How much text a page needs

How it works

A search engine has to understand what a page is about before it shows it for a query. To do that it mainly reads the visible text: headings, paragraphs, lists. Images, videos and animations add little unless some text describes them.

Start pages often consist of little more than a large image, a slogan and a few tiles. Visitors may find that appealing. For a search engine there is too little there to place the page.

bytereport counts the words in the HTML of the start page, leaving out scripts, styles and graphics. Google names no minimum. The rule of thumb is at least 150 words of visible text; below that the check reports a thin page.

What matters

• Text in the HTML. Text that is only loaded later by JavaScript is not seen by the check, nor by many crawlers, AI crawlers in particular. More in Why text must be readable without JavaScript.
• Substance, not padding. The point is not a word count but that the page says what you offer, for whom and where. 150 words is a floor for that, not a target.
• Text as text. Search engines cannot reliably read writing inside images. Key statements belong in the text.
• Structure. A few headings make even longer text easy to skim, for readers and search engines alike.

How to set it up

Add a few paragraphs to the start page in your CMS: what the website offers, for whom, what sets you apart, where you work. They can sit below the large image or between the tiles. Most page builders have a simple text block for this.

If your website only assembles its content in the browser, as a single-page app for instance, the text should already arrive in the HTML from the server (server-side rendering or pre-rendered pages). Your agency or whoever develops the site sets that up.