I am often asked about the importance of page count and whether multiple pages are better for SEO or not.
Bigger websites mean larger volumes of pages to handle and control which can make it more of a challenge when it comes to SEO.
In this article, we will look at how multiple pages can help your website and whether or not it is good for your SEO efforts.
Why do pages matter for SEO?
- Why do pages matter for SEO?
- How does page count impact SEO?
- Is it better for SEO to have multiple pages?
- How many pages is good for SEO?
- Can a one-page website rank on Google?
- Does Word Count matter for SEO?
- Conclusion
In order for your pages to be discovered by Google, you need to create SEO optimised pages that will attract a specific audience searching for a particular thing.
Your pages are what potential customers will judge your website on and the quality of your content and on-page optimisation is how Google determines what your page is offering.
In order for your website to rank for the related phrases you wish to target, you will need a page or pages of content that will help tell the user (and Google) why your particular page is best served for a query.
How does page count impact SEO?
Google states that page count does not count for anything when it comes to SEO but I would be inclined to disagree.
Google’s John Mueller said on Reddit that higher page count “means nothing” for ranking higher in Google. He said, in fact, he has seen case studies from the SEO community where reducing the number of pages results in overall better rankings in Google search. But the number of pages on your site is not a specific ranking factor in Google.
Certainly, a website with higher pages but with poorly written content compared to a smaller website but with a very focused topic and good SEO design will perform better. However, generally bigger and older websites tend to perform better than smaller sites.
This is because the more pages that you have on your website that are covering specific topics that are relevant to what it is you are offering, there are more chances to create good internal links and supporting content.
Is it better for SEO to have multiple pages?
Multi-page websites for search engine optimisation can certainly be better if they are consolidated and planned in the right way.
However, if your website is messy, unorganised and doesn’t have a real structure to it, the user experience is going to be poor and will hinder your site in the search results.
A well organised multi-page website will give you countless internal linking opportunities. If your website is established and has a number of aged pieces of content, you can point traffic toward some of your more sales-focused pages if planned out properly.
The disadvantage of single page websites is the fact that you cannot build the relevance you may need to rank for certain phrases. The way that search engines crawl websites and understand the content is by the topical relevance that is built around a specific phrase. Multiple pages will allow you to rank for long-tail variations of your main target keywords and will certainly have an indirect impact on your SEO efforts.
How many pages is good for SEO?
How many pages is good for SEO? It really depends on the competitive nature of your niche and how well optimised your site already is. There are a number of ranking factors that determine how well a site performs in the search results.
How many pages for a small business?
Generally speaking, if you are a small business that is starting from scratch, you should aim for around 10-30 pages to get everything that you need on your site.
This includes your home page, an about us to tell the user a bit about what it is you do and a good contact page to allow customers to get in touch.
It is then a case of planning your service pages and the pages that are ultimately going to lead to whatever goal it is you are aiming for with your website.
You can then create blog content that targets the long tail variations of the keywords you are trying to rank for, which can also work as a resource for potential customers to use when finding out about your business.
How many pages for a large business?
If you are a large business, then your website is typically going to have more pages, especially if you are an eCommerce retailer that sells products.
A lot of your website content will be made up of product pages and it can certainly get difficult to manage the more posts and products you upload.
Again, good planning and research will allow you to create a website structure that enables large businesses to manage their site and allow their key pages to be discoverable for their customers.
Can a one-page website rank on Google?
Typically, single page websites on their own will not rank as well as a multi-page website that has numerous blogs and relevance for that same phrase.
However, single-page sites are becoming popular and work great for sales-focused keywords. If you are a reputable brand and know that you get high search volume for your brand, then certainly, a single-page website could work in your favour.
If you are trying to rank for a phrase that is competitive, then generally it is the larger sites with higher quality content and backlinks pointing to their pages that tend to come out on top.
Does Word Count matter for SEO?
I am often asked whether word count matters for SEO? It really depends on the competitive nature of the sites that are ranking for that particular keyword you are trying to target.
In August 2019, Google’s Webmaster Trends Analyst John Mueller said word count is not a ranking factor.
There are a number of content writing tools such as Surfer SEO and Page Optimiser Pro that help you create content based on averages and keyword density of the top-ranking pages for that keyword.
Long gone are the days where you could stuff your content with keywords and hope for the best. You need to focus on the quality and readability of your content if you are serious about ranking for the phrases that you wish to target.
Conclusion
To conclude, do I believe that multiple pages are better for SEO? I think that they definitely can be as long as they are well written and organised well on your site.
Do not expect to rank just because you have pages and pages of content on your site but definitely, it gives you far more opportunities to help your customers and the user experience of your site as a whole.
A single page site compared to a website with several pages of well written, internally linked and relevant content is always going to come out on top. SEO is a sum of all its parts and if you research well enough, look at what the competition is doing and try to serve your customers as best as you can, then you will not go far wrong.
