Word Count for Website Pages?

By: Chris Bachman | March 1, 2016

Website pages should have some bulk in order to convince the search engines there is enough content there to satisfy a search. In fact, believe it or not, research shows that the top ranked pages have over 2000 words on them! ...so much for simple, concise editing. My rule of thumb on word count goes like this...

<300 words....very likely to be ignored by the search engines.

301 - 699 words....pretty solid content and a nice digestible size for a reader. This is where most of my clients end up as far as word count.

700 - 1199 words....if you have something to say and it is well organized you will do very well with this length, remember to keep the important stuff up top in the first 400 words.

1200 - 2000...if you need this much space and can really use it by all means do so, be sure to paginate and indicate that in the code if need be. Use sub-headings!

2000+ you are in "resource document" territory. Not many casual readers will venture here but if your goal is to impress those seeking specific information...this sort of page ranks supreme.

Chris Bachman is a business consultant and Project Director at ProClassWebDesign.com as well as a self confessed serial entrepreneur. He is a regular writer on topics pertaining to marketing, SEO, and business websites as well as an instructor and independent consultant. Learn more about Chris Bachman on Google+ or LinkedIn.