SEO Copywriting – Does Word Count Matter?
Posted by Beth Hrusch on Wed, Sep 15, 2010
I’ve been working on a long-term blogging project for several months now, and it recently occurred to me that certain things have evolved and changed with it over time. One of these things is word count. We started out with 500+ words. We are now at 250-400 words. One client even requested shorter posts saying that he didn’t think people would sit through a long post.
This is undoubtedly true for some people (see “SEO Marketing for Short Attention Spans”). That being said, we don’t often get requests to shorten content, and I think it’s because, aside from this astute guy, most clients generally think that more is better. 
Is this true? I’ll admit, I used to think so. At the same time, I am aware that fluff is out there (especially with SEO copywriting), and much of it takes the form of “padding” that is added when a writer needs to reach a designated word count after the essential information has already been delivered.
Yes, it’s true— longer word counts can lead to fluff, and not the yummy kind. So what’s the best word count for SEO copywriting? I’ve heard it said that “copy is as long as it needs to be”. Two things to remember:
1. Word count won’t affect your rankings.
So many other factors affect your rankings that word count is much further down on the list than you may think. In fact, according to Seomoz, it doesn’t even make the top 12 for non-keyword specific ranking factors.
There is, in fact, no evidence to support any claim that a higher word count will result in higher search engine rankings. If you ever want an easy way to remember this concept, think of our mantra “clear, concise, compelling” whenever you engage in SEO copywriting. For clients, this means asking your copywriter not for a certain amount of words, but for good content that will interest the reader and lead them to take the desired action.
2. It’s all about quality.
Isn’t that true for just about everything? SEO copywriting is no different. If you want to capture your audience, think like a speaker who wants to grab attention from the beginning. Think one-liners and anecdotes rather than books and manuals. Think about how much quality information you can pack into the least amount of words.
I like to do this little exercise when I’m done with a page: go through your work, look at what needs to be there and what can be removed without losing the meaning and the quality of the information. Get rid of the dead weight and vacuum out the fluff. Check it, have someone else check it if possible, then go ahead and post it. At least you’ll know that your readers aren’t going to have to wade through a lot of debris.
Some SEO copywriting experts feel that imposing word counts on their content is counter-productive. Whether you are demanding a count that is very short or very long, the writer will be forced to make the content fit the designated parameters. This could compromise quality.
Are there times when a pre-determined word count is necessary? Sure. But keep an open mind about this issue when planning your SEO campaign. It may be better to simply allow the copywriter to create the amount of content that is just right for your purposes, whatever that number is.