What’s the best word count for SEO?
That depends on the subject, the type of page you’re creating content for – i.e., whether it’s a blog, product page, landing page, etc. – and your ability to expound a subject without resorting to fluff, repetition, or convoluted tangents. In other words, content has to be created to suit a particular purpose, and it needs to be the highest quality possible. In many ways, that fact alone matters more than the length of the content.
But there are some minimums to aim for. For any page, aim to have at least 300-500 words of good, original content; for blog posts, a higher count between 800-1,500 words is generally sufficient. And remember that content is as important for small, local businesses as it is for the highest authority sites on the web. We’ve been offering our web design services for businesses in Oxford and the surrounding area for long enough to see the value of rich content for local audiences. Don’t skimp on content just because your readership is smaller.
What is good website content?
It’s not just about getting words on the page, although this is the best way of targeting Google’s index since it can quickly sort through content and identify the various benchmarks of quality.
But different types of content attract audiences and boost SEO in different ways. Video content is a clear winner when it comes to drumming up engagement – particularly short-form content. The pivot to video is definitely not as definitive as some digital markers would have us believe, and there’s still plenty of value to be extracted from written and image-based content. But leveraging the video format to grab attention – even if it’s just for a couple of seconds – is a great way to get more engagement and keep visitors on your site a little longer.
And, as they say, a picture is worth a thousand words. Some pictures are stronger than others – for instance, while stock photography isn’t the worst thing for SEO, it doesn’t tend to go down as well with audiences as authentic photography. Original photos and images are worth far more and haven’t also been used to death by your competitors.
On the flipside, a single strong infographic is probably worth 10,000 words. Don’t overuse them, but keep in mind the long-term value they hold for content repurposing on platforms like social media.
Keep in mind that having a good variety of pages is also key for SEO and means your users are less likely to get frustrated and bounce back where they came from. Single-page websites aren’t great for SEO, so you’ll need more than the bare minimum in terms of content if you want to perform well.
Are blogs still relevant in 2023?
Absolutely. Blogs are great for SEO because they enable you to work to a consistent schedule for enriching the site with quality content centred on key, topical discussions that your target audience are Googling right now. Most industries evolve over time, and what you may have blogged about back in 2010 may not be at the forefront of everyone’s minds right now.
But it’s not just about SEO. Think of your blog as a way of targeting customers’ key questions – by answering them, you’re giving yourself a higher chance of appearing on more relevant searches, but you’re also simply offering more value to site visitors too. Making yourself a credible and valuable resource is just as important as performing well on the SERP.
How often should you post?
There are no hard-and-fast rules about this. You don’t want to post so often that people end up missing half of your posts – after all, no customer is thinking about and visiting your site as much as you are. At the same time, posting too little means underutilizing a valuable tool for driving traffic and boosting engagement.
One to two times per week is a comfortable middle ground for a lot of people. Creating in batches means you can build up a strong content store, which is the best way of ensuring you always have something to post when the next deadline arrives.
There’s no real limit to the amount of content your website needs to do well. As you grow your blog, you’ll diversify your reach across more and more relevant Google searches and with a wider audience of internet users.
