Highlights
According to Google, thin content is CONTENT with a little or no added value. It lacks quality and solves nothing for the user.
But the question is, what kind of content does Google consider to have little or no value?
Typically, you see thin content in the form of:
- Duplicate content
- Scraped content
- Automatically generated content
- Doorway pages
- What exactly are doorway pages?
- Pages created to funnel visitors into the apt section of the website
- Multiple domain pages targeted at particular cities, which in turn, funnel users to one web page
You should avoid publishing thin content on your website as it can cause your website’s ranking to drop and, thereby, tarnish your brand’s reputation. It limits the possibility of engagement and limits users from taking profitable actions.
That’s why it’s always good to conduct a complete audit of the content first from thinking like a reader and then to shift towards technical aspects.
Content Is not just the king; it’s the kingdom.
The key to achieving top rank on Google search results is to write something relevant and valuable to your audience. Your content needs to solve the audience’s queries.
Google wants to keep users happy. The search algorithm is smart, and the essential aspect is whether or not your content helps users find the information they are looking for.
So, how do find worthy content ideas?
According to Statista, around 4 million blogs are being posted online every single day. With those odds, that unique idea you just came up with exists already. Thus, navigate through successful blogs for inspiration and create a post in your voice.
However, the question still arises….
How Thin Content Hurts Your SEO?
Increased Bounce Rate
There are two instances, when your content fails to satisfy user’s needs or when you blast them with so many ads, they will deliberately click the back button.
At the end of it, a high bounce rate may convey to Google that your page does not provide users with a good user experience. If this happens to most of your pages, don’t be shocked if you see a huge drop in organic traffic and rankings. Hire an SEO firm in India that pays great emphasis on the content to drive measurable SEO results.
No Backlinks
Backlinks might not be able to leave any substantial impact on the website’s rankings anymore. However, they are still amongst the top-ranking signals. To earn them, you need to give people a convincing reason to link to you.
Let’s say you just completed a well-written meta tag, including a catchy title and attractive meta description.
Now, the user locates it in the SERPs and thinks, ‘this is what I am looking for for my article. So, they click and find nothing valuable.
There is a high chance they won’t return to your website and no chance of linking to it.
Keyword Cannibalization
This is an SEO myth that if you post lots and lots of content that targets the same keyword, your site will rank higher in SERPs. But the opposite is true. If you reuse the old topic, you will put Google into a dilemma and get less website traffic too.
Thin content is bad content. But how to fix it?
How to Fix Thin Content?
You need first to find the problem area and create an action plan accordingly.
Firstly, using tools – Deep Crawl and Screaming Frog, run a full site crawl.
Fetch relevant Google metrics from Google Search Console and Google Analytics, consisting – impressions, bounce rate, organic sessions, and conversions. After this, import that data into Google sheets and insert columns for ‘Target Keywords’ and ‘Actions’.
Take a note of the ‘target keyword’ since it is the basis of how you should analyze your content. Or else, how would you cover a topic if you are not aware of what others are posting?
Concluding Thoughts
Thin content is a big epidemic. You already know what exactly thin content is and how you can identify the issues, redefine your SEO strategy, set new goals and get to work. You can always seek the expertise of a local SEO services agency to help you create your content marketing strategy.
If you know your target keywords, you will be able to produce unique and good-quality content that your audience and Google will love. Good luck with your upcoming digital strategy!
