{"id":20110,"date":"2022-12-01T04:22:33","date_gmt":"2022-12-01T04:22:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mailinvest.blog\/index.php\/2022\/12\/01\/google-answers-if-splitting-a-long-article-could-result-in-thin-content\/"},"modified":"2022-12-01T04:22:33","modified_gmt":"2022-12-01T04:22:33","slug":"google-answers-if-splitting-a-long-article-could-result-in-thin-content","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mailinvest.blog\/index.php\/2022\/12\/01\/google-answers-if-splitting-a-long-article-could-result-in-thin-content\/","title":{"rendered":"Google Answers If Splitting A Long Article Could Result In Thin Content"},"content":{"rendered":"

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In a Google Search Office Hours video, Googler Lizzi Sassman answered a question about thin content, clarifying a common misperception about what thin content really is.<\/p>\n

Thin Content<\/h2>\n

The word thin means lacking thickness or width.<\/p>\n

So when we hear the term \u201cthin content\u201d it\u2019s not uncommon to think of thin content as a webpage with not much content on it.<\/p>\n

The actual definition of thin content is more along the lines of content that lacks any added value.<\/p>\n

Examples are a cookie cutter page that barely differs from other pages, and even a webpage that is copied from a retailer or manufacturer with nothing additional added to it.<\/p>\n

Google\u2019s Product Review Update weeds out, among other things, thin pages consisting of review pages that are only product summaries.<\/p>\n

The hallmark qualities of thin pages is that they lack originality, are barely different from other pages and\/or do not offer any particular added value.<\/p>\n

Doorway pages are a form of thin content. These are webpages designed to rank for specific keywords. An example can be pages created to rank for a keyword phrase and different city names, where all the pages are virtually the same except for the names of the cities.<\/p>\n

Are Short Articles Thin Content?<\/h2>\n

The person asking the question wanted to know if splitting up a long article into shorter articles would result in thin content.<\/p>\n

This is the question asked:<\/strong><\/p>\n

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\u201cWould it be considered thin content if an article covering a lengthy topic was broken down into smaller articles and interlinked?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Lizzi Sassman answered:<\/strong><\/p>\n

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\u201cWell, it\u2019s hard to know without looking at that content.<\/p>\n

But word count alone is not indicative of thin content.<\/p>\n

These are two perfectly legitimate approaches: it can be good to have a thorough article that deeply explores a topic, and it can be equally just as good to break it up into easier to understand topics.<\/p>\n

It really depends on the topic and the content on that page, and you know your audience best.<\/p>\n

So I would focus on what\u2019s most helpful to your users and that you\u2019re providing sufficient value on each page for whatever the topic might be.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Splitting a Long Article Into Multiple Pages<\/h2>\n

What the person asking the question may have been asking is if was okay to split one lengthy topic across multiple pages that are interlinked<\/em>, which is called pagination.<\/p>\n

With pagination, a site visitor clicks to the next page to keep reading the content.<\/p>\n

The Googler assumed that the person asking the question was splitting a long article into shorter articles devoted to the multiple topics that the lengthy article covered.<\/p>\n

The non-live nature of Google\u2019s new version of SEO office-hours didn\u2019t allow the Googler to ask a follow-up question to verify if she was understanding the question correctly.<\/p>\n

In any case, pagination is a fine way to break up a lengthy article.<\/p>\n

Google Search Central has a page about pagination best practices<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Citation<\/h2>\n

Listen to the Google SEO Office Hours video at the 12:05 minute mark<\/p>\n