Causes of Website Thin Content
It is a wish of every Web owner to be on top of Google search all the time. However, even though the majority of web owners think in this way, it is not easy to achieve such a good dream. For your page to be displayed on top of Google search, there are several factors which Google takes into consideration, some of which are, content quality & content, key words, number of sites pointing to your website (incoming links), bouncing rate, page optimization among others.
It is common for most websites to be hit or affected by thin content issue, which has a serious impact on ranking, as Google punishes websites having thin content by not ranking or be on top of Google search, as such websites or pages with thin content are seen as not to have enough content which will add value to customers.
Thin content is defined as any content, which do not add value to already existing content and is caused by copying content from another website or blogs or using any plagiarized content which do not add any value to already existing content, key words stuffing, which is using same key words on a multiple of times in order to be ranked higher on a Google search, blank or gateway pages and pages with less word content.
This article will give in detail on how thin content is caused, how to detect and solve or avoid it, and the consequences of thin content.
Causes of Thin Content
1. Copying content from another site or materials
A lot of web developers do not have time for writing unique content which will add value to already existing content indexed on Google, and this makes them to simply copy and paste content written by someone else. In this case, the copied content, does not add any value to the content already existing on Google search.
This could imply even if a page with words count of at least 200,000 is published on your website, still it will be analyzed as a thin content since, it has been copied and does not add any value to the already existing content. This is similar to the School research project, whose aim is to discover and add new theories to what we already know, and no one is allowed to conduct and submit a project which was already done by another student, as it does not add any value to what is already known.
For you to rank higher on Google search and other search engines, the first step is to write content which is unique and add value to content which already exist on Google search, and this makes Google to reward you by putting you on top of Google search if other factors like key words and web page optimization, have been taken into consideration as well.
You might be wondering as to what if you copy content from another website and cite it and put it into your website, will this been seen as a thin content by Google? The answer is yes, it will be seen as thin content, since when we place those contents on plagiarism detector, it will show the exact content with little or no added information, which means the content you have copied and cited, will not have a value to already existing information, which users find them useful.
Thin content will also mean, copying content from another person or website and changing some words with synonyms or rephrasing the sentences to look new and unique, in this case your content will still be detected and categorized as thin content since the added content, will not add any value to what is already available on Google search.
In addition, thin content will also imply not necessarily copying content from another website, but using similar words which already exist on another website. An example here is when your new created site wants to be offering online courses, and you have put or used the words like, online courses, online learning, online school across your website. Because these words are already in Google indexed content, your website will be seen as having thin content since what is written, will not add any value to what is already available on Google.
2. Key words stuffing
Key words stuffing, is defined as using the same key words a multiple of time across your website in order to trick Google to rank you higher on Google search. It is very difficult to trick Google as it uses powerful tools to identify any content which does not add any value to what is already existing. Some developers, have got a tendency of repeating or using same key words a multiple of time across web pages so that if a visitor, will not see the targeted words on one page, they should find them on another page. Similarly, if the Google does not index the page of your target, it should index the another page since it has similar key words. Make sure you avoid doing this as it causes your website to have thin content issue and your website will not be ranked so high on Google search.
3. Writing few words in your web pages or articles
Writing few words on your pages is also another cause for website thin content. This does not mean that because your content is unique and contains no plagiarized words, then your content will be ranked higher on Google. If the content which is new and unique, if it does not meet minimum content requirements, it will still be considered as thin content. An example here, is when you write unique 50 words on your article and publish it, expecting it to be ranked higher on Google search.
In this case, even though those 50 words you have written are unique, still they do not add much value to what is already available on Google search and will not satisfy Google search visitors in a such a way when one would expect to discover or learn new information.
It is recommended for every Web page or article, to have more unique content, which at least contain a minimum of 500 words. The more you write unique content words the more you put your web pages on a better chance of getting ranked.
When designing your web page, make sure your page or pages have enough information, which is unique and will not make the user or visitor to return back on Google search to type alternative words which will help him/her answering what the person is looking for.
Making a person returning to Google search will be counted as bouncing back, which will have a serious impact on your ranking, since it will be sending a signal to Google, telling it that your website is not answering their needs.
Even though it is recommended to write as much unique words as possible in your web page or articles, this does not mean to write too much information. What am trying to mean here is that, sometimes instead of reaching the optimal level, we go beyond making it irrelevant.
An example here is a person who writes a 500,000 unique words content on his/her article. Even though this person has spent more time writing unique content, this article will less likely stimulate visitors to like his/her article as it contains too much information which will make the user find it difficult to find an answer to his questions. When designing your web pages or writing your articles, make sure your article or web page falls between 500 to 3500 words, to avoid writing irrelevant content.
Ways of Detecting Website Thin Content Pages
1. Using online plagiarism detector
There are a lot of free online plagiarism detector which enables you to paste a content for free and they analyze your content within seconds and tells you percentage of unique words and highlight the copied or plagiarized words with references on where you can find the copied content or content you have written on your website, but is very similar in content, written by another person.
Some online free plagiarism detector, will let you put a website link and will perform everything for you, by telling the percentage of plagiarized content and exact words or phrases which have already been used on the Google.
You might be wondering as to what is the example of these online plagiarism detectors, well worry not. This url https://www.check-plagiarism.com is one of an example of sites where you can paste your website content to know the percentage of it which is copied and where you can find similar words or phrases across the internet.
2. Using online free thin content detector
There are a lot of online tools or website that you can use to identify the thin content for your website in case, it is not easy to find the exact pages affected.
Websites like https://www.seobility.net has paid and free tools which help you know exactly as to which pages have got few words or thin content and which articles or pages have got too many words. These sites, will also tell you if some paragraphs in your article or blog are repeated resulting in thin content.
There are also a number of websites which just tell you if the word count for your website has reached the recommended level or not and an example of these websites is https://www.seoptimer.com/, which just tells you if your website have reached the recommended words, but will not tell you exactly as to which pages are affected by thin content.
3. Using manual method
Manual methods involve going page by page to know if there are some blank pages on your website or to know if there is a duplicate content on your website.
The problem with this manual method is that, you will not know if certain words are plagiarized causing the thin content and in case your website has more pages, it will be very difficult for you to go page by page. In this case, online tools stand with higher chances of helping you easily identify the affected thin content pages than the manual methods.
Consequences of Website Thin Content
1. Not ranking higher on Google search
One of the most negative impact of having thin content on your website is that, Google will not rank your website or your web pages higher on Google search since your website will be seen as to contain little or meaningless content which is worthy to be rewarded with web visitors derived from Google search.
This is a very big problem since it could make your website to be seen by yourself and friends whom you share a link to your website, but no one apart from you and your friends, will be able to find your website. In this case, if your website was designed or developed for business purposes, it will mean no customers.
2. Creating a bad reputation for you as a developer or article writer
As a developer your duty is to design and develop a good website, which stands with high chances for being on top of Google search and other search engines all the time, so if you are developing websites which have thin content all the time, it will result in tarnishing your image, you as a developer.
Similarly, if you are an author and you keep on writing plagiarized content all the time, your reputation will be damaged and people will stop reading your articles as it will not be adding any value to them.
3. Failure to run the Google Adsense program
Whenever your website is affected by thin content issues, your website can't run Google Adsense program and you will keep on getting rejected. Similarly, some other advertising programs will not be willing to incorporate you with their program because your website is affected by thin content.
4. Failure to get indexed
When your pages are affected by thin content problems, they will have higher chances of not getting indexed even if they are crawling a multiple of times. This will mean, your time spent on creating those pages were just for nothing, which is bad and the best way is to avoid or solve it.
In conclusion, this article has uncovered the causes of website thin content, how to detect the affected pages and solve it, and finally the consequences of having the thin content on your website.