What’s the “best” word count for SEO copywriting?
The email from a SEO copywriter read, “My colleague’s SEO company is insisting that I write at least 500 words per page. But you said that the best word count is 250 words. What should I do?”
Stuff like this drives me nuts. I call it the Easy Bake Oven approach to SEO copywriting. That is, write 250 words, focus on your keyphrases X times each and pop it into HTML. Voila! You’ll have a top-positioning document.
It’s just not that simple.
The “how long should a Web page be” debate has been flaring fast and furious for years. Long ago, I wrote that a good rule of thumb for SEO content pages was 250 words because:
- It’s easier to gain keyphrase relevancy with a longer word count
- The tone, feel and conversion flow could still be maintained
- I was seeing success (as well as other copywriters) with a 250ish word count
I still preach this rule of thumb. However, it’s just a rule of thumb. It’s true that short copy (think catalog copy) doesn’t seem to position as optimally as copy that’s more fleshed out. And the more content you have, the more opportunities you have to position for a wide variety of keyphrases (especially long tail keyphrases.) But that doesn’t mean that there’s a magical word count for search engine positioning.
Unfortunately, many SEO copywriters think that they have to write exactly 250 words (or more) on every page. This is fine when the writer has a lot to say — articles, FAQ pages and some product descriptions can easily maintain a 250 word count without sounding fluffy. Fluffy, bloated copy can kill a conversion flow just as fast as too-little copy.
However, there are some pages where squeezing 250 words out of the content is impossible. There’s just simply not enough to say. Conversely, some pages actually benefit from a longer word count. It’s not the search engines that should dictate your per-page word count. It’s your customers. What works for them? What word count conveys your information in the best way for your target audience?
Think about this when you’re writing the copy: Have I said everything I could? Have I overcome all objections? Have I showcased the product or service? Is the keyphrase usage seamless? Does the copy encourage the next conversion step? Have I placed my keyphrases in the search engine power positions?
If your answer is “yes,” you’ve done your job. It’s really as simple as that.
That article you put…
I never thought about the word count of my content…I more focused on the content itself and utilizing my H1 and H2 tags. But from the sounds of it doesn’t matter as long as I get my point across. Thanks for the article, great post!
Comment by Patrick — June 15, 2008 @ 12:20 pm
Thanks so much – I’m glad you found it useful!
Comment by Heather — June 16, 2008 @ 7:25 am
Heather I still find myself using 250 as the word count when developing copy. But I’m curious, based on your experience, what you think is the most that can be put on a page that people will feel comfortable reading. I think at some point people will either grow tired of scrolling down or will be overwhelmed before they’ve even begun reading if it’s too much text. At what point would you recommend dividing it into more than one page?
Comment by Scott — June 17, 2008 @ 9:56 pm
Heather less than an hour after reading your post I began reading a column I was reading a column offering 20 things to improve your web site’s chances. One of the bullet points was “Are there at least 250 words of text on your home page to satisfy search engines?” I thought it was funny reading this so soon after reading your blog. Here was one person using this as a criteria for success on the search engines.
Comment by Scott — June 17, 2008 @ 10:26 pm
Hi,Scott!
LOL – that’s funny about the column. Yes, that magical word count seems to be everywhere…I shudder to think how many copywriters are struggling to write exactly 250 words every single time.
The “best” word count can vary. For instance, I’ve read studies that show that folks in more technical fields (think IT) can handle a longer word count. Some pages do benefit from shorter copy.
When in doubt, it’s something to test…eventually, I’ll write a post about using analytics to help improve your content.
Thanks for your comments!
Comment by Heather — June 18, 2008 @ 7:17 am
Heather I imagine your right about people in technical fields read more. I think in their cases they’re likely printing off the text and then reading it. I look forward to your post on analytics.
Comment by Scott — June 20, 2008 @ 11:34 am
I work by the rule of only quality long posts if the quality is kept, re readig what you have write rathar than grammar checking it will make you aware of useless lines of text which may disintrest, personaly the best amount of works if the amount of words it takes to explain in detail.
Comment by Tyrone Campbell — August 4, 2008 @ 9:21 am
I’ve started hearing this more and more lately. It’s not quantity, but quality. I’ve also heard that articles of 300 – 500 words tend to be the best, so I have been striving to hit at least 250 – 300 words and keep the writing brief and to the point. If you think that you’re going to end up making it too long, then that’s the point to stop, reevaluate, and possibly turn it into 2 articles rather than just 1. That’s my thought, anyway.
Comment by Chris — August 5, 2008 @ 7:29 am