The relationship between character count and SEO is an important point to keep in mind when creating web content.
Although high-ranking pages tend to have a large amount of text, search engines have publicly stated that there is no relationship between word count and SEO effectiveness.
In this article, we will introduce the relationship between the number of characters and search ranking, as well as the points you need to know to improve your rating and attract more customers.
Relationship between number of characters and search ranking
The opinion that “the more characters the better for SEO” is a long-standing topic in the web industry.
It is true that when we examine articles that rank high in searches for highly competitive keywords, there are cases in which they have a large number of characters.
However, Google’s official opinion is the opposite. In July 2016, Google employee John Mueller said in a live broadcast on YouTube that “Google does not have a search algorithm that counts the number of words.”
This can be interpreted as saying that the number of words (number of characters) has nothing to do with the evaluation of a page.
At first glance, it seems that the actual search results and the content of the comments are different, but what is the reality?
Why more characters are more effective for SEO
Google denies a direct relationship between word count and SEO effectiveness, but given the fact that articles with a large amount of content are displayed higher, it can be assumed that long articles have an indirect factor in being evaluated. You can.
So, what kind of positive impact does having a large number of characters have?
Easy to satisfy search intent
First, a large number of characters makes it easier to satisfy the search intent.
Articles that search engines evaluate are those that fully respond to the user’s search intent.
Simple answers using diagrams, images, or short sentences are easy to understand, but on the other hand, too little information can be inconvenient for users.
Therefore, comprehensiveness of information is important for content.
If the article size is large, it will be more likely to include content that answers users’ questions, increasing the possibility of responding to a variety of search intentions.
As a result, your page is more likely to be evaluated as more complete and useful than your competitors.
Easy to include important keywords
The second effect is that longer sentences are more likely to include important keywords.
How do search engines judge the quality of articles?
In fact, even with Google’s advanced algorithms, it cannot completely understand text.
One of the important judgment materials is keywords such as co-occurring words and search queries.
For example, if the search query is about “Japanese inns,” many users are likely looking for information about places to stay.
If it contains a lot of specific keywords related to prices, plans, or area names, it will be judged to be highly relevant to what users are looking for and a good site that should be ranked high.
Furthermore, if you include minor special products from your travel destination, it may help attract customers through a long tail effect.
If the text is long, the chances of it hitting important keywords like this naturally go up, which makes it easier to get a higher rating.
How to increase SEO effectiveness with high-quality writing
It is true that the higher the number of characters, the higher the rating, but longer sentences are not necessarily advantageous.
It must include important keywords to satisfy the search intent and communicate it to search engines and readers. More specifically, we will show you how to create high-quality texts that will increase your SEO effectiveness.
Adhering to the basics of EAT (expertise, authority, and reliability)
Always be aware of the indicators of content: expertise, authority, and trustworthiness.
For example, if you use technical terms that should be included in the topic, and refer to and quote accurate facts and data published by specialized organizations, qualified persons, and public research organizations, It has a strong appeal not only to search engines but also to readers.
In SEO, these three words are so important that they are called “EAT”.
Thorough understanding of search intent
Thoroughly understand the search intent before writing your article. For example, for the query “ryokan” mentioned earlier, we were able to infer from the search suggestions and top ranking pages that there was a high demand for finding travel destinations.
You can also measure search volume more quantitatively by using tools that measure search volume.
If you simply think about increasing the number of characters, you might come up with various related information such as the meaning and origin of the word “ryokan”, but if it does not match the user’s interests, it will not be useful.
Also, if there is a lot of unnecessary information, it will be less convenient and may lead to higher drop-off rates and other negative effects on SEO.
Long sentences are not effective, but the optimal amount of sentences is one that conveys the information the user wants without too much or too little.
summary
◆High-ranking search sites tend to have a large number of characters, but Google denies the relationship between the amount of text and SEO
◆The larger the number of characters, the easier it is to cover the search intent and important keywords, which has an indirect SEO effect.
◆ Providing sufficient information that matches the search intent and enhancing expertise, authority, and credibility will improve your reputation.