When you want to improve your search rankings with
SEO
, many people wonder how many characters they should write an article. You may also be wondering why your post is not ranked higher even though you have written a large number of characters.
In this article, we will explain the optimal number of characters for SEO-friendly articles. We will also comprehensively introduce the relationship between character count and SEO, as well as tools to check character count, so if you want to win with SEO, please use this as a reference.
What is SEO?
As a prerequisite, we will start with an overview of SEO. SEO stands for “Search Engine Optimization” in Japanese, and mainly refers to achieving high rankings in Google’s search results. SEO is a part of
web marketing
, and many companies are working on it to attract potential customers from search results.
If you can get high rankings with SEO, your name recognition in the industry will improve, and you will be able to steadily attract customers to your website, which will help you achieve sales and KPIs.
However, at the beginning of operation, it takes a lot of time to rank high, so it is important to keep a medium- to long-term perspective and work on continuously publishing articles and building and modifying the site.
What is the optimal number of characters based on SEO?
The optimal number of characters based on SEO varies depending on the keyword. Here, we will explain the following three items regarding the optimal number of characters.
- Large number of characters = does not mean it will be displayed higher
- The optimal number of characters varies depending on the keyword
- Even with a small number of characters, there is a possibility of being ranked higher
Let’s look at each in turn.
Large number of characters = does not mean it will be displayed higher
First of all, please understand that having a large number of characters does not necessarily mean that your page will rank higher. This is because users’ search intentions (
needs
) vary depending on the keyword. Search intent is a term that describes what the user is searching for. Google ranks articles that meet the search intent (needs) of these users.
Therefore, even if you write about 10,000 characters, which is generally recognized as a large number of characters, if the number of characters required to satisfy the search intent is 15,000 characters, it will naturally be difficult to rank highly.
Also, if you want to satisfy the search intent, it is necessary to include related keywords, co-occurring words, suggestions, and other keywords in the main text. Taking these into account, it can be said that in many cases a large number of characters is required as a result to satisfy the search intent.
The appropriate number of characters varies depending on the keyword.
As mentioned above, the appropriate number of characters varies depending on the keyword. So how do you find the appropriate number of characters? The answer is very simple. Refer to articles that are already ranked high in Google’s search results.
Articles that are already ranked high are judged by Google to “satisfy the search intent,” so they are successfully ranked. In other words, the average number of characters in the top-ranked articles is the optimal number of characters to satisfy the general search intent.
However, even if the articles are ranked high, there are cases where the content is small but the site is ranked high because the site has been operating for a long time and has
domain
power, so it is necessary to analyze each one.
Even with a small number of characters, there is a possibility of being ranked higher
If your search intent is met, you can rank higher, so even with a small number of characters, you may be able to rank higher. For example, if you have a keyword that satisfies the search intent in 500 characters, you can rank higher with fewer characters than 500 characters.
Therefore, the relationship between SEO and character count varies depending on the keyword. It is very important to start by researching your competitors to see how many characters you need to write to rank higher.
The reason why it is said that having a large number of characters improves SEO
So far, we have explained the relationship between SEO and character count. In the SEO industry, it is said that the more characters you have, the better your SEO will be. There are two main reasons for this.
- Because it is easy to satisfy the search intent
- Necessary keywords are included in the text
Let’s look at each in turn.
Because it is easy to satisfy the search intent
The higher the number of characters, the more likely it is to satisfy the user’s search intent. In order to satisfy the search intent, it is necessary to include sufficient information in the text, and the more characters there are, the more information there is, which makes it easier to satisfy the search intent.
However, even if the number of characters is large, repeating the same message over and over again will not satisfy the search intent. Therefore, it is important to ensure quality while ensuring the number of characters meets the search intent.
Necessary keywords are included in the text
There are several other factors that help Google rank articles that meet the search intent. For example, related keywords. Related keywords are keywords that are often searched in relation to the keyword, and if measures are taken in conjunction with related keywords, Google will judge that the article is “an article that more closely satisfies the search intent.” .
In addition, if you include suggested keywords and co-occurring words in the text, it tends to improve your ranking on Google. It is said that the higher the number of characters, the more keywords Google will need to determine that the search intent is met, making it easier to rank higher in the results.
Number of characters to be aware of other than the main text
So far, we have explained the relationship between SEO and character count. When it comes to SEO, there is an optimal number of characters that you should be aware of in addition to the main text. Here we will introduce the optimal number of characters for the title, meta description, and site name.
Number of characters in title
The optimal number of characters for a title (title tag) is generally said to be around 32 to 35 characters. This is because when searching on a smartphone or PC, the number of characters displayed in the search results is around 32 to 35 characters.
Even if your title contains words that increase your click-through rate, it’s meaningless if it doesn’t appear in search results. Therefore, set the title to around 32 to 35 characters.
Please note that there is no optimal number of characters for the H1 tag; as long as it contains the keyword, there is no problem. This is because the h1 tag is not the title that will be displayed in search results. Although it is often confused, what is displayed in search results is the “title tag.” Therefore, it is important to set the number of characters in the title tag to around 32 to 35 characters.
Number of characters in meta description
A meta description is a description of an article that appears below the title in search results. The optimal number of characters for a meta description is said to be around 70 characters. This is because the number of characters displayed when searching on a smartphone or PC is around 70 characters.
However, the number of characters displayed in the meta description varies depending on the keyword. Also, even if you set a meta description, Google may display different wording in search results.
Therefore, although the actual number of characters displayed will vary depending on the keyword, there is generally no problem if you set it to around 70 characters.
Number of characters in site name
It is said that for SEO in 2022, it is important to increase the number of named searches. Named search refers to searching by site name, operator name, etc. If you want to increase the number of named searches, the site name must be easy to search and easy to remember.
In this case, if the number of characters is too long, it may work against you in increasing the number of named searches. Therefore, set the number of characters in your site name to a number that is easy for users to remember and search for.
A tool that can calculate the number of characters
So far, we have explained the optimal number of characters that you should be aware of even outside of the main text. Here we will introduce two tools that can calculate the number of characters.
- Google Docs
- Sea otter tools
Let’s look at each in turn.
Google Docs
Google Docs
is a document tool that can be used for free if you have a Google account. You can check the number of characters in a document, or just a selection. Therefore, before publishing an article, you can paste the text into Google Docs and check the number of characters.
Sea otter tools
Otter Tools
has a feature that allows you to count the number of characters. To use it, simply copy and paste the phrase you want to find the number of characters in. Depending on the situation, you may want to use Google Docs or Otter Tools.
summary
In this article, we have explained the relationship between SEO and character count. The number of characters does not necessarily mean that you will be able to rank high in the search results, but it varies depending on each keyword and search intent. Therefore, depending on the keyword, you may be able to rank in the top with 500 characters, or you may not be able to rank in the top with 10,000 characters or more.
First of all, we recommend checking the average number of characters of the top-ranked articles in order to find out the optimal number of characters for the keywords you should use.