How Does Word Count Relate to SEO?

June 9, 2023
Written by Mike Rux
Call Mike: (480) 319-5323
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Know Every Character with a Word Counter

Way more than a number, word count can largely determine the success of your online content. If you’ve never given much thought to the word count of your blog posts, articles, or other digital marketing content pieces, now is the perfect time to start.

Content length affects everything from search engine optimization to audience actions. Most of the written content you come across was written with a word limit in mind. Word counts keep writers brief and content easy to consume. Making your content pieces easily consumable for your viewers is important for several reasons, including:

Readability

In today’s world, no one wants to read huge blocks of texts that seem to go on forever. Succinct, meaningful statements using as little filler language as possible will prove beneficial to your engagement.

Price

Almost nothing on the internet is free, and this includes words. Blogs, articles, even eBooks are all written with a specific number of words in mind. If you write to the point where you’re well over your word count, then you are basically throwing money out of your pocket.

On the other hand, if a writer you hired attempts to turn in something short, you can pop it in our word counter and be able to tell for sure. Once payment is sent, you need to receive every word you paid for.

Time

If we didn’t have word limits, most people would never know when to stop writing. The best use of your time is planning, and detailing a word limit is a part of that plan.

When there isn’t a set word count, people often cannot tell how much the time spent on one piece of content costs. Of course, sometimes, a few extra sentences to finish a point or a thought are needed.

Even so, it is important to remember not to tread too far over that line. Some clients may begin to expect you to over-deliver each time, which will be terrible for your profit margins in the long run. On top of that, you’ve spent extra time crafting content that you won’t be compensated for.

How Does Word Count Relate to SEO?

Word count is definitely the unsung hero of SEO. Search engines like Google and Bing pay attention to your word count, and it is widely known that blog posts of 1,000 words or more have a higher chance of being ranked than shorter articles.

Aside from SEO, a word counter tool is a key factor in the workflow of several digital professions. Writers charge by the word, and to make sure they aren’t cheating themselves or failing to meet a limit, a word counter tool comes in handy.

While there isn’t a set number of words most experts can agree is optimal for SEO, there are a few ways to use the word counter tool to your benefit. If you check a competitor’s ranking and see they’re significantly higher than you, your next logical step would be to check out their site.

Maybe the first thing you notice is that your competition’s website copy is shorter and punchier than yours. You can copy the text from their website’s front page and insert it into our free word counter. Once you know the number of words the competition used, it will be easier to revamp your own website’s copy.

If you have guest writers who you feature on your website, you can easily make sure they reach the agreed-upon word limit.

Making sure the word count is achieved works in your favor because longer text may help you rank better for several long-tail variants of the keyword you’ve optimized. Your articles, packed with these keywords, will turn up in search results faster and with more visibility.

Most SEO professionals suggest that you always put a minimum of 300 words on each page. When you have at least 300 words, Google will not look at your short content in a negative light.

If you fail to meet that word limit, Google and other search engines will regard your content as ‘thin,’ and therefore, low quality. Anything low-quality is the opposite of what you want for your SEO strategy.

Make counting words easy with Cipher’s Digital Word Counter! Our tool is easy, simple, and free to use as much as you need.

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