This doesn’t look like too much text to read, but if you were pressed for time…would you want to go through all this to find the information you want?
How much text should you actually place on your webpage? It’s been an ongoing debate, and there are two clear sides: the “short side” and the “long side”. Each side has their pros and cons, which we will explore in the subsequent paragraphs, but they both share one common feature that is crucial to each website: no matter what, make sure your words always count instead of counting your words! Content quality has such a strong impact on your website ranking and search engine optimization that you shouldn’t really focus on how much text you have on your webpage, but rather the quality and clear organization of your content. But, let’s get into more of a detailed discussion below!
Pros and Cons of Short vs. Long Webpages
Some people believe in having short webpages that only provide the bare necessities, while others believe in longer content so that readers can go through all the fine details at their own pace. But who’s right?
On the Short Side, readers may enjoy a quick skim to get all the information they need. In fact, Short Side supporters believe that viewers are put off or disappointed when they see large blocks of text because they don’t want to spend the time to go through all that. They’d rather enjoy minimal text and more graphics so they get the message in a short and concise manner.
On the Long Side, readers are able to get all the necessary information and supporting information within the same page. Long Side supporters believe that viewers want to have access to all relevant information and are not put off by large blocks of text, but rather encouraged to trust in the product, service or content being described. Search engine optimization also likes larger amounts of text, since the minimum number of words for good SEO content is 300.
So Which Is Better?
It’s hard to say. Both sides have valid arguments and everyone has different preferences. But one thing is for sure, and that’s search engine optimization prefers content that exceeds a minimum of 300 words. In a world where SEO is key to good search engine ranking, it seems like the Long Side has the upper hand, right?
Once again, it’s hard to say. Even though you have 300 words, you have to ask yourself, “Is the content of good quality?” Writing well and making sure your sentences are easily read by all viewers is essential to writing good content. Making sure your content is organized well is another key feature that will come in handy when search engines crawl your website for content.
When to Use Short vs. Long?
It depends on the type of content and the current webpage you’re on. For example, if you’re writing content for a “Contact Us” webpage, there’s probably no need for a lengthy description and you will simply have your contact information listed on the page, long with a contact form or other necessary information/features. This will obviously fall far below the SEO minimum of 300 words, but the quality of your content is still good; you’re providing your viewers with important information that is well-labelled.
Compared to the image above, the amount of text hasn’t changed. In fact, it looks a bit longer, but more organized. By breaking the paragraphs into sections and highlighting the important areas, it gives people a brief rundown of your services and if they want, they can read more about each of your services if they are interested.
Now, if you were writing content for a webpage that described your company’s services, you will obviously stick to the longer side of things since you need at least 300 words for good SEO. But how long should you go? That’s when organizing your text comes into play. Let’s say you have 5 different services you’d like to talk about. Instead of writing paragraph after paragraph describing your services, break up your webpage into 5 different sections. Create a heading for each service, and a paragraph or two below it to explain that service. Organize your text well, and you won’t have to worry about viewers getting frustrated at the amount of reading involved.
Any Recommendations?
Yes! CryoDragon recommends that you make good use of organizational structure and clean, good quality content when it comes to writing content for your webpages. In fact, we feel that there is a way to combine both short and long content with the use of good placement and emphasized areas of text.
If you really do have a lot of content to put onto a website, try breaking them up into sections first. The next step is to figure out what part of each section is essential or crucial, and bold or italicize those sentences to create an emphasis. That way, you’ve got all your content for avid readers and search engines, and a method for fast or impatient readers to skim through your webpage (through the bolded text and section headings).
Can CryoDragon Help?
Of course! CryoDragon specializes in search engine optimization and writing SEO-friendly content. If you’re ever in need of SEO guidance or are looking to start a new website project, contact us and we would be happy to help and do business with you![/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]
