How Much Written Content Does Google Want?
SEO Content. If you’ve been involved in SEO and digital marketing for any length of time, you’ll have come across one of the perennial questions;
“Just how much content does Google want?”
Analysis in the past has shown, quite conclusively, that a search engine likes When it comes to SEO content the rule is “lots of content – the more the better”.
I’m going to concentrate on landing pages here. Pages that have a clear commercial purpose. Pages where you want a visitor to make contact, move to shopping cart, enter details or download your expanded offering.
The content length rules will apply to all pages regardless of purpose; however, the analysis and ideas below are specifically for SEO content optimised for landing pages and designed to rank them in search engines and improve conversion rates.
Conversational pages, narratives or social banter pages, even outer pages on a silo site are not the target of this article and the layout rules will be different for those.
SERPIQ did analysis in 2017 and updated in 2018 revealing, to no-one’s surprise, that long form content wins most battles. There was an almost exact correlation between the number of words on a page and how highly it ranked.
Well over 2,000 words wins. There is one slight anomaly where both the first and second results have the highest word count both in excess of 2,450, the result in 1st place has slightly more words 2,350.
This analysis has been widely reported. The image above has been shared on many sites. I’m going to tell you why this works and why sometimes it isn’t necessarily the case.
You’ll notice every ranking URL in the top ten on Google had over 2,000 words. A long way removed from the days of “500 words is enough”
But, hold on a moment!
The image above doesn’t tell the whole picture. Read on to learn why the amount of content you need depends on the characteristics of the product or service you are selling
The Four Content Types
Academic Content
Academic copy. Explaining ideas and concepts that the reader does not understand. Education is, after all, all about explaining concepts to others who you assume do not understand them. As such this form of content requires the highest number of words.
If you want Google to take your academic work seriously. Particularly if you are introducing a new concept or explaining a unique idea, then a search engine is going to expect you to add citation in the form of links to authority sites that back up the axioms of your work. It will probably expect diagrams or videos. SEO content for academic authority might be described by;
- The old teaching maxim that goes “I hear I forget; I see I remember; I do I understand.”
Images, and if possible, interactive elements all work well in academic content. If you search for some academic phrases. Including those used by industry or science that have real commercial potential, you will often find PDF’s and white papers and WIKI pages dominating Google’s first page. Text is certainly not the only form of SEO content though it is the form Google and the other search engines understand the best.
PDF’s rank and rank well in this space. Videos do very well where a visual explanation would benefit the concept. Be brave, consider creating a PDF or video to either rank or support your website URL in ranking. A screen capture video is often enough Powerpoint and many of the free alternatives like LibreOffice make creating video easy. Powerpoint will convert to video format with no other software required.
Almost all office software, free or otherwise, will allow a document to be exported as a PDF with a single button press.
Authority
Academic copy often achieves authority status better and faster than any other type of copy. It gets cited (natural inbound links) and often provides excellent metrics liker bounce rate and click through rate.
If you can find an academic angle for any product, even a simpler one mas mentioned further down this article, it might be worth spending some time creating academic focussed web pages, documents or videos to support it.
Explanation Copy for Complex Products or Services
Ah, here we are, this is where the 2,400-word SEO content rule works.
If, like me you spend time on digital marketing forums and blogs then this 2,400-word figure is used all the time. However, that is likely because these sites promote relatively complex products. Often software-as-a-service type products. Perhaps consultation or proposals that relate to the often-changing environment of the internet.
These topics require some explanation. A pair of terms you should consider when creating content for complex products or anything that requires an explanation of use or process to sell are;
- Don’t make the visitor think too hard
- Don’t make the visitor click away from your landing page to find out basic information
Keep your SEO content sharp. Add images to highlight your points. Make sure you hit all the major initial questions that a potential buyer would ask. Even if this means repeating in short form content you have elsewhere on your site.
This is a landing page not a blog page. The desired result is not click through to another page on your site unless that is the shopping basket or contact page.
The PVPT Rule
This might be a good place to add the rules for a converting landing page. If you scan the internet for the most successful landing pages, they almost all follow the same layout rules. So, in case you aren’t sure what they are. Here goes.
P for Product
Right at the top of the page needs to be your product. What are you selling or offering? IN as few words as possible. The title of your product, service or offering, and if the title does not make it clear what it is (and in some markets it doesn’t) a brief description.
For example, “Fremax 11 (B/C37_) 1.7 (B/C37L)” is a product name. But for most people it means nothing. The manufacturer is not a household name and the list of numbers that follows would mean nothing to most people.
In this case it’s a break disk for a well-known make of car.
Add these details if you are doing a landing page for a product of this type to the very top. Reassure visitors that they are on the right page.
V for Value
Once the product is established the next thing to answer is “Why buy this product from you”
What is special about the product or service. Does it have a USP (unique selling point)? Why would the visitor benefit from buying from you as opposed to someone else?
This is not the place for longer SEO content rich descriptions.
“V” is an overview of the value you and the product offer. What problems does it solve and why are you the best option to buy from?
In the case of our motor part example above you might have
Genuine parts from manufacturer approved part supplier with 30 years’ experience.
Price match guarantee, 72 hour delivery option available, 5 star rated on Trustpilot
The first P and V should always be above the fold and followed – also above the fold – by a clear call to action (CTA)
P is for Proposition
The second P is where you expand on the details of the product or service.
Sticking to the example of the motor part this is where you might have a feature list, details of your own part fitting service. Here is also where you might pay Google a bit of SEO service by expanding on what the product is in more detail.
It does depend on the complexity of your product, but this section could feasibly be anywhere between 150 and 1000+ words in length. This is the place on your landing page where you can craft precise SEO content optimised for your main keyword and other associated phrases to support it.
T is for Testimonials
We are normally well below the fold here. The viewer who knows exactly what they want does not get to this point down the page. But these testimonials are still vital. These are to convert the unsure. To reassure visitors who might be choosing between buying from you and someone else.
You don’t want to lose a sale at this point. You’ve done all the hard work. Seal the deal with solid testimonials.
New products or new companies may have issues here. It’s hard to have a testimonial for something you have never done before.
Here you have some options. You can offer testimonials based on yourself and experience rather than the product you are selling. What qualifies you to sell this product? How good is the product itself and how trusted is the producer?
These are not the best but should still be included then replaced for testimonials that represent your own experience as soon as you get them.
You can induce good testimonials by various means, offers etc. In the EU and USA there are laws regarding what is legal in terms of incentive-based testimonials so be aware of these. It’s hard to write specific SEO content here as it is supplied by your previous clients or customers, but rules on headers, spacing and readability should still be kept. Don’t let your well crafted page turn into a jumble here.
After the second P and the final T – add clear calls to action. Links to your sales, shopping cart, contact or download page whatever is your primary commercial purpose.
The bulk of the SEO content is the proposition and testimonials. This can easily be a few thousand words if the product is complex.
Everyday Products or Services
Dip down here, content level, in terms of words would be 1200 or below here. PVPT does not really apply.
This is where the product is well known. Almost everyone will understand what it is you are selling and what it does just from a basic title or description.
In terms of page layout, the initial product and value would still be top; however, the proposition level will be much shorter. Perhaps under 100 words. It is unlikely testimonials would be needed at all.
Still get the product and value and first call to action to appear above the fold on a HD screen.
The challenge for these common products is;
How to Write Unique Content for Common Products or Services
This is hard. How can you write for a common product in a unique way?
Re-writing is often Ok, but in very competitive markets, I would go a step further and do something different. Here your friend is the review article
Reviews are written in a narrative personal tone. It’s very easy to be unique. Put your own spin on a product.
If reviews aren’t your thing then comparison lists work well for some. There are website themes that CMS like WordPress have that allow users to quickly create professional looking comparison charts and tables. Feature lists, star ratings etc. Very little text required, and you can choose which products to compare.
Unique SEO content is not quite as vital where you are dealing with commonly known items. It is, for example. ok to repeat small blocks of text if you sell several very similar products. But write the original block yourself. Then use it where required.
Catalogue Listings
Catalogue sites. Lists of products, often many products on a page, Categorised by type and with very limited descriptions. Often the colour, weight and price or similar characteristics with a 20-word mini description.
How do these sites rank?
Simple. They don’t rank these pages. They rank category level pages.
This level is all about the setup of the website. The individual product pages are not the ones you optimise for. One level above a set of similar products you should have a category page. I often see these blank or just with a list of products on the, These are however, the pages you should be adding SEO content to, then with a clear link to the product pags underneath.
This approach is a little bit the “lesser of two evils” You are requiring a click to get to the products themselves, and as you know the fewer clicks the better. But writing solid SEO content for every product where you may have hundreds of similar products on a website is not feasible or even possible.
The content on the category page should be similar to that you’d create for a complex product or service (above) .
SEO Content for Links
It goes without saying that all of the content on your website should be hand crafted, SEO optimised, unique and laid out for the best conversion possible.
That doesn’t mean you have to write this yourself of course. Professional copywriters are available and sites like Iwriter offer a tiered pricing stricture where I’ve found the top two levels provide excellent copy that I can review before I pay.
But when it comes to creating links, even outsourcing to a cost-effective service like Iwriter is way too expensive for most. Your first-tier links need a good standard of content surrounding them. A link without content is almost worthless. It might get crawled, but it probably won’t get indexed.
After all, Where would a search engine index a blank page? Under what term would they put it and how much authority would that page get (clue – absolute none – ever)
1st tier links (those that point directly to your money site) need very high-quality content and second tier links. Those that power up the direct links. Need decent content.
That’s a lot of words, and those words need to be contextual to the keywords you are looking to rank for and relevant.
2,400 words on your landing page probably needs 24,000 words of SEO content spread across the first-tier link URLs to support them and maybe as much as 240,000 words on your second tier.
Unless you are a world class super speed content creator or spend a fortune on copywriters, you aren’t going to get close to fulfilling that need by hand.
That’s where content creation tools come in. Not for your website, but for your links. There are some brilliant tools out there. This SEO content tool for links is the best. By far.
Summary
- SEO content requirements are dependent on your niche. Complex or academic products, services or ideas need a lot more content than simple or common ones.
- Lay your page out for conversion. Product and value above the fold followed by a solid call to action. Add proposition and testimonials below this if the product or service demands it.
- Be creative if you need to. Use reviews or comparisons to help make your writing unique and Google friendly
- Make sure your site has an SSL certificate if you are selling something. People always glance at the corner of their browser. No tick or green URL means many will never consider getting their wallet out.
- Good, fast safe and reliable hosting is vital. Cheap $5 a month hosting is almost always a false economy
- Links need content. Lots of links need a lot of content. Consider using content tools that feed directly into whatever linking method you use.