...Too Much v Not Enough
It Is a delicate balance
Enough text content must be on the website to 1 - give Google something to index & 2 - satisfy visitors.
One does not simply write content for SEO.
By now, it should be common knowledge that content is king as search engines love good naturally written dynamic content that is relevant to the purpose of the website. Of course the “content” itself must also be relevant to the target reader, clear yet concise, and adequate (300 words minimum for SEO purposes some say) yet not overwhelming.
On one hand, if the visitor cannot find the information they are looking for (because it doesn’t exist), they will move onto the next site that does. On the other hand, if the visitor is overwhelmed with too much content, more than likely they won’t even stay to skim and search for this valuable information. So what can be done to find this balance between adequate content and yet not overwhelm the site visitor?
Various techniques include the following:
• Legible fonts
• Bold keyword paragraph titles
• Short paragraphs no more than 3 - 4 lines
• Sparsely bold text to draw attention
• Bullet points
Quick side note - various on-page SEO techniques include the following:
• Website page title meta tag - no more than 70 characters (2 keywords)
• Description meta tag - no more than 125 characters (2 - 5 keywords)
• Keyword meta tag - no more than 15 (include a handful of relevant 2-3 word phrases)
• H1 / H2 / H3 ... Tags - page subtitles (include top relevant keyword)
• Avoid “keyword stuffing” - overly repeating a keyword in an unnatural way.
• Anchor text - link each keyword to its relevant content.
Again, content must be written for the reader, not just for the search engine. Balancing adequate content with relevant content is key. Of course the design of the text (layout, font, color / contrast) must also coincide with the overall design of the site to ensure the message is delivered effectively and efficiently. It's not just what is said, how it's said that also matters.
Rob Shurtleff
The Website Guy
By now, it should be common knowledge that content is king as search engines love good naturally written dynamic content that is relevant to the purpose of the website. Of course the “content” itself must also be relevant to the target reader, clear yet concise, and adequate (300 words minimum for SEO purposes some say) yet not overwhelming.
On one hand, if the visitor cannot find the information they are looking for (because it doesn’t exist), they will move onto the next site that does. On the other hand, if the visitor is overwhelmed with too much content, more than likely they won’t even stay to skim and search for this valuable information. So what can be done to find this balance between adequate content and yet not overwhelm the site visitor?
Various techniques include the following:
• Legible fonts
• Bold keyword paragraph titles
• Short paragraphs no more than 3 - 4 lines
• Sparsely bold text to draw attention
• Bullet points
Quick side note - various on-page SEO techniques include the following:
• Website page title meta tag - no more than 70 characters (2 keywords)
• Description meta tag - no more than 125 characters (2 - 5 keywords)
• Keyword meta tag - no more than 15 (include a handful of relevant 2-3 word phrases)
• H1 / H2 / H3 ... Tags - page subtitles (include top relevant keyword)
• Avoid “keyword stuffing” - overly repeating a keyword in an unnatural way.
• Anchor text - link each keyword to its relevant content.
Again, content must be written for the reader, not just for the search engine. Balancing adequate content with relevant content is key. Of course the design of the text (layout, font, color / contrast) must also coincide with the overall design of the site to ensure the message is delivered effectively and efficiently. It's not just what is said, how it's said that also matters.
Rob Shurtleff
The Website Guy