Lengthy Content or To-the-Point Content? Who will win?

Deepesh Sharma

Deepesh Sharma

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Hey guys.

I was just wondering what you guys prefer while writing an article for a keyword.

Do you think content that covers the topic deeply like covering the whole topic + adding a few extra stuff
OR
Just content that's just to the point and doesn't have an extra BS in it?

In my case, I always try to write content longer than 1500 words at least. But, I was looking at a SERP result right now, I saw sites with 400-500 words ranking above sites with in-depth content. That's when this thought hit me.

Would love to hear your views about the same.

Cheers!
 
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Those would be sites with very high authority sites, but try to aim a balance if a keyword doesn’t require more than 1000 words don’t write 2000 for it and expect to rank
 
Mr Positive said:
Those would be sites with very high authority sites, but try to aim a balance if a keyword doesn’t require more than 1000 words don’t write 2000 for it and expect to rank
Click to expand...
For example, let's say there's an app related keyword. I've seen people ranking with 400-500 words and others with 1500+ words rank as well.

Now, here's when I get confused. The topic *can* be covered in 500-1000 words, but when I look at the ranking sites, I always think I need to write better and lengthier content.

Idk why but that's what my subconscious suggests.
 
Instead of thinking search engine point of view think as a user point of view.

I would suggest go for around 400-500 words article for users better experience.
 
fasttrak said:
Lengthy & to the point with no BS. I hate filler content.
Click to expand...
You're right but what if I can cover the whole topic in just 500-1000 words. Writing additional content to make it lengthy would be considered filler as well. Right?
 
True SEO said:
Instead of thinking search engine point of view think as a user point of view.

I would suggest go for around 400-500 words article for users better experience.
Click to expand...
Good point about the user intent.
Quick question.
If you're competing with sites with 1500+ words content, would u still consider writing 500 words?
 
Deepesh Sharma said:
You're right but what if I can cover the whole topic in just 500-1000 words. Writing additional content to make it lengthy would be considered filler as well. Right?
Click to expand...

There is always quality that can be added which covers the topic in more depth. This is not filler, and if you are smart, will generate extra KW's and traffic to the article.
 
Deepesh Sharma said:
Good point about the user intent.
Quick question.
If you're competing with sites with 1500+ words content, would u still consider writing 500 words?
Click to expand...

If you can cover up the whole info in 500 words you can go up without hesitation.

If you are keyword competition is high you may need lot of long tail keywords in your article. In that case you have to go for long article which is contains more than 1000 words
 
fasttrak said:
There is always quality that can be added which covers the topic in more depth. This is not filler, and if you are smart, will generate extra KW's and traffic to the article.
Click to expand...
Yeah, you're right.
Thanks man.

True SEO said:
If you can cover up the whole info in 500 words you can go up without hesitation.

If you are keyword competition is high you may need lot of long tail keywords in your article. In that case you have to go for long article which is contains more than 1000 words
Click to expand...
Cool, I get it.
Thanks for the info.
 
Lengthy and to the point - they're not mutually exclusive. Google know what topics are closely related and/or intertwined with others and so they're expecting to see relevant information on those surrounding, but closely related, topics. For that reason I think longer content is generally better - if nothing else, it also makes it more likely that you'll rank for long-tail keyword variations.

But at the same time, if you are writing lengthy content it doesn't have to be fluffy and padded out with garbage - making your content "to the point" is always a good idea because it makes it more valuable. Google and the other search engines may or may not acknowledge that, but the visitor definitely will, so informative content that is to the point is going to engage visitors, reduce bounce rate and also facilitate conversions.
 
Glen Allsop once replies such a question:- "Search your keyword on Google. If 400-500 words articles are ranking well, then you don't need to write lengthy posts. Simply write point to point.

For example:- How to remove temp files from windows. You will see 400 to 500 words post.

but For pelvis pen reason, you will see lengthy article.
 
fasttrak said:
Lengthy & to the point with no BS. I hate filler content.
Click to expand...
One question how does Google know if your article is concise with no BS?

Of course there could still be BS when the article is lenghty with keywords rightly place.

I just think God doesn't really know well what content really answers the user's question properly.
 
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You want your content to strike a balance between the two extremes.
If it’s too short, you may get buried or miss out on the opportunity to slip in a useful keyword or two. On the other hand, bloating your content with filler and keywords will leave you with more than one slap on the wrist. That was all from a purely SEO standpoint, though.
When it comes to the most important part—meaning giving your readers what they came for, you will always want to avoid filler. Provide relevant information and present it in an enticing way. Ask yourself, “when I want to learn more about X, will I enjoy having to trudge through useless bits of filler text?” The answer is, of course, a resounding “no.”
Keep it relevant, concise, and engaging, and your readers will reward you by coming back for more.
 
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davids355 said:
Lengthy and to the point - they're not mutually exclusive. Google know what topics are closely related and/or intertwined with others and so they're expecting to see relevant information on those surrounding, but closely related, topics. For that reason I think longer content is generally better - if nothing else, it also makes it more likely that you'll rank for long-tail keyword variations.

But at the same time, if you are writing lengthy content it doesn't have to be fluffy and padded out with garbage - making your content "to the point" is always a good idea because it makes it more valuable. Google and the other search engines may or may not acknowledge that, but the visitor definitely will, so informative content that is to the point is going to engage visitors, reduce bounce rate and also facilitate conversions.
Click to expand...
So, by lengthy content, I mean everything related to the topic. For example, if I'm writing about how to download XYZ app. Then, it won't hurt to add a heading titled "Features of XYZ app", would it?

Will this be considered as filler or a thorough article with everything that one needs?

Viku said:
Glen Allsop once replies such a question:- "Search your keyword on Google. If 400-500 words articles are ranking well, then you don't need to write lengthy posts. Simply write point to point.

For example:- How to remove temp files from windows. You will see 400 to 500 words post.

but For pelvis pen reason, you will see lengthy article.
Click to expand...
So, you mean look at the competitors and write your articles according to theirs?
I follow the same thing. Analyze my competitors, look at their content, and write 500 words more than their word count.


Digirulz said:
Lengthy content and to point is good. Make sure it's informative and valuable to gain user interest.
Click to expand...
yeah, user interest is most important in the end.

Writerly said:
You want your content to strike a balance between the two extremes.
If it’s too short, you may get buried or miss out on the opportunity to slip in a useful keyword or two. On the other hand, bloating your content with filler and keywords will leave you with more than one slap on the wrist. That was all from a purely SEO standpoint, though.
When it comes to the most important part—meaning giving your readers what they came for, you will always want to avoid filler. Provide relevant information and present it in an enticing way. Ask yourself, “when I want to learn more about X, will I enjoy having to trudge through useless bits of filler text?” The answer is, of course, a resounding “no.”
Keep it relevant, concise, and engaging, and your readers will reward you by coming back for more.
Click to expand...
You're right about the user engagement thing. But, what I want to know is if google behaves the same for short articles as it does for the long ones. You must've also heard about the b@cklinko study. That the average word count of #1 rankers was around 1900-2000. What do you think about that?
 
Lengthy content with tons of not required information.
 
Deepesh Sharma said:
You're right about the user engagement thing. But, what I want to know is if google behaves the same for short articles as it does for the long ones. You must've also heard about the b@cklinko study. That the average word count of #1 rankers was around 1900-2000. What do you think about that?
Click to expand...

I actually think that the top rankers are doing an amazing job at treading the fine line between relevant and SEO-optimized. 2k words may be a bit on the longer side, but it is more than enough for the top rankers to say what they want or need, without missing out on a single relevant keyword.
So, I don’t really find the results of that study surprising. In fact, I think that they make perfect sense. But trying to emulate what the top rankers are doing, just because they are doing it, is not a good approach. Instead of saying, “How do I be another X?” you should ask yourself, “How can I improve my own content?”
 
Nut-Nights said:
Lengthy content with tons of not required information.
Click to expand...
I've been writing lengthy content for a long time now. Maybe I'll just play around with content that provides exactly what the user wants.
 
Writerly said:
I actually think that the top rankers are doing an amazing job at treading the fine line between relevant and SEO-optimized. 2k words may be a bit on the longer side, but it is more than enough for the top rankers to say what they want or need, without missing out on a single relevant keyword.
So, I don’t really find the results of that study surprising. In fact, I think that they make perfect sense. But trying to emulate what the top rankers are doing, just because they are doing it, is not a good approach. Instead of saying, “How do I be another X?” you should ask yourself, “How can I improve my own content?”
Click to expand...
The May update has been a deathgrip for me. I was ranking #1 for a number of keywords and now, I'm completely off the SERP. Not even on the results list.
Sometimes it feels like writing short and user engaging content would be better instead of pouring out heart and soul on lengthy articles.
 
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