20 replies to this topic

[copywriter]

Hey,

Someone told me that a site really had to have a minimum of three pages in order to be ranked well with the SEs. Never heard that before. Do you think this is true?

Karon

[Matt]

Hi

No, from what I've seen its not true and there is no set rule.

True - sites with lots of content do tend to rank better as there would be more text for optimisation and internal links, which could account for a higher ranking.

However there are pne page sites that have adequate amount of text and external links to give them a high ranking.

Cheers
Matt

[bkernst]

I managed to get a site ranked in the top ten of Google with only one page. The site was stuck there for a few months, then I started adding more pages.

Bernhard

[Vertster]

I managed to get a site ranked in the top ten of Google with only one page. The site was stuck there for a few months, then I started adding more pages.

Was it for a competitive phrase?

[arlen]

This is interesting, because I'm noticing a small trend in some markets for single-product retail websites. This doesn't necessarily mean they limit their site to one page, but they are pretty abbreviated and VERY targeted. No nead to convince anyone to buy, the shopper knows exactly what they are looking for and the site provides it.

Don't have the url, but the most recent was a usb panel that fits in a drive bay. Very attractive 2 page site, one product w/ a lot of technical info.

[Jill]

It of course depends on the site and the keyword phrases you're optimizing for. You can get a one-paged site ranked highly for phrases nobody else is optimizing for, very easily.

In general, for real keyword phrases and real sites, I wouldn't touch one that didn't have at least 5 pages.

Jill

[rohgan03]

If content is king, and you cant really put lot of content in 1-3 pages, how can you expcet to have a really great commercial site in just 1-3 pages....I would agree that one needs atleast 5 pages.

Lately I havent seen a one page site in any of the really competitive keywords...atelast in my field.

[MIDA]

Funny this came up because I have a new client who wants to compete with HouseVales.com it appears to be a one page site at first glance but does have a few extra pages.

I got the "How Come"s regarding the fact that they are not a rich, authority, hub site, etc..

Then I did a little research and found they had about 27,000 incoming links while measuring by the same metric the client site had 14!

[Hexed]

Hey,

Someone told me that a site really had to have a minimum of three pages in order to be ranked well with the SEs. Never heard that before. Do you think this is true?

Karon

Your "someone" is completely wrong.

Hexed

[Hexed]

If content is king, and you cant really put lot of content in 1-3 pages

Content is not king. Keyword anchors are king.

Hexed

[Jill]

Your "someone" is completely wrong.

Hexed

Care to back up your answer, Hexed, or are you just here to be nasty?

Obviously, Karon was asking because she didn't think it sounded right, so tell us why her "someone" is wrong, in your opinion like the rest of us have already done with our opinions.

Oh, and welcome!

Jill

[BrianR]

Content is not king. Keyword anchors are king.

But who said we have to choose one or the other for SEO?

Saying that either content is king or keyword anchors are king is like asking: Which leg does the walking - the left or the right?

IMO, if you want staying power in the top 10 rankings, rather than a brief sojourn, then use both.

BrianR

[Jill]

Continued in the nigritude ultramarine thread.

[Ducani]

Content is not king.  Keyword anchors are king.

Hexed

King of what? A successful website is comprised of several factors each playing their own role. So let me be the first to dethrone your king and say that what is the point of having a good spot in the search engines if you cannot satisfy your users?

[lseeley]

One thing to remember is that you need to optimize for both search engines, and real people. Search engines like text content because they are text readers. Site visitors like information. Therefore, good content benefits everyone.

While no single rule applies to every website in every industry, I'd agree that smaller sites are not ideal. I would say that the main problem with a site 3 pages or less is that either it doesn't offer sufficient information for either search engines or humans, or it tries to put way too much information on just a page or two, and overwhelms the person attempting to read through it.