This post was last updated in 2016.

One of the most pervasive SEO myths is that there is a minimum word count for search engine indexing. Ideal content length is a recurring debate in the online marketing community, but it turns out that Google does not have a minimum word count for indexing.

The latest search engine algorithms focus on content quality, uniqueness and relevance, not length. However, this does not necessarily mean that you can go out and write a bunch of short form posts and call it a day.

The length of content can have an impact on the relevance of the content to the reader. Businesses seeking to improve their search engine results should focus on meaningful content that is targeted to specific audiences and purposes throughout the buying journey.

Optimize For A Great Experience With Your Content

It used to be that you could stuff your blog posts full of keywords and not necessarily provide a lot of value to the readers, but the search engines took steps to punish keyword stuffing. This kind of cat and mouse game has happened since and continues today with various SEO methods.

As the search engines continue to get smarter, the intent of a visitor based on the search query and user experience elements will take on more importance than the older, more structural elements of the content. Other factors that continue to be more and more important are the metrics around how visitors are interacting with your content.

In fact, in their Ranking Factors Survey 2015, Moz asked 150 search experts which elements would see an increase in their impact on the search-ranking algorithm. The eleven elements expected to increase were all related to user experience:

1. Mobile friendliness

2. Analysis of a site/page’s perceived value

3. Quantity/quality of instant answers provided in the SERPs

4. Usage data (CTR, dwell time)

5. Readability/usability/design

6. Influence of strutted data in SERPs

7. Association with mobile apps and app popularity

8. Clickstream data from outside search results

9. Site speed

10. HTTPS

11. On-page topic modeling

In another study, Moz and BuzzSumo analyzed over 1 million articles to look into the statistics around likes and shares. Below is one of their findings that has an important implication for this discussion:

• 85 percent of content published, not including videos or quizzes, is less than a thousand words in length. However, they found that content over 1,000 words received more likes and shares than shorter-form content.

Effect of Content Length on Perceived Value

I’d like to pause here because we’ve reached a blog length of 300-400 words. Would you say that this blog has provided a great value to you yet? Is the depth of content enough to persuade you of the arguments being made here? Would you share this blog based on the three hundred or so words that have been consumed thus far?

Optimize Content Length For Its Purpose

While the 300-word length doesn’t necessarily hold water in the way most people think it does, the length does provide a good line in the sand. For content and topics that can’t be turned into a long-form blog or article, they may be better suited for an FAQ page, an infographic or a longer form social post.

For longer, more complicated topics, breaking them down will be important so that a visitor can firmly grasp one aspect of the larger topic and understand that one portion really well before moving on to another aspect. With this kind of content, you’re trying to allow the visitors to your site to educate themselves.

In today’s online marketing world, if you’d like your content to rank well in the search engine results page, you have to be generating content to fulfill a specific purpose. Is the blog or web page being created to support your sales team with a question they often get asked, or is it to demonstrate thought leadership and industry knowledge?

This seems like a simple question, but it’s often overlooked and leads to frustration and questions about why anyone is bothering to produce content. We can avoid this issue by defining the content’s purpose and pre-determining the right metrics for the content to establish the right expectations before it goes live.

Key Take-Aways

If nothing else, make sure you’re providing value with your content and clearly explaining yourself and/or the topic. In addition, don’t forget:

• User experience will play a more prominent role in search rankings moving forward

• How visitors to your website interact with your content will send important cues to the search engines about relevance, quality, etc.

• Content needs to be optimized for its purpose and for its stage of the buyer’s journey

[This post originally appeared on the Risdall Marketing Group blog and has been posted with a rel canonical]