Mar 24, 2017 : Does Your Site have Too Much Content?
📅 - Is it actually possible to have too much content Could content be your problem instead of your ally?
When it comes to content, those saying you may have too much are those looking at the bounce rate. While your bounce rate is important, it's also important to have great content, as that's the reason people come to your website.
There are two sides of this equation and it really doesn't come down to how many blog posts you have, but it's more about how long the blog posts are. One side believes longer equals more SEO benefits, while the other side believes shorter helps to keep your bounce rate down.
When Shorter Content Makes Sense
If your blog or website has been designed to sell something, shorter posts make sense. You want to get right to the point and get to that call to action fast. If you take too long, your visitors may leave before they act. Most visitors have a short attention span, so you cannot go longer with blogs if you're trying to sell.
Even in this case, you can't go too short. You still need enough content to explain what you're selling. It can be rather challenging to do this in just a couple hundred words. You have to get to the point, grab attention and get the person to act. Often, it's easier to write longer blog posts and shorter posts end up becoming mini sales pages.
It may also make sense to go a bit shorter if you're market is very localized. For example, a local real estate agent may not need to have 1,000-word blog posts to get listed high for the blog post topic on Google. Since their market is super local, if the topic is local, it may get listed if the post is just 350 words. However, the topic still needs to be fully covered.
When Longer Makes Sense
Longer blog posts make sense about 85% of the time. Putting out 1,000-word posts gives the reader plenty of information and may actually keep them on your site even longer. In addition, longer does provide more SEO benefits.
According to research from serpIQ, the top ten results from Google usually have at least 2,000 words of content. This is due to the Googlebot looking at all the content including words, titles and other information to rank it. If you have posts with 1,500 words or more, you gain flexibility with the keywords you can get listed for. You won't be nearly as limited, which can provide many great benefits.
In addition, some reports have shown that longer blog posts give you a far better chance of gaining real, quality backlinks. This is another big deal in the SEO world.
The Key to Writing Longer Content
There is one glaring problem with writing longer blog posts, however. Writers will go on forever without really adding value. If the content is only written to achieve the goal of 1,500 words, it may not rank well in Google. Not only should it be longer, but it should also be quality information without much fluff.
Taking Length Out of the Process
Whether you hire a writer or you write your own blog posts, eliminate length from the conversation. This is a bit harder to do when hiring a writer, but can still be done. Instead of stating you want 500-word blog posts, set a minimum and be willing to pay for additional words up to a maximum. You may have parameters running from 300 words up to 2,000 words or even more.
This will give your writer the ability to write about something interesting and feel like they can stop when they've covered the topic. Some of the best content on the web goes well over 2,000 words, but it's written with value.
7 Tips for Writing Great, Longer Blog Posts
Creating excellent content means you're splitting it up and making it easier to read. Here are seven quick tips to help make your longer blog posts reader-friend.
Use sub-headings often
Create bullet point lists
Add images
Quotes are great
Short, to the point paragraphs make reading easier
Conversational writing only
Make it scannable
If a visitor sees a huge block of text, it looks hard to read. However, if you break that same block of text into multiple paragraphs, add in some sub-headings and pepper in a picture or two, it becomes easy to scan.
Online readers want to go through the list you have created and seek out what they want to read about. You might put up a 3,000-word blog post and some reader may only read 500 words. However, your bounce rate only gets out of control if they cannot find those 500 words they want.
For example, if you create a list of 25 tips for choosing a web hosting company, they may only find 5 tips new to them. While these are all helpful tips, they have to be able to find them fast. Using one sub-heading for each tip will make it easy to scan the content and find the tips they need.
There is no such thing as too much content on your website or blog; as long as the content adds value. Even a 5,000-word blog post can have a ton of value, but so can a 500-word blog post. If you want to rank well in Google and provide plenty of value to your visitors, go longer, not shorter.
When it comes to content, those saying you may have too much are those looking at the bounce rate. While your bounce rate is important, it's also important to have great content, as that's the reason people come to your website.
There are two sides of this equation and it really doesn't come down to how many blog posts you have, but it's more about how long the blog posts are. One side believes longer equals more SEO benefits, while the other side believes shorter helps to keep your bounce rate down.
When Shorter Content Makes Sense
If your blog or website has been designed to sell something, shorter posts make sense. You want to get right to the point and get to that call to action fast. If you take too long, your visitors may leave before they act. Most visitors have a short attention span, so you cannot go longer with blogs if you're trying to sell.
Even in this case, you can't go too short. You still need enough content to explain what you're selling. It can be rather challenging to do this in just a couple hundred words. You have to get to the point, grab attention and get the person to act. Often, it's easier to write longer blog posts and shorter posts end up becoming mini sales pages.
It may also make sense to go a bit shorter if you're market is very localized. For example, a local real estate agent may not need to have 1,000-word blog posts to get listed high for the blog post topic on Google. Since their market is super local, if the topic is local, it may get listed if the post is just 350 words. However, the topic still needs to be fully covered.
When Longer Makes Sense
Longer blog posts make sense about 85% of the time. Putting out 1,000-word posts gives the reader plenty of information and may actually keep them on your site even longer. In addition, longer does provide more SEO benefits.
According to research from serpIQ, the top ten results from Google usually have at least 2,000 words of content. This is due to the Googlebot looking at all the content including words, titles and other information to rank it. If you have posts with 1,500 words or more, you gain flexibility with the keywords you can get listed for. You won't be nearly as limited, which can provide many great benefits.
In addition, some reports have shown that longer blog posts give you a far better chance of gaining real, quality backlinks. This is another big deal in the SEO world.
The Key to Writing Longer Content
There is one glaring problem with writing longer blog posts, however. Writers will go on forever without really adding value. If the content is only written to achieve the goal of 1,500 words, it may not rank well in Google. Not only should it be longer, but it should also be quality information without much fluff.
Taking Length Out of the Process
Whether you hire a writer or you write your own blog posts, eliminate length from the conversation. This is a bit harder to do when hiring a writer, but can still be done. Instead of stating you want 500-word blog posts, set a minimum and be willing to pay for additional words up to a maximum. You may have parameters running from 300 words up to 2,000 words or even more.
This will give your writer the ability to write about something interesting and feel like they can stop when they've covered the topic. Some of the best content on the web goes well over 2,000 words, but it's written with value.
7 Tips for Writing Great, Longer Blog Posts
Creating excellent content means you're splitting it up and making it easier to read. Here are seven quick tips to help make your longer blog posts reader-friend.
Use sub-headings often
Create bullet point lists
Add images
Quotes are great
Short, to the point paragraphs make reading easier
Conversational writing only
Make it scannable
If a visitor sees a huge block of text, it looks hard to read. However, if you break that same block of text into multiple paragraphs, add in some sub-headings and pepper in a picture or two, it becomes easy to scan.
Online readers want to go through the list you have created and seek out what they want to read about. You might put up a 3,000-word blog post and some reader may only read 500 words. However, your bounce rate only gets out of control if they cannot find those 500 words they want.
For example, if you create a list of 25 tips for choosing a web hosting company, they may only find 5 tips new to them. While these are all helpful tips, they have to be able to find them fast. Using one sub-heading for each tip will make it easy to scan the content and find the tips they need.
There is no such thing as too much content on your website or blog; as long as the content adds value. Even a 5,000-word blog post can have a ton of value, but so can a 500-word blog post. If you want to rank well in Google and provide plenty of value to your visitors, go longer, not shorter.
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