: Once I'm finished and have run the site through SEOMoz's pro tools, I would like to have Google look at the site _**in toto **_once the changes have been made so that maybe we can procure some decent organic rankings. Can the site be resubmitted, and what is the procedure? Ps. Today I am asking my fellow employees to help me proofread each description for grammar, spelling, accuracy, and keyword placement. I am also asking for suggestions from them.
Content Development | | RScime250 -
How can i get this map on my site
hi. i have just seen a great map that i would love to have on my joomla website here it is http://www.holidaywatchdog.com/42894-Kolymbia-Holiday_Village_Rhodes-Holiday-Review.html it is the map on the side where it shows where the hotel is, on the right hand side, can anyone tell me how i can get this on my site and pop up on my site without the person leaving my site please many thanks
Content Development | | ClaireH-1848860 -
Deleting a Wordpress Blog Page with no inbound links?
What are the concerns I should have in deleting a WordPress Page that is no longer relevant or a duplicate? Note: This would be a page that does not have any inbound links to it.
Content Development | | CMCD0 -
How many blog posts per page are enough?
Any thoughts on how many blog posts per page are enough for SEO? Assume about 800-900 words per post.
Content Development | | casper4340