Less is More - Or Is It?
For all our clients and potential clients who subscribe to our website SEO careplans, we've created this article to answer any questions on "What is thin content and should I care?"
Why Thin Content Could Be Holding Your Website Back
If your website isn't attracting as many visitors as you'd hoped, the problem may not be your design, your products, or even your competition.
It could simply be thin content.
Many businesses invest in professional website designers, launch an attractive website and then add only a few sentences to each page. This has never been enough (even back in 1998 when aprompt started) but with modern SEO and AI-powered search engines as well as customer expectations changing the landscape dramatically, we'll try to explain why and what you can do to help your website be found in search engines for natural listings and AI search.
Whether you're managing your own website or working with professional content managers, understanding thin content is essential if you want your website to perform well in Google and AI search platforms.
What Is Thin Content?
Thin content is any webpage that provides very little useful, original or valuable information to visitors.
This doesn't necessarily mean the page is short. A page can contain hundreds of words yet still offer little value if it simply repeats generic statements without answering the visitor's questions.
Examples include:
- Service pages containing only one or two short paragraphs
- Pages copied from other websites
- Manufacturer descriptions copied onto ecommerce websites
- Multiple pages saying almost exactly the same thing
- Multiple blog articles just regurgitating the same point
- Pages created only to target keywords without genuinely helping users
- Empty category pages (mainly in eCommerce websites but can also affect deleted blog articles or other content where a redirect hasn’t been actioned)
- AI-generated content published without human editing or expertise (unfortunately we’re seeing a lot more of this now!)
Search engines want to recommend pages that genuinely solve a user's problem. If your page doesn't add anything useful, it may struggle to rank and show in SERPS (search engine results pages) for the keywords you’re targeting.
Why Google Hates Thin Content
Google's algorithms have become increasingly sophisticated. Rather than simply counting keywords, they have for some time now, evaluated whether a page demonstrates:
- Expertise
- Experience
- Authority
- Trustworthiness
- Originality
- Helpful information
- Good user experience
If your content fails these tests, Google has little reason to place your page above competitors offering more comprehensive information.
This is why many websites gradually lose rankings despite looking modern and professional.
You can’t fool Google, even if you think you can!
AI Search Is Making Thin Content Even More Obvious
Today's search landscape extends far beyond traditional Google results.
AI-powered search assistants increasingly summarise information from websites before recommending businesses to users.
These systems look for pages that:
- Answer complete questions
- Explain topics clearly
- Include supporting information
- Demonstrate genuine expertise
- Cover related subjects naturally
A page containing only 150 words about a service rarely provides enough information for AI systems to confidently reference. However, this has been the case for SEO for many years.
There was a spate of website content creators keyword stuffing or using irrelevant keywords just to get hits for their websites in the late 90’s and early 00’s, and it doesn’t help anyone. Sadly there are still some SEO companies and website content marketing companies who still use this practice, but the website owners probably don't realise that this is doing their business's online marketing more harm than good.
Comprehensive, well-structured content has always been far more valuable than simply repeating keywords. This has always been true for SEO, not just because AI search is here.
How can I help my website?
Your website should be an extension of your sales team. If you don’t have a sales team, then your website needs even more information to help humans decide if you’re the right company for the services/products they’re looking for.
If your website doesn’t have the information about a service or product potential customers are looking for, then why should they contact you to ask if you do it/have it? They’re much more likely just to head off to the next website that DOES have all the information at their fingertips. I’ve said this for years but never assume your customer knows what you do. And be wary of copying someone else’s words, because every business is different, no matter your business size.
Signs Your Website May Have Thin Content
Ask yourself these questions.
Does your website have pages that:
- Contain fewer than 500 words?
- Only describe what you do rather than how you help customers?
- Repeat the same wording across multiple services?
- Lack FAQs?
- Include no original images, examples or case studies?
- Haven't been updated for years?
- Focus on selling instead of informing?
If you answered "yes" to several of these questions, your website could benefit from a content review.
Ask for a Website Content Review
Thin Content Often Happens Accidentally
Very few businesses intentionally create poor-quality pages.
Usually, thin content develops because:
- The website had to launch quickly
- The business owner wasn't sure what to write
- Pages were added gradually over many years
- SEO advice focused only on keywords
- Time pressures meant content was never expanded
Even excellent businesses often have websites that no longer reflect the quality of their services.
Want help with your website? GET STARTED
Websites need great content to survive
How Better Content Improves SEO: High-quality content helps SEO in several important ways.
It can:
- Improve keyword relevance naturally
- Increase the number of search terms your pages rank for
- Encourage visitors to stay longer
- Increase enquiries and conversions
- Earn backlinks from other websites
- Help search engines understand your expertise
- Improve visibility in AI-generated search results
Instead of writing for search engines, the goal is to write for humans, and in doing so, you also satisfy search engines.
Every Service Deserves Its Own Detailed Page
Many businesses list all their services on one page. Instead, each service should have its own dedicated page answering questions such as:
- What is the service?
- Who needs it?
- What problems does it solve?
- How does the process work?
- Why choose your business?
- How long does it take?
- What areas do you cover?
- What are the common questions customers ask?
This creates genuinely useful content and could result in a new client, while naturally improving SEO.
Don't Forget Existing Pages
Creating new pages is important, but improving existing pages can deliver faster results.
A content review is available from us and we'd usually include the following work:
- Expanding short pages
- Removing duplicate content
- Adding FAQs (aprompt websites include a great accordion feature for FAQs)
- Including customer testimonials (aprompt websites include a handy Reviews widget)
- Updating outdated information
- Improving headings and sub headings
- Adding internal links
- Including original photographs if applicable
Even small improvements across dozens of pages can make a big difference.
Why Content Managers Play Such an Important Role
Professional content managers like ours, don't simply upload text willy-nilly. We help ensure every page:
- Has a clear purpose
- Uses appropriate headings and sub headings
- Uses the correct meta info
- Answers customer questions
- Targets relevant search intent
- Links naturally to other pages
- Remains accurate and up to date
Regular content management prevents websites becoming stale and keeps them competitive in search results.
Ask about our website careplans for monthly SEO and content creation.
Professional Website Design Needs Professional Content
Even the most attractive website cannot compensate for weak content. Experienced website designers like aprompt, understand that successful websites combine:
- Excellent user experience
- Fast loading speeds
- Mobile responsiveness
- Strong technical SEO
- Clear navigation
- High-quality written content
Design attracts visitors but only after you’ve been found. Content convinces both search engines and customers that your business deserves attention.
How Our Website Designers Can Help
If you're unsure whether your website contains thin content, an independent review can quickly identify opportunities for improvement.
Our experienced web designers in Hereford and Wiltshire work with SMEs all over the UK to create websites that are not only visually impressive (and are kind to your wallet) but also built around strong SEO foundations and valuable content.
We can help with:
- SEO content audits
- Content planning
- Website restructuring
- Website redesigning
- Service page optimisation
- AI-search friendly content
- Ongoing content management
- Technical SEO improvements
Whether you're launching a new website or improving an existing one, investing in quality content is one of the most effective long-term online marketing decisions you can make.
Thin Content Isn't Just an SEO Problem - It's a Business Problem
Every page on your website should answer questions, build trust, demonstrate expertise and encourage visitors to contact you. If your content doesn't achieve those goals, you're missing opportunities every day.
The good news is that thin content is one of the easiest SEO issues to fix. With the right strategy, stronger content can improve search visibility, increase enquiries, support AI search platforms and help your website generate better results for years to come.
Ready to Improve Your Website?
If your website isn't performing as well as you'd like, our SEO team can provide practical help with website improvements, SEO strategy, content development and professional online marketing advice. We're not full of techy jargon and we'll explain everything we're doing and why.
If you'd rather do it yourself and would like SEO training - we offer that too!
Whether you need experienced website designers, expert content managers, or trusted web designers in Hereford and Wiltshire, we're here to help transform your website into a valuable marketing asset that performs well in search engines and the rapidly growing world of AI-powered search.