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Higher word count + quality = Higher SEO results?

by kangen333
9 replies
  • SEO
    • |
Alrighty, so I've began doing some SEO since the end of August off and one, and did SEO back in 2011 but with Senuke and got some results, but I'm strearing clear of black hat SEO this time.

So here it is. I made a hub page that had about 1500 words, and I have spent multiple times revising it for at least half decent grammar or better. The results were awesome, I reached page two and three for multiple competitive keywords. However on my blog, which has an article with no more than 3-400 for a wordcount on average only has about 2 or 3 links on page 2 or 3. This is when I have about almost 60 combined posts and pages on wordpress!

So here is my ultimate question: if you have a post or a page that has TONS of high quality content, infographics, with superb quality, and is linking to highly relevant references and resources... will that rank better than a page with much less content but is still doing everything else right?

What I want to do is focus more on increasing my word count within my existing posts to 7-800 or a thousand +, increase the outward links, and ensure great design. Heck, I might even go for 2000 words +. The reason for this is because I want to ensure my link building efforts won't go to waste. Also, I am doing this is because of the hub page example - it was the first time I wrote a page with that much content, and have achieved great results.

Would it be worth spending time on a page where there would be thousands of words with good quality? It's just I'm not confident on my blog's pages as they only have around 300 words.
#count #higher #quality #results #seo #word
  • Profile picture of the author the brewer
    Kangen, it is great that you want to write great content and offer value to people who read your work. Congratulations on your hub page doing so well. My thinking though is writing large amount of texts in a post or article going to help you in the long run?

    People online have short attention spans and if they see walls of text. People tend to lose interest. Is your hub page working for you? Are people clicking on your call to action?

    It is believed that 8 in 10 people will read a headline but only 2 in 10 then go on to read an article. If you have 700+ words then the chances are you a not going to keep the reader engaged.

    I would keep the word count down and concentrate on getting high PR backlinks to your your written content. It is fine having great rankings with posts and articles but if they are not working for you and making you money by people click your call to action then it is not in your best interests.
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  • Profile picture of the author Cobaki
    I am not sure about the word count because I publish web content on my page that are only about 500 to 1000 words and they are all working just fine. Not a lot of people will take the time to read longer ones. For me, shorter but high quality ones do better in encouraging interaction and in generating traffic.
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  • Profile picture of the author RickCopy
    depends on your niche and your audience and whether you're realistically creating content just for the search engines or for readers. honestly, if you're writing for your readers first and foremost I find it hard to make a decent post that's actually informative and helpful that's less than 1000 words....I dont have too much trouble ranking either way. Ranking has a lot more to do with first page evaluation than it does with word count.
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  • Profile picture of the author mkv23
    Its 100 % un predictable to my experience.

    I have a site with a post having less than 100 words, its in first page of G for it relevant queries, and a page with nearly 1000 words (originally written) but i never found it on G.

    If its your Post it should be news worthy, and if a Page it should be Content with Authority (good backlinks, likes etc.,).
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  • Profile picture of the author yukon
    Banned
    Your not ranking a page for keywords that have decent traffic without actually doing SEO.

    Large amounts of text doesn't rank pages. You might pick up more longtail variations of your keywords but those are one-hit-wonders.
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  • Profile picture of the author C Rebecca
    You got to be careful with excessive content. I have seen some user interaction videos for my websites and have been amazed myself at how some visitors spent so much time reading content.

    I would also add that a lot depends on content placement. That said, if I have some 100 words on a page with appropriate keywords, I think that's gonna be enough.
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  • Profile picture of the author Cobaki
    You really need to decrease your word count if you want to get your page to rank. Not something that has worked for you for a while can work for you forever. Writing really long articles will just make your readers feel bored, no matter how informative it may be.
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  • Profile picture of the author clarkfaint
    Post length doesn't matter as much as your on page. Just make sure you're actually targeting a specific keyword (or tight group of keywords). You could also try adding some relevant pictures and youtube videos (preferably yours). And it already sounds like you're putting your best foot forward on the articles. Human factors like time on page and bounce rate are a factor for SEO.

    If you want to write a lot, you could even consider breaking one of those big posts into a series of posts and interlink them. That will get people clicking through your site and becoming more involved.
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  • Profile picture of the author Cobaki
    Yes, keywords are very important and the way you spread and position them in an article can affect an article's significance in the ranking, as well. Also, if you want your page to have a high-ranking, concentrate on making the content of your website relevant in the eyes of Google.
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