Can articles be too long for optimal SEO?

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Can articles be too long for optimal SEO?

stef25

7:26 pm on Apr 5, 2009 (gmt 0)

I find myself a writing a little more enthusiastically than expected, knocking out 2500 word articles for my sites while I know that half that would probably be sufficient.

Its quality stuff I am interested in, not rehashed gibberish collected from the net.

Should I split these articles in to part 1 & part 2, or is better for SEO to have longer articles?

I realize its probably not that important. from a usability perspective for the users its probably better to have shorter articles right? i know id prefer that as a reader.

any thoughts?

stef

dauction

12:09 am on Apr 6, 2009 (gmt 0)

Depends..if your main keywords / phrases density is solid it wont matter..on the other hand if you drift off topic and end up with 3-4 different "main" keyword phrases you end up diluting your focus then yes that will hurt the ranking aspect.

Hope that helps

nomis5

10:50 am on Apr 8, 2009 (gmt 0)

I would definitely think that with 2,500 words you would get better results by splitting the article into two. Aim page one solidly at your keyword(s) then select a secondary keyword and aim page two at that.

CorryC

1:30 am on Apr 9, 2009 (gmt 0)

2500 words is a lot of words. There is no reason you cannot get excellent rankings with 1/5th of that length. Just because a page is long does not make it any more high quality than a page with 500 words.

BillyS

1:40 am on Apr 9, 2009 (gmt 0)

How long is the typical Wiki article... ? You cannot explain anything with 500 words.

shallow

5:30 am on Apr 9, 2009 (gmt 0)

Can articles be two short? I find when writing an 800-900 word article that I prefer to break it into two. Is this okay?

stef25

6:26 am on Apr 9, 2009 (gmt 0)

i didnt aim to write 2500 words, i just started write about X and only counted the words when i felt it was "finished". the only real reason i think its too much is from a usability perspective. and since we're always meant to be build "for the users" ... i thought id post this question. i think ill go with the more senior member's opinions here :-)