When setting up a website that is optimized for SEO, there are a number of questions that must be answered. How many pages should you make? How many keywords should you include on each page? How many links should each page include, and to where should they link? These are all important details and each one can have a different impact on your website’s rank. In this post we’re going to focus on this question: How long should your website’s pages be?
Quantity or Quality
With a topic like this, you’re probably going to find some conflicting information out there. There are certainly arguments to be made for both large numbers of short pages and small numbers of long pages. Ultimately, it will come down to a few key points:
- Who your target audience is
- How big you want your site to become
- How your site will stack up against others
Your Target Audience
Not every business is going to appeal to one specific age group, but if yours is one that does, page length is important to keep in mind.
Younger generations, like Millennials and Gen Zs, tend to favor shorter amounts of content. They want answers that are easily understood and quickly accessed. They are faster to click away from a website if it doesn’t immediately meet their needs. If your target audience is in this age range, shorter web pages may work better for you.
Older generations, like Gen Xers and Baby Boomers, tend to be more willing to dig deeper when it comes to researching online. They have longer attention spans for reading and will take the time to go through a longer article if they are interested in the subject. If this is your target audience, giving them lots of written information may yield better results.
The Size of Your Website
There is no one-size-fits-all solution when it comes to websites. Different businesses have different needs. This is especially true if your website lists specific products or services that people can purchase directly through the site. But, whatever the case, it’s important to decide how big of a website you want to manage. The number of pages you’ll build will depend on your answer to this question.
One of the downsides to having a lot of short pages is that it can be harder to keep track of everything and arrange it in a way that’s easy to navigate. Not only that, but you may also find it challenging to keep the information up to date. Some content is evergreen, but some things may change over time, like certain types of products or the amount you charge for services. Having fewer pages means you have less to correct later on.
Your Site vs. the World (Wide Web)
The final point to consider when deciding how long to make your web pages is how your site will stack up against other websites. This is kind of the whole point of SEO—optimizing your website so it will outrank other, similar websites. Unlike the previous two points, this one leans heavily in favor of having fewer, longer pages.
Longer pages can be better for SEO because:
- It’s easier to receive multiple backlinks — Rather than having 10 websites linking one time to 10 of your shorter pages, you could have 10 websites linking 10 times to one longer page. This will signify to Google that that page is worth paying attention to.
- It’s easier to answer searchers’ queries — As Google continues growing and changing, it seeks to answer queries more completely and accurately. If you have a longer, more detailed page, Google will be more likely to see it as a better answer than many shorter, less detailed pages.
- People will increase their scroll depth — Google pays attention to how much time users are spending on your website. If your pages are longer and more informative, users are more likely to spend more time scrolling through your information than they would on shorter pages.
In Conclusion
At the end of the day, your website needs to suit the needs of your small business and the customers you are serving. While this may look like fewer longer pages, it may also look like multiple shorter ones. If the quality of your content is good, and if your site is optimized in other ways, that will make a big difference in how well your website ranks.
For help with optimizing your small business’s website, call Bold River Marketing. We can create an SEO-friendly website for you, develop engaging content to post on it, and manage it as your business grows.