Countless businesses have fallen victim to SEO “experts” telling them they need to pump out dozens of pages to rank well. You know the type – they encourage creating endless variations of the same content just to bulk up site size.
“Google loves websites with lots of pages!” they insist, while recommending you create separate pages for every service you offer in every location within a 50-mile radius.
Let me save you months of wasted effort: it’s complete bollocks.
This myth comes from misunderstanding how Google views content. People notice that big sites like Amazon rank well, see they have millions of pages, and draw the wrong conclusion.
Adding more pages to rank better is like adding more ingredients to a recipe thinking it’ll automatically taste better. Chuck in some cinnamon, mustard, and sardines to that chocolate cake – that’ll improve it, right?
What happens when you create loads of thin pages?
Creating dozens of almost identical pages targeting slight keyword variations isn’t clever strategy – it’s spam. And Google’s been wise to this tactic for years.
It drains crawl budget
Google allocates a “crawl budget” to your site – the number of pages they’ll bother looking at during each visit. When you waste this on thin, duplicated rubbish, your important pages might not even get seen.
It dilutes authority
Whatever credibility your site has gets spread across all your pages. Ten brilliant pages concentrating your expertise will generally outperform fifty shitty ones diluting it.
It lowers the quality of your site in Google’s eyes
Google evaluates your site as a whole. If they see patterns of thin, low-value content, they’ll lower their assessment of your entire domain – not just those specific pages.
What you should do
If page count was the determining factor in ranking, any competitor could just create thousands of rubbish pages and outrank Amazon overnight. That’s obviously not how it works.
What matters is having the right number of pages to cover your topics properly. Sometimes that’s five pages, sometimes it’s fifty.
Focus on user problems
Google’s not counting your pages – they’re measuring how well you solve user problems. Each page should exist because it answers a specific question people are asking. Your content needs to solve distinct problems your audience has. Valuable information not found elsewhere on your site will always outperform duplicate content.
Look at your analytics
If you’ve got pages getting zero traffic after several months, that’s Google telling you something. Those pages are either not needed, not good enough, or too similar to other content. Your analytics will reveal which pages actually serve a purpose and which ones are just taking up space.
Quality indicators
Instead of page count, focus on comprehensive coverage of topics that genuinely help your audience. Create content with clear, user-friendly structure that follows a logical path. Make sure your internal linking happens naturally and enhances the user journey rather than feeling forced for SEO purposes.
The right approach to new page creation
Rather than randomly adding pages to “boost SEO,” follow a more strategic approach:
Start with topics that matter
What do your customers actually care about? What questions do they ask repeatedly? Which problems cause them the most headaches? Your content strategy should begin by addressing these core concerns rather than creating pages just to increase your site’s size.
Create comprehensive resources
Instead of ten thin pages about related subtopics, consider creating one brilliant guide that covers the subject properly. Users prefer finding all relevant information in one well-structured resource rather than clicking through multiple shallow pages that each provide only part of the answer.
Build pages with purpose
Each new page should have a clear reason to exist beyond targeting keywords. Ask yourself: “Does this page provide unique value that can’t be found elsewhere on my site?” If you’re only creating it to target a keyword variation, rethink your approach.
When more pages make sense
There are legitimate reasons to expand your site:
Genuinely different products or services
If you offer distinct services, they deserve their own pages with detailed, specific information. A copywriter’s website might have separate pages for email sequences, website copy, and blog writing services – these warrant individual, well-developed pages because each service involves different skills, processes, and deliverables.
Truly unique regional variations
If your London service operates differently from your Manchester service, separate pages make sense. But if you’re just changing the town name in otherwise identical content, that’s a red flag that could trigger Google’s duplicate content filters.
Expanding into new topic areas
As your business grows into new sectors, you’ll naturally need more pages to cover these new topics properly. This organic growth based on business development differs vastly from creating pages purely for SEO purposes.
What to do if you’ve already created too many pages
If you’ve been following bad advice and created loads of thin pages:
Audit your content
Review your site and be honestly critical about which pages actually add value. Create a spreadsheet tracking metrics like traffic, time on page, and conversion rate to identify underperforming content.
Consider consolidation
Merge similar pages into comprehensive guides that serve users better. This consolidation often results in higher-quality resources that earn more engagement and links while removing thin content from Google’s view.
Implement proper redirects
Don’t just delete pages – redirect them to relevant alternatives to preserve any SEO value they might have. A proper 301 redirect strategy ensures you keep link equity while cleaning up your site architecture.
Creating more pages doesn’t magically improve your SEO – it often does the exact opposite. Focus on quality, not quantity. Each page should earn its place on your site by providing genuine value to your visitors.
If you’re worried about your SEO, a 1:1 with me could help you gain some clarity. Sometimes an outside perspective is all you need to cut through the myths and focus on what actually works.
