While the SEO mantra is “more content,” when that content is “thin,” or light on crucial information and quality, simply adding content just to add content can actually work against you. If you are not quite sure what “thin” content is, consider the following examples:
- Excessively short content, meaning less than 300 words is definitely considered thin. Any webpage with fewer than 300 words which is filled up with pretty or flashy graphics needs some fleshing out in the content department. Whenever possible, strive for at least 500 words per webpage. Should you wonder whether there is such a thing as “too long” where content is concerned, Google’s algorithm is rumored to actually have a cutoff point so to speak where it feels you are running on a bit too long. And yes, content that is too long can nonetheless be thin on substance. Beyond search engine considerations, when you’ve lost the attention of your reader, your content is too long and you should never ramble on simply to add word count to your page.
- Content that fails to get to the point quickly and give the reader the answers they are looking for in the shortest amount of time is definitely thin. In fact, any content which is vague or ambiguous should be ruthlessly cut from your article. Ambiguous content never quite realizes the promise of the jazzy headlines in that you can read the entire article and still not really know what the main idea was. This kind of writing can go in circles or back and forth and its hallmark is a dearth of flowery, high-level words which sound good but leaves the reader scratching his head.
- Thin content in the form of poor spelling or grammar can actually cause you to be penalized by the search engines—yet another reason for endless proofreading prior to publishing. Walk away from your content for at least a few hours, then come back, print out a hard copy, and you may be amazed at the mistakes you can see so clearly that were not visible to you before.
How Do You Know if Your Content is Thin?
If you are not quite sure of how to judge your own content, first take hard look at your bounce rate. Those pages with an excessively high bounce rate could be losing visitors due to thin content. In the same vein, if your content is not engaging enough to keep your visitors reading to the very end, then you will see very short amounts of time on each page. This can also relate to keywords which are failing to target the users you expected them to target.
When people type in a search query they expect to find something very specific. If they land on a page that has nothing to do with what they are searching for, they will leave the page quickly. Of course rate of conversion can also be a good indicator of thin content or content which is vague. Each article should be very clear and direct as far as the intended action of the user. If users are not following through, then the content could be thin.
Thin content can have severe consequences to an otherwise great SEO plan. Low rates of conversion means you are not doing a proper job of informing the search engines that you are an expert in your particular area which may in turn lead them to consider your competition’s sites more relevant. Thin content can be remedied, but you must learn to recognize it then take steps to correct it by fleshing out your articles with highly informative and engaging information.
Tags: Lawyer Website Content
