Does Size Really Matter? The Optimal SEO Text Length for Your Content

1. What is the correct SEO text length according to Google?
2. What does Google say about SEO text length?
3. What is the perfect SEO text length according to studies?
4. How do I find the perfect text length for SEO?
5. What are the best tools for creating SEO texts?
6. Conclusion: For SEO text length, quality comes before quantity

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the be-all and end-all if you want your business to be successful on Google. In order to achieve a top ranking on Google and Co. these days, the quality of your SEO content and user experience must be right. Monotonous SEO texts suffering from Keyword Stuffing are a thing of the past. But what does the optimal SEO text look like and how long is it? And to what extent does your Google ranking really depend on the length of the text? We clarify.

What is the correct SEO text length according to Google?

Regardless whether you do SEO for your online shop, YouTube SEO or Web design SEO, in order to score points with Google and other search engines, your SEO content must primarily promise one thing: a satisfactory User Experience. Only those who can fully answer the questions of their users can expect a high Google ranking. The Google Search Console among others provides information about improvement possibilities and the ranking of your SEO texts.

Poorly readable and boring SEO texts, whose only goal is to improve a website's placement, are a thing of the past. But how detailed should an SEO text really be? And what is the perfect SEO text length?

If SEO experts have their say, there is no clear answer here (unfortunately). In order to determine the appropriate length for your SEO content, you must primarily keep the following factors in mind:

• Search Intention
• Context
• User Signals

First and foremost, the search intention of your users. Do they want a brief, cursory answer to their questions or rather a well-researched and informative answer? The important thing is to empathize with users and understand their search intention. Various software is available to support you in this. Among others from the German software developer Quaro

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What does Google say about SEO text length?

Google itself gives little to no recommendation on SEO text length and tends to remain neutral.

Anyone who wants their SEO texts to be included in Google Search in the first place should apply for a Google indexation. To get to the top of the Google index, in addition to the SEO text length, the quality and uniqueness of the content are crucial. In response to the question of the perfect SEO text length, John Mueller, Webmaster Trends Analyst at Google, replied that there is neither a minimum length nor a minimum number of posts per day. The quality of the content is important, as the Google algorithms primarily rate unique and convincing content as good.

What is the perfect SEO text length according to studies?

Studies on SEO text length show that the statistically seen optimal text length for websites and Co. can be determined. However, the large number of different study results proves that there is no uniform perfect SEO text length.

While some studies advocate a text length of at least 2,000 words, others conclude that the optimal text length for a website depends on the topic of the SEO text. In order to still give you an overview of the various studies, we have summarized the most important ones for you here.

Backlinko Study 2020

SEO expert Brian Dean and his team analyzed 11.8 million Google results to answer the following question: What factors are crucial for placing on the first page of a search engine?

The conclusion of the Backlinko study: On average, 1,447 words are used for writing an SEO text. At the same time, the text length of the first ten search results is roughly the same. Thus, text length only influences search engine ranking to a limited extent. Factors such as the number of backlinks, which are responsible for the Page rank of your page, or the quality of the SEO text, on the other hand, determine the placement to a far greater extent.

Source: backlinko.com

OkDork Study 2017

Noah Kagan and OkDork, together with BuzzSumo, specialized in the emotions, images and text length of a successful SEO post among other things. They analyzed over 100 million articles to determine what components make a post attractive to search engines.

The conclusion of the OkDork study: Posts with 3,000-10,000 words are often shared by users – especially via Facebook. This helps them achieve a high search engine ranking. However, articles with less than 1,000 words predominate in the world of the internet. So if you want success with your posts, and therefore a good ranking, you should definitely opt for SEO texts with at least 2,000 words according to this study.

Source: okdork.com

Medium Study 2013

Mike Sall and his team investigated what motivates users to stay on a site and read an article.

The conclusion of the Medium study: Website content that takes about 7 minutes to read is most appealing to users. Converted into the SEO text length, this is approximately 1,600 words – slightly less if the text contains many visual contents. Nevertheless, Medium recommends taking this as a guideline and designing the text length so that all relevant points can be mentioned.

Source: medium.com

HubSpot Study 2015

In 2015, HubSpot analyzed its own content with the aim of identifying the relevant aspects for high traffic, many likes and shares. They examined about 6,000 blog posts.

The conclusion of the HubSpot study: Blog posts and articles with around 2,250 to 2,500 words are the most popular and lead to the highest Google traffic. However, those who prefer shares on social networks should write SEO texts with a length of more than 2,500 words. Although the actual shares of a post do not directly influence the Google ranking, they have a major impact on the link building.

Source: HubSpot

Neil Patel Study

Online marketer Neil Patel also dealt with the SEO text length that leads to success.

The conclusion of the Neil Patel study: Based on his experiences and the study results, Neil Patel concluded that the optimal text length always depends on the content of the website. According to this study, there is therefore no general text length for successful SEO content. Depending on the various contexts, Neil Patel recommends – without guarantee of success – the following SEO text lengths:

You have already written some SEO texts and would now like to review their performance? With the best SEO analysis tools, you can conduct a small study of your most successful posts and the corresponding SEO text lengths.

How do I find the perfect text length for SEO?

As the studies just listed have already shown, there is not one perfect text length for SEO. In order for you to find the optimal text length for your texts anyway, we have summarized a few tips.

Tip 1: Check competitors

Following the motto "Be close to your friends, but even closer to your enemies" you should take a closer look at the websites and posts of your competitors. Especially the top 10 search results are relevant for you, because obviously these competitors are doing something right – also in terms of SEO text length. Is the information concise or are they detailed SEO texts?

Tip 2: Do keyword research

Before you start writing, you should find the most important keywords using Keyword Research. Keyword research tools can help you in this regard. This way, you can find out whether you can combine several keywords in one SEO text or if you should write a separate text for each main keyword. You should also check the keyword ranking in different search engines to find the best keywords for your topic. With the help of a Keyword Map, you can sort the found keywords, compare the SEO texts of your competitors and prepare your post – including text length. When preparing the SEO texts, be sure to avoid Keyword Cannibalism.

Tip 3: Consider media

Considering the reading time of an SEO text, the media contained in it also plays a major role (compare Medium study 2013). The more media included, the longer the reading time and thus the SEO text length. To find the perfect density of graphics, videos and images, you can simply orient yourself to the search results on the first page of the search engine you use. Topics such as “knitting a hat” can score particularly well with media.

Source: Google

Tip 4: Create unique content

Instead of simply copying content from other blog posts and websites, you should create your own content. Find a unique approach to each topic and make your text content as unique as possible. „Copy-and-paste” can really be done by anyone! For your SEO texts to perform top-notch, you should create added value. The more interesting and relevant aspects you mention about a specific topic, the more qualitative your SEO text will become. So focus on quality rather than quantity.

Tip 5: Consider content type

Depending on whether you write for a category page, a glossary entry, a product page, a blog, a landing page or a website, the text length of your SEO project varies. Unfortunately, there is no universally perfect SEO text length for the different categories either. Nevertheless, the rule is: Orient yourself to the competitors and avoid copied or superfluous content.

What are the best tools for creating SEO texts?

Standing out from the crowd with good SEO texts is not that easy considering the amount of online content today. Our users have tested the best SEO tools for writing texts and left their opinions on OMR Reviews. The following SEO programs scored particularly well:

• Termlabs.io

• Ryte

• PageRangers

• Sistrix

• Seobility

• Semrush

• Searchmetrics

• XOVI

On OMR Reviews, you can find all SEO tools in comparison. We have also summarized for you the best enterprise SEO solutions and SEO offpage tools. Now you are spoiled for choice.

For those who can't see the wood for the trees, our guest author Johan von Hülsen has written a guide to the right SEO tool for your company.

Conclusion: For SEO text length, quality comes before quantity

Being persistent in today's SEO competition is easier said than done. Text quality, user experience, context and many other factors influence the search engine ranking of your posts. There is still disagreement regarding the SEO text length. The important thing is that you create unique content with your SEO texts and thus create added value for your users. The SEO text length is secondary.