The ‘Perfect SEO Page’ Formula Doesn’t Exist

The 'perfect seo page' formula doesn't exist

Right then, let’s talk about these mythical “perfect page” SEO formulas floating around. You know the ones – they promise top rankings if you just follow their exact recipe of keyword density, word count, and heading structures.

Google’s Danny Sullivan has finally had enough of this nonsense and has come out swinging against these so-called perfect formulas. And honestly? It’s about bloody time.

Image of a tweet from danny sullivan saying today i wanted to share about the belief that there is some type of “perfect page” formula that must be used to rank highly in google search. There isn't, and no one should feel they must work to some type of mythical formula. It’s a belief dating back to even before google was popular, as i wrote about when i was a journalist in 2000, in the article below. As was the case then, so it remains true now. There’s no perfect formula to follow….
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The Perfect Page Myth

These SEO formulas are like fad diets – they promise amazing results if you follow their exact rules, but they completely ignore that every website (like every body) is different. What works for a massive e-commerce site won’t necessarily work for your local accountancy business.

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What Those SEO Tools Aren’t Telling You

Let’s talk about those SEO tools giving you red warnings because:

  • Your content isn’t exactly 1,547 words long
  • Your keyword density is 1.9% instead of 2%
  • You don’t have precisely three H2s and four H3s
  • Your meta description is 156 characters instead of 155

This obsession with perfect scores is causing website owners to create unnatural, awkward content that is no good for readers, and no good for search engines either.

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What Google Actually Wants

Danny’s made it crystal clear: there’s no magic formula. Google’s looking for content that:

  • Actually helps users
  • Answers their questions clearly
  • Demonstrates genuine expertise
  • Makes sense to human readers

Notice how “exact keyword percentage” isn’t on that list?

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The Real Problem With Perfect Page Formulas

These formulas cause three major problems:

  1. They make you focus on the wrong things – instead of thinking “How can I help my users?”, you’re counting keywords like a squirrel counting nuts for winter.
  2. They create unnatural content – when you’re more worried about hitting arbitrary metrics than writing clearly, your content suffers.
  3. They waste your time – hours spent tweaking word counts and headings could be spent actually improving your content.
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What You Should Actually Focus On

Instead of chasing perfect scores, focus on:

  • Understanding your audience’s needs
  • Creating genuinely helpful content
  • Writing naturally and clearly
  • Structuring content in a way that makes sense
  • Answering real user questions
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The Technical Bits That Do Matter

Yes, technical SEO is still important. But focus on the basics:

  • Clear, descriptive titles
  • Meta descriptions that encourage clicks
  • Proper heading hierarchy
  • Fast-loading pages
  • Mobile-friendly design
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Breaking Free From The Formula Obsession

Stop letting SEO tools dictate your content strategy. They’re guides, not gospel. If your content genuinely helps users and demonstrates expertise, you’re already ahead of competitors obsessing over perfect page scores.

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There Is No Perfect Page Formula

There never was. Focus on creating brilliant content that actually helps your users. That’s your formula right there.

And the next time an SEO tool gives you a red warning because your content doesn’t match their perfect template? Remember that Google’s looking for quality, not mathematical perfection.


Want to know if your page is optimised well? Ask yourself one question: Would a real person find this genuinely helpful? If the answer’s yes, you’re probably doing better than most of those “perfectly optimised” pages out there.

If not, then you probably need some help.