Creating high-quality, relevant, and search engine optimized content is a critical part of getting your website to rank well on search engine result pages. The question that arises when you understand this is, how long should the content be? In this article, we will look at why word count matters and what word count you should be targeting.

Why Word Count Matters

Word count matters because the right article or content length allows you to adequately address the subject of your content’s title and satisfy the needs of those reading the content. Remember that many people turn to search engines to find answers and solutions, and your content should provide both when they reach your page.

Second, longer content allows you to use more varied keywords. Google has made changes to its algorithms to better understand context, which means long-tail keywords have a lot of weight. Longer content allows you to use more long-tail keywords with different variations.

Long-form content has also been shown to get more social shares and backlinks. This is because you can address more topics in longer content, providing more opportunities for shares and backlinks.

So, what is the optimal word count?

Blog Posts

Blog posts should be at least 500 words and ideally 1000 words. However, you might need to create posts that cover a subject in more depth and so a word count of about 1500 should be adequate. This recommendation is because you need to get to the point quickly and give your users the information and answers they seek without fluff.

Educational Content

Educational blogs should be longer due to the type of material this type of content typically covers. You might need to explore a topic in more depth because you are teaching people a process, product, concept, or topic they are unfamiliar with.

The clear and thoughtful instructions and explanations are what make long-form content more appropriate for this type of content. Aim for about 2000 words when writing educational content. Going below this limit might lead search engines and users to conclude that you have not covered the topic in enough depth.

News Articles

News articles are great for SEO and for building authority. This is especially true if you cover stories that get picked up by other publications, therefore leading to mentions, shares, and backlinks. There is typically little room for opinions and so this type of content should be about 600 to 800 words.

This range allows you to provide the necessary details without going off-topic, but it leaves room for optimizations such as keywords and relevant quotes.

Landing Pages

Landing pages attract visitors and drive conversions. Their main aim is getting people to your call to action or funneling them to other parts of the website. For these reasons, their ideal length is about 500 words. This length is enough to provide all the details you need to but short enough to not cause additional bounces.

The answer to the optimal length for blog posts and SEO content is, it depends. Try to cover your subject as thoroughly as possible, keeping the reader in mind and avoiding fluff.