June 22, 2022

Web Pages and Performance: How Many Pages Are Enough?

By: Mary Hiers

The number of web pages on a website influences how well it performs in search engine rankings. This, in turn, affects website traffic by people who may become customers.

Right-sizing your website reflects positively on your business. But how do you know how many pages are right? You can come up with an answer by considering some key aspects of your business and goals. 

Search Engines and Web Page Counts

Wikipedia has around 3.5 billion web pages. Fortunately, the typical business doesn’t need anywhere near that many to climb the search engine rankings and drive website traffic.

The number of web pages that are right for your business will be unique to your business. It will depend on numerous factors, such as:

  • Whether your business is local, regional, or national
  • How many products and services your business provides
  • What your business goals are
  • What your budget is

Search engines prefer websites that have a steady supply of fresh, original content relevant to what people are searching. But that doesn’t mean you have to keep adding new pages forever. 

If your budget limits how big a website you can have, there are still many things you can do to ensure your website performs at its peak. Here is what you should bear in mind when determining how many web pages your business website should have.

Industry Influences Web Page Counts

Your industry is a major determinant of how many web pages your website needs. The website of a piano tuner needs fewer pages than the website of a fashion retailer. The website of a local law office needs fewer web pages than the website of an international news provider.

The more products and/or services your business offers, the more web pages you will need on your website. These product or service pages are necessary to ensure a positive user experience (UX). Search engines consider UX when determining search rankings. 

Take a Look at Competitors’ Websites

Fortunately, with the internet maturing, it is easier to “ballpark” the number of web pages a site needs. One simple way to get an estimate is to look at your direct competitors’ websites and count how many pages their sites have.

You will almost certainly see a range of web page counts for competitor sites. Determine what a rough average is. See if the top-ranking competitor site has a wildly different number of pages than the others.

That may give you a starting point, but your business goals will be another determinant of how many pages you should include on your site.

Small, Local Businesses

Suppose you own a small local dry cleaning business. You have an established clientele, and while you never want to lose customers, you aren’t aiming for substantial growth.

You could probably do just fine with a simple website containing five or so pages:

  • Homepage
  • About Us page
  • Contact Us page
  • Services page
  • FAQ page

However, maybe your strongest competitor’s website ranks higher than yours in the search rankings. Why might that be?

It’s possible that your competitor has simply followed the advice to create a complete and accurate Google Business page. It’s also possible that they started a blog about fashion and clothing care on her website that is proving to be popular.

Small, local businesses generally don’t need dozens or hundreds of web pages. Often, they do fine with anywhere from five to ten pages.

Businesses with Plans for Growth

A company that pursues growth generally needs more web pages than a company that is established and happy where it is. The extra pages often serve to showcase that growth.

For example, a real estate development company that has always built single-family homes may decide to start building apartment buildings too. When that happens, they’ll want pages announcing their plans, giving out contact information for new personnel, and providing information on the properties as they finish building them.

This business website may need to go from five or six pages to 15 or 16 pages to adequately showcase its growth and draw new customers.

Growth-oriented businesses and larger businesses typically need the following types of web pages:

  • Homepage
  • About Us page
  • Contact Us page
  • Services page
  • FAQ page
  • Testimonials page
  • Blog
  • Press announcements page
  • Privacy policy page
  • Sitemap page
  • Custom 404 “Page Not Found” page

Large Businesses

Large businesses may need dozens of web pages on their site to inform people about everything they offer. Many large businesses have blogs because high-quality blogs satisfy search engine algorithms’ preference for the steady addition of fresh content.

Moreover, large businesses typically sell more products. Product pages will need to be broken into categories to help people find what they want. And each product will often have its own page with a link to a shopping cart and checkout page.

Fact: Having More Pages Boosts SEO

The number of web pages on a website is far from the only factor search engine algorithms consider when ranking results. But more pages are frequently associated with new, fresh content, and that is something search engines look for.

If those additional pages are of poor quality, they won’t help SEO. But if they are original, relevant, and have information people search for, they will boost SEO efforts. In other words, the sheer quantity of pages cannot make up for low-quality content on them.

Ask Yourself These Questions

Considering the answers to several questions can help you get a better feel for how many pages your business website should have. Consider the following questions:

  • Who are my competitors?
  • What are competitors’ websites like?
  • How do competitor websites rank for relevant internet searches?
  • What do non-competing websites in my industry look like?
  • Do I want to sell products online?
  • Am I pursuing significant growth over the next few years?
  • How do my customers typically use the internet?

Change of any kind typically demands the addition of web pages. And of course, some industries are more competitive than others. 

If your clientele skews younger, you will probably need more web pages and functionalities than if your clientele consists of older people. Then again, you might be surprised at how many retirees regularly use smartphone apps in going about their daily routines. Knowing your customer base is essential.

Right-Size Your Business Website

Right-sizing your business website requires you to consider multiple factors. If you’re not sure where to begin, we can help!

Best Websites creates beautifully designed websites of all sizes. And all of them include SEO-enriched content to help your site rise through the search engine ranks. 

We take care of website security, setup of social media profiles, and even completion of clients’ Google Business Profiles. If you know how many pages you want on your website, or if you’re not sure, why not schedule a call with our team and find out more? We would be happy to answer your questions. 

 

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