The idea that every piece of content needs to be as long as War and Peace is absolute nonsense.
500-word pages regularly outrank 5,000-word essays because they actually answer the bloody question. Your recipe for beans on toast doesn’t need three paragraphs about your grandmother’s cottage in Cornwall.
Quality Trumps Quantity Every Time
Think of content like restaurant portions – sometimes you want a quick sandwich, other times you need a three-course meal. Forcing every piece of content to be a feast is just wasteful.
Consider this real example: A local plumbing business with 400-word service pages consistently outranked competitors who published enormous 3,000-word essays about simple services like unblocking drains. Their concise pages clearly explained how they tackle blocked drains, what it typically costs, how quickly they can respond, and why customers should choose them. They won because they gave people exactly what they were looking for without the waffle.
When Short Content Wins
Opening Times and Basic Information
Not everything needs a dissertation. Your opening hours page should tell people when you’re open, not the philosophical implications of time itself. Visitors want this information quickly and clearly.
Product Specifications
People looking at product specs want the facts, not an essay. A straightforward list of features and capabilities will serve them better than flowery descriptions and endless paragraphs.
Simple How-To Guides
Basic instructions benefit from brevity. If you’re explaining how to reset a password, get to the point. No one needs the history of password security while they’re locked out of their account.
Contact Information
Your contact page should help people reach you, not tell your life story. Clear, accessible contact details trump lengthy explanations every time.
When Long Content Makes Sense
Detailed Tutorials
Comprehensive guides naturally require more words. When teaching complex skills or processes, thorough explanation is necessary and valuable.
In-Depth Analysis
Market reports, case studies, and industry analysis often need substantial space to deliver meaningful insights and supporting evidence.
Technical Documentation
Complex products and services sometimes require extensive documentation. In these cases, thoroughness serves the user better than brevity.
Comparative Reviews
Detailed comparisons between multiple options naturally require more content to be genuinely helpful and complete.
The SEO “Expert” Problem
This myth persists because too many SEO “experts” misinterpreted correlation studies showing higher-ranked pages often have more content. They turned correlation into causation, creating a false rule that more words equals better rankings.
Padding content with fluff is like filling a suitcase with newspaper – it looks full but adds no value. Google’s not counting words – they’re measuring usefulness.
Focus on Serving User Intent
Rather than obsessing over word count, answer the query clearly. Include the details users actually need. Make content easy to scan and digest. Remove anything that doesn’t add value.
If you can say it in 500 words, don’t use 5,000. If you need 5,000 words to explain it properly, don’t try to squash it into 500.
Remember: Nobody ever complained that useful information was too easy to understand. Make every word earn its place.
Want more straight-talking SEO advice without the usual industry nonsense? Get my “SEO Myths Debunked” book – 50+ SEO myths destroyed with zero wankiness and plenty of actionable advice.
