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Sometimes the only way to really get to the next level is through experimentation. I’ve been into SEO for a few years now, and I want to put some of the “general guidelines” to the test to see if the so called “SEO gurus” out there are being honest to people. I also want to try to break down common myths and see if they hold any weight.

What The Experiment Is About

Over the course of the next few months, I am going to be publishing content around the 500 word mark. Many people (myself included) subscribe to the idea that long form content is the way to go in the SEO sphere, and that Google prefers it. Word count truly does seem to be an element to search engine optimization that countless marketers seem to really obsess over. 

In my experience word count varies dramatically in what’s ranking at the top of search. My process has been reverse engineering the top 3 ranking pieces of content to rank websites for my clients. While this has proved to work and be super invaluable, I want to test some theories I have when it comes to this metric.

What I Want To Test

Over the past year or so, YouTube shorts have become super popular on the video platform. It’s fascinating in and of itself that so many people prefer shorter content. Well, I want to see if the same thing applies to blogs and writing text-based content online. My hypothesis is that Google is beginning (or has begun) to rank shorter form content higher in their search engine as a result of this.

How I’m Going To Test It

I will be frequently publishing short form blog posts on this very website. Each piece of content will be around 500 words long (some shorter, some longer.) I am going to be logging all the blog posts published that are part of the experiment in a public Google Sheets that will be linked below. I am going to keep track of how many posts are published, and how much traffic each post has.

Then, I’ll compare that with my previous posts and other posts made during this time that are longer-form content to see if the overall amount of traffic is different.

What I Hope To Get Out Of This

My goal is to find out if short form content is worth pursuing and creating for blogs. I also am excited to share these results with you, so you can decide if short form content is something you want to do for your website. I’ve been doing SEO long enough to know that word count can be affected by a million variables, including what niche you are in. Therefore, even though I hope to get a legitimate answer on if short form content ranks well now, be aware the results may be biased or not apply to you or your business.

See The Experiment Results

Here is a link to view the updated test results spreadsheet: