How long should a blog post be for SEO?
Google has said word count is not a ranking factor. How to decide a post's length from the search instead, and the signs a post is too short or padded.
Many SEO guides give a word count to aim for. Google has said plainly that word count is not a ranking factor. Length follows from the question: a search for a single fact deserves a short answer, a search for a full guide deserves a long one.
Let the search decide
| Search | Right length |
|---|---|
| What size is an apple-touch-icon | Short: the answer, the tag, the common mistake |
| How to set up Search Console | Medium: every step, with the gotchas |
| How to design a dashboard | Long: many decisions, each explained |
Look at the pages ranking now. They show you roughly how much depth the searcher expects. Aim to answer better, not to write more.
Signs a post is too short
- It answers the headline but not the obvious next question.
- It gives a recommendation without the reason.
- It skips the part where most people get stuck.
Signs a post is padded
- The answer appears after three paragraphs of introduction.
- Sections restate each other.
- It ends by summarising what it just said.
A useful check
Write the three questions a reader would ask after reading the post. If the post answers them, it is long enough. Those questions also make a good FAQ, as discussed in FAQ schema must match the page. For the sentence-level side, see readability for SEO.
SEO Blog Writer's linter reports a post's length, but as a prompt rather than a rule: a short post gets a warning to check it answers the follow-up questions, not an instruction to add words.
Questions
Is there an ideal word count for SEO?
No. Google has said word count is not a ranking factor. The right length is whatever fully answers the search and its follow-up questions, without padding.
Why do long posts often rank well?
Because thorough answers to broad questions tend to be long, not because length itself is rewarded. A long post that wanders ranks worse than a short one that answers.
How do I know if my post is too short?
Look at what the searcher would ask next. If the post leaves obvious follow-up questions unanswered, it is too short, whatever its word count.