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Why still the buyers demand a wrong size of article length only 300-500 words ?

Discussion in 'Copywriting' started by swapcs, May 2, 2014.

  1. #1
    As we know article length "1000 words+" is significantly SEO friendly size for a write up that grows content appeal to the SEs appropriately. But you could find most of the buyers in marketplaces (such as oDesk, PPH ) are still seeking the content/article length 300 - 500 words only for their business sites. Do you think SEO Gurus around the webs are failure to make them understood that new updates of the search engines ( specially on the context of semantic role ) do not comply with the small size of articles for SEO? Why buyers still move with the SEO worthless wrong size of Article ? Seeks clear idea on the issue.
     
    swapcs, May 2, 2014 IP
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  2. xXxpert

    xXxpert Well-Known Member

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    #2
    I think Quality have nothing to do with the size, i have most of my content in IMAGE form and i got high ranks in SE with no problem. because my content is unique and original
     
    xXxpert, May 2, 2014 IP
  3. uand.eye

    uand.eye Active Member

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    #3
    1000 word articles are only good for in depth subjects. Most people viewing a webpage will only read 100-200 words. I find in most cases it is better for my customers to read very brief articles with lots of images, then once in a while throw in a long detailed article about something specific and useful.
     
    uand.eye, May 3, 2014 IP
  4. Rado_ch

    Rado_ch Well-Known Member

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    #4
    I think you are the one that should reconsider your information and answer your own question this way. First of all where did you get the revelation of SERPs perceiving the article length as a key factor in their ranks? What do you mean by "do not comply with the small size of articles"? There is no right and wrong here my friend, what is in the text is what matters, so better get your facts straight. Title, anchor text, careful and proper placing of keywords, uniqueness, engaging content, usefulness, those are things that will help you much more to rank better rather than just length of text. If the majority keeps doing it then maybe, just maybe, they know something that you don't not vice versa.

    Also consider that there are thousands of different kinds of websites and long content might not be appropriate for their style. If I have an online shop, why would I need product reviews that take forever to read when I can give the important specs that will affect the sell? Or if I am a have a gossip news websites why would I need page-long news pieces? Examples can go on forever... Don't get me wrong, I do think websites like oDesk are full of people that don't know what they're doing, but its because of far different reasons ;)
     
    Rado_ch, May 3, 2014 IP
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  5. SCookAAM

    SCookAAM Active Member

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    #5
    Let's take a look at what search engines do and what they're for. All of them, but we'll focus on Google, serve one purpose: to provide their users with the best answers to their search query questions. that's it. That's all they do.

    The reason that they do this is to keep their traffic up and sell ads, obviously. But in order to provide the best service, Google works very hard at creating algorithms that supply the best answers to your searches. This is why they change them all the time, primarily. this is why their are built-in features to remember what you've searched, match with your social netowrks and so on.

    Now, content has always and will always be king. As was stated above, what is most important about a piece of copy is its content, not its length. There are times when saying it in less time is actually better and vice versa. If your 300 word article gives the best answer to a particular user's query, it'll show up first. On the other hand, if a 1,500 word web page is the best answer, it'll show up first.

    There is no focus on the part of search engines to reward or punish content based on word count. It's unfortunate that there is so much emphasis on this because it's not that important. you'll hear all kinds of things about how visitors won't read more than a few sentences on a webpage, or how you need 4000 words in order to rank - it's all bull.

    if you want your content to help you rank, then write high-quality, informative and keyphrase optimized text, titles, descirptions and so forth.

    phew.
     
    SCookAAM, May 3, 2014 IP
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  6. dscurlock

    dscurlock Prominent Member

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    #6
    and I imagine it is not just about high quality content, or how much...
    Before I even begin to read the content; How are you going to catch my
    eye when I get to your site? Do you have quality design? or does your design
    look like it was made by some 3rd world country due to budget issues....
    there are quite a few factors in the equation then content alone....
    You can write the highest quality content in the world, if I am not impressed
    before I even start reading, then you have already lost me so if your
    highly created content is not well presented, you may end up bringing
    in more traffic, but overall, you will get less conversions...

    I am afraid this isnt the 90's anymore, these days you have competition
    on every street corner fighting for that exact same dollar....
     
    dscurlock, May 3, 2014 IP
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  7. SCookAAM

    SCookAAM Active Member

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    #7
    Yes, that's a very good point.
     
    SCookAAM, May 3, 2014 IP
  8. Write_House

    Write_House Greenhorn

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    #8
    Where is the research on 1,000 plus words? In any case getting a writer to produce something of quality over 1,000 words is harder than 300 words...
     
    Write_House, May 3, 2014 IP
  9. dscurlock

    dscurlock Prominent Member

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    #9
    I would like to see proof that even 300 is min. People start spewing numbers out, and
    I have been seeing people go with 300 words with no proof to back that up...they
    probably get such info off the so called, self proclaimed "seo blogs"

    people are very different on what will win them over....
    for me, sometimes It may just take a few words, then I am sold,
    other times, i may want to see a 1000 page report before I am sold...

     
    dscurlock, May 3, 2014 IP
  10. Write_House

    Write_House Greenhorn

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    #10
    I agree with your sentiment... I think the old 300-500 word target is more of a usability thing than anything these days. Most of the new advice on Google is just about quality and relevancy.

    But also in the commercial world, 300 or 500 being standards, makes it easier for companies to outsource this work - ie they know what it has cost to get a 500 word article in the past, so they are used to it and can budget for it going forward.
     
    Write_House, May 3, 2014 IP
  11. dscurlock

    dscurlock Prominent Member

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    #11
    and it does not end there; Unique content will certainly index, and be long lasting, but once you get it to
    index, then what? think sales are just magically going to roll in? now you have to get it to rank higher then other sites....

     
    dscurlock, May 3, 2014 IP
  12. coreygeer

    coreygeer Notable Member

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    #12
    There is no real evidence from trustworthy sources out there to support any size of content being victorious over another size of content.

    The real question is, why do people still think that every article HAS to match a certain size length?

    Do you want a tailored SEO article? Here's how you do it. Here's the ultimate secret to making an article SEO friendly in 2014.

    1) Know your audience and who you're writing to
    2) Write something that your audience will love to read and will want to share with others
    3) Don't try to aim for some bogus keyword density percentage, let the article flow naturally

    Seriously, that's it. All those tired old methods people are used to using that had to do with keywords and stuffing are dead. I still get people who contact me with requirements like: "must have underlined keyword, must have bold keyword, must have 4% density" and I tell every single one of them that the tactics are useless.

    They no longer work, Google doesn't care how pretty your keywords are and it doesn't provide a good user experience. From web development to content development, the general idea is the same for providing great SEO. To provide great SEO, you should always be focusing on the user experience, not a robot that will analyze your page once just to see what's on it. Google focuses far more on their user experience than the actual robots in 2014.

    That's great if you have enough content to fill up 1,000 words but you shouldn't be trying to force a certain word amount. Only write enough to get the information out there and to make your point.

    I've never met with any studio or company that had these standards. An actual studio's standards for content is a bit different than the clients you'll usually meet on Digital Point.

    They have certain font guidelines to follow, they have specific layout guidelines you have to follow and you have to take the website's design into consideration as well. They might want you to try to match a certain height or as I said, they usually want you to get the information out there and say what needs to be said.
     
    coreygeer, May 4, 2014 IP
  13. D.O.Beast

    D.O.Beast Greenhorn

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    #13
    From personal experience I can say that the shorter articles are there to make sure that people actually read them. The internet is over-saturated with content, and expecting someone to read a 1000-word post is kind of "asking too much" of the user.
    Short, concise articles get more interaction than long, in-depth ones. Of course, this also depends greatly on the subject matter, but generally speaking, that's just the way it is. Shorter — better.
    It's a quantity > Quality thing.
     
    D.O.Beast, May 5, 2014 IP
  14. Karuna17

    Karuna17 Member

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    #14
    People run for money. Why pay for 1k article, than you can pay for 300-500. Sure, if thinking ahead, we can imagine that Google will one day get pissed off with standard 300-500 word articles and downrate them. Just for lols:) And tell officially that articles are to be bigger. All the smart webmasters will run for big articles then:)
     
    Karuna17, May 5, 2014 IP
  15. Karuna17

    Karuna17 Member

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    #15
    There are two factors here: greed and market inertia.
    One of my friends in content business often tells "why pay for 550 words if i can pay for 500". That's it. Everyone's so used of small-size articles that people don't understand that something has changed. One thing I don't understand is why didn't Google hit this junk-content market earlier?
     
    Karuna17, May 19, 2014 IP
  16. faraz ahmed

    faraz ahmed Member

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    #16
    The only reason people are asking for 500 word articles is because they are made to believe that this is the standard.
    The truth is that... it's the quality that matters.
    You could write a thousand word article that is crap and nobody would want to read it.
    Readers would just get bored and hit the back button...leading to a high bounce rate
    ...and that's not good for your site.

    On the other hand, if you write 500 word articles that are interesting to the readers
    and keep them glued till the end...then it's a winner.
    Your bounce rates are low...and google is happy.

    Just look at sites like quicksprout, copyblogger, problogger
    and you'll see the kind of articles that get rewarded.

    just my 2 cents worth.
    Faraz
     
    faraz ahmed, May 29, 2014 IP
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  17. Karuna17

    Karuna17 Member

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    #17
    A question of academic interest: who was the one who had set this 500-word "standard"? I wonder...
     
    Karuna17, May 29, 2014 IP
  18. Rado_ch

    Rado_ch Well-Known Member

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    #18
    It only takes 1 person sharing their misguided views and assumptions over the Internet and everyone jumps on the bandwagon trying to look competent, simple as that ;)
     
    Rado_ch, May 29, 2014 IP
  19. Karuna17

    Karuna17 Member

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    #19
    But who was that #1 f**ker? I wanna find and roast him:)
     
    Karuna17, May 29, 2014 IP
  20. averyz

    averyz Well-Known Member

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    #20
    1000 words of content is huge on a webpage, unless you have very in depth new info people will probably never read it all. It can also make a large bounce rate if people are looking for some info then come upon 1000 words,,, Do they really want to read 1000 words just to find the short cut key to close a browser tab ?

    So much internet content is just rehash info so you do a standard search and you see the same stuff over and over again.. more and more is not better.

    Sometimes I start reading great page with tons of valuable info it is big so I bookmark it, then go back and study and read it a few more time. That is valuable but also rare. It is also usually an expert who just starts writing great info and doesn’t think about word count.
     
    averyz, May 29, 2014 IP
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