In practice: How many words does a good website text have?

– Firstly, you want a text to grab the visitor’s attention and then hold it so you can convince them. Especially the latter influences the number of words because our fleeting attention stays with one piece for a maximum of 7 minutes. And the reader only grants you those 7 minutes if the structure and content are 100% correct! In those 7 minutes, the reader also looks at images, so you can be happy if you manage to hold the reader for 3 to 4 minutes. How many words does one read on average in 3 to 4 minutes? No more than 400 to a maximum of 500 words. So, a good website text never consists of more than 500 words! And actually, the fewer words, the better.

SEO – The best content in the world doesn’t help if it isn’t found. The vast majority of traffic nowadays comes through search engines, and in the Netherlands, that equates to Google. And what SEO experts say about the amount of words is simple: long pieces of text are of little use, but especially do not make them too short. Less than 200 words is considered too short by Google and is scrutinized more critically, making it less findable. For length, experts draw the line at 600 words because a longer piece can be better divided into 2 separate topics on which your site is individually findable. All in all, most aim for a number between 400 to 600 words.

Writing website text: the ideal amount of words

And so, we have relatively easily arrived at the ideal length of a website text: around 500 words. But don’t just focus on the number of words, it’s important that you are concrete and clear in what you tell and keep your reader’s attention. Finished at 400? Done! At 800 words and not yet finished? Consider whether you can split the topic and make it even easier for the reader. In any case, you now know what to consider when you sit down to write a website text.