When writing content for a website what is the optimal copy length?

[PorshaAndrea]

My site is currently in the mist of a redesign and I’d like us to compile some recommendations on the length of copy for a page to rank well but can't seem to find any up to date articles on this.Does anyone have any suggestions, comments, or feedback?Thank you.

[EGOL]

I have hundreds of articles on my site and they range in length between 500 and 4000 words - with lots of photos.

My retail pages usually have several hundred words of unique relevant content and they often link to article content (500 to 4000 words) that explains how to use the product, how to select, how to repair, etc.  These are clusters of content around retail products.  In my opinion, it is the best way to rank.... but sometimes your articles will rank better than your retail  --  but, that's OK because we have house ads on those pages to let visitors know that we sell the stuff.

[PorshaAndrea]

Thanks Monica!

[PorshaAndrea]

Thank you for sharing this link.

[PorshaAndrea]

Thank you Hutch, this is very helpful.

[MonicaOConnor]

Google doesn't have a minimum, but as a rule of thumb, I stay above 500 words per page.

Some things to consider are how many links are on the page. You want to keep your HTML to text ratio at about 1:2. It will help avoid duplicate content issues in the future.

Hutch has a great point, you can't limit yourself to fill the target words per page if it will inhibit your ability to convey your message. If you need 1000 words then you need 1000 words.

Just some helpful tips about content writing, make sure to utilize images and try to incorporate some user generated content. Both of these things will help increase the value of your content and offer an advantage to your searchers.

Good luck!

[TheZenAgency]

Yeah i agree with Hutch, Google does not appear to have a minimum/maximum word count for indexing content. So just write as much as is required

[Hutch42]

Write as much copy as you need to convey the information that is needed for your visitor on that page.  If you can create a good user experience on one page with 100 words (by answering the pain that they would be going to that page to solve) and then you need 1,000 words for your next page, then do that to.  Don't make arbitrary copy limits or goals based on SEO, make your pages user friendly and your copy useful and your pages will rank well for the appropriate content.