Why does Character Count Online Matter for SEO & What is Character Count?

Character count is the number of letters, spaces, numbers or punctuation that you type into a text box or document. For SEO purposes, spaces count. Character count matters because a limited amount of space is available on the Google Search Results page. Using too many characters in your title, meta description or even in the whole article, could hurt your SEO efforts and your ranking on Google.

Most small business owners handle these things themselves. It can be intimidating and overwhelming considering everything else you need to do. Let’s talk in-depth about the character count for each element of an SEO optimized article, and why each matters to your website, business and SEO strategy - and how to do it.

Why does character count matter?

1. SEO Title Length

Title character count matters because if the title is too long, Google will cut off your title on the search results page. This looks bad and people won’t see your critical information. If your title is too short, you are missing opportunities to tell searchers important information about your company.

Professional SEO’s recommend a title length of between 55-70 characters, including spaces. Google displays around 70 characters in the little preview you see on the first page of Google search results. Other search engines generally recommend the same character count for titles. In the title you must include only your most critical information, but it must include SEO optimized keywords, and ideally, a reference to your brand.

2. SEO Meta Description Length

Meta description length is important for the same reason title character length is important. If your meta description is too long, it will be cut off by Google on the search results page. If your meta description is to short, you are missing an opportunity to tell customers about your business or brand.

Professional SEO’s recommend a meta description length of between 155-160 characters (including spaces) total. In 160 characters and spaces, you need to describe your content, tell the reader why you are valuable, and encourage readers to visit your page. This is why many businesses choose to hire a professional SEO consultant or agency.

3. SEO Paragraph Length

Online content paragraph length is up to you - but remember you are speaking to an audience who is reading fast and looking for information. Your content should be well organized, easy to understand, and SHORT!

Optimum SEO paragraph length is generally around 150 words, making use of SEO keywords and conveying your message in a clear, concise, and easy to follow format. It tracks that if sentences are shorter and clearer, they would be easier to digest for readers, and therefore easier to digest for Google.

4. SEO Article Length

SEO article length is important because articles that are too short don’t signal to Google that the information within is well researched and original. The more content you create, the more information Google has about your page and what you offer the world. Don’t forget about backlinks! The longer the content, the more likely you are to build quality backlinks, which affect your SEO success!

Generally, it’s smart to keep your articles from 2,250-2,500 words. More is not necessarily better if you aren’t using original or interesting content. Also, it’s easier to fall into the trap of keyword stuffing when writing super-long form content. Remember, people are on the web to learn about your product, not hear your life story. If you really want to tell a long story about the product you sell (sometimes its important!), start a new page or add your story to your blog!

5. SEO For Featured Snippets

Featured snippets are small sections of text that appear on the first page of Google, at the very top, because they are deemed to quickly answer a question. These are the links most likely to be clicked, and are seen by billions. Capturing a featured snippet is a huge win for an SEO or business. See - we are even using this featured snippet in our article!

Featured snippets are typically around 300 characters, including spaces, or around 40-50 words. There are many methods for capturing featured snippets including:

• Using “what is” in the headline

• Don’t use your Brand name or voice

• Fully define the topic

• Fully answer the question

The best way to learn about how to write featured snippets is to look at those sites that are already ranking for your topic, and use those as a baseline to guide your writing.

5 Reasons Character Count Online Matters for SEO | Professional SEO Services | StoryTime SEO

Character count matters because you just spent all that time writing a great article, and want to give your articles the best chance of ranking high on Google. As you can imagine, when a single word makes the difference between ranking high on Google or other search engines, and not ranking at all - it’s a pretty important issue.

Many small and medium sized businesses don’t feel like this type of SEO optimization is available to them. StoryTime SEO believes SEO should be available to all, and teaches you how to manage SEO on your own as a small business owner. We can even do the work for you, but we will still tell you why we are doing what we are doing and how it’s going to help you. For more information about SEO Consulting for small and medium sized businesses, reach out to StoryTime SEO today!