What is Thin Content & How Does it Affect Your SEO?

Publishing new content is important, but when it’s invaluable, lacks depth, or doesn’t answer readers’ questions, it might hurt your SEO.

This is what we call thin content. It makes it harder for search engines to understand your expertise and could prevent your pages from ranking as well as they could.

A lot of websites have thin content. While you won’t see a drastic drop in traffic overnight from thin content, it could slowly diminish your trust with Google over time. So it’s better to get them updated!

And I’ll explain exactly which pages to update and how to do it.

What is Thin Content?

Thin content is content that provides little value, depth, or original information for users. It often exists just to target a keyword rather than answer a searcher’s question or provide any sort of value.

They also sometimes happen when you’re rushing to launch a page. Maybe you meant to come back to it and never did.

Thin content isn’t always about word count. A 300-word page can be valuable, while a 2,000-word page can still be thin if it doesn’t have any useful information. You’d be surprised how much people can write without actually saying anything!

Search engines prioritize content that demonstrates expertise, answers questions thoroughly, and satisfies search intent. Thin content typically doesn’t hit any of those points.

5 Ways Thin Content Affects Your SEO

Thin content isn’t a make-or-break SEO issue, but it can impact your rankings if you let these pages sit on your website for too long.

1. Lower Search Rankings

Google’s whole purpose is to rank pages that best satisfy search intent. It wants to provide relevant answers to searchers quickly.

If competitors provide more comprehensive information, their pages will probably outrank yours because they provide a better answer to the search query.

Thin content pages struggle to earn visibility in general, but especially for competitive keywords. There’s just so much other content out there that’s better.

2. Reduced Topical Authority

Thin content can make your website appear less authoritative in your niche. If you’re being vague, invaluable, or repeating content that’s already out there, there’s no benefit in sending people to your website instead of someone else’s.

You have to be unique, and comprehensive content helps establish your expertise and earn trust with readers and search engines.

3. Poor User Engagement

Visitors will probably leave quickly if they don’t find the information they need, much less explore other pages on your website. Lower engagement can signal that the page isn’t meeting user expectations, and over time, search engines will start to trust you less and send fewer people to your website.

4. Fewer Backlinks

Valuable, informative content is more likely to earn links from other websites. Thin content doesn’t give others a reason to reference or share it. It isn’t bringing any value to their audience.

5. Lower Conversion Potential

Thin pages don’t adequately answer objections or provide enough information for users to take the next step. They’re left with questions or not enough information to make an informed decision. Or maybe there isn’t even a clear CTA for them to know what to do next.

Should You Remove Thin Content?

Not always. A lot of thin content pages have SEO potential and just need some improvements to make them more valuable.

Consider removing content if:

• The page receives no traffic.
• It has no backlinks.
• It serves no strategic business purpose.
• It overlaps heavily with another page.
• The topic is outdated or no longer relevant.

In many cases, updating, consolidating, or expanding content is a better solution than deleting it. If you decide to remove a page, redirect it to the most relevant alternative. That’s a better option than someone ending up on your 404 page.

How to Identify Thin Content That Needs Expansion

Your mind might be spinning trying to think if you have any thin content pages on your website.

Here are some pages that are usually culprits of thin content:

• Service pages that were created quickly during a website launch.
• Contact pages that only have an inquiry form.
• Location pages built for multiple cities using nearly identical content.
• Older, more vague blog posts that no longer meet current search expectations.
• Product pages with minimal descriptions.
• Blog category or tag pages.
• Resources pages with a list of links with little context or explanation.

To get more granular in your search, look for pages that hit these points:

1. Look for Pages With Very Little Information

If you have any pages with just a few paragraphs or generic descriptions (maybe even ChatGPT descriptions), you probably need to update them.

Also, look for pages that don’t fully answer user questions. Maybe you touch on it or give a brief explanation. Read through it with fresh eyes and see if there are opportunities to expand on the topic.

2. Review Performance Data

Data in Google Analytics, Google Search Console, or an SEO tool can help you narrow down thin content pages.

Look for:

• Low organic traffic
• Low rankings
• Low engagement metrics
• Few conversions

3. Compare Against Search Results

Search your target keywords and review top-ranking pages.

Ask:

• What topics are competitors covering?
• What questions are they answering?
• What examples, visuals, or resources are they providing?

This exercise can help you find ideas to add to your page to compete or rise above your competition in search results. Just don’t be a copycat!

4. Evaluate Search Intent

Aligning your page with search intent ensures that someone will find exactly what they need when they land on your page.

When looking through the pages on your website, ask yourself:

• Does the page fully satisfy what someone is searching for?
• Are there obvious follow-up questions left unanswered?

5. Identify Duplicate or Near-Duplicate Pages

Two pages that are basically the same do not help you rank higher in search results or give you more opportunities to rank in search results.

What they do is compete against each other for rankings, and that confuses Google on which one to actually show. So usually, it doesn’t show either one.

Here’s where I often see this:

• Similar service pages.
• Multiple location pages using nearly identical copy.
• Repetitive blog posts targeting slight keyword variations.

8 Ways to Add Valuable Content to Thin Content Pages

Okay! Now that you’ve found some thin content pages on your website, let’s get into how to update them. Because what use would this blog be without some action steps?!

1. Answer More Questions

What else can you answer to help them make a decision or give them the information they need to know?

Here are some ideas:

• Add FAQs based on customer conversations.
• Address common objections and concerns.
• Include related questions people ask during the buying process.

2. Add Original Expertise

Share real experiences, examples, case studies, or lessons learned. ChatGPT and your competitors can’t replicate that! And Google loves to see fresh perspectives on things.

3. Expand Key Sections

It’s better to give more information than not enough. Make a list of as many things as you can think of to include on the page you’re updating. You might not end up using the whole list, but this exercise will help you think of what your audience wants to know.

Here are some examples:

• Explain processes step-by-step.
• Discuss benefits, challenges, and expectations.
• Add practical tips and recommendations.

4. Include Supporting Media

Google loves it when you include different types of media on a page. It doesn’t always fit the topic or purpose of the page, but when you can, add these media types:

• Images
• Videos
• Podcasts
• Infographics
• Screenshots
• Before-and-after examples

5. Add Internal Links

Internal links give your audience a clear map of your website. You’re giving them an opportunity to learn more about certain things they’re interested in.

Connect related blog posts, resources, and service pages to help users continue learning and exploring your website.

6. Include Proof and Credibility Signals

Social proof shows you know what you’re talking about, and this doesn’t have to be restricted to just your service and home pages! You can add credibility signals throughout your website so that no matter which page someone lands on your website first, they know you’re legit.

Here are some credibility signals:

• Testimonials
• Case studies
• Certifications
• Awards
• Featured in
• Statistics and research

7. Improve Content Structure

Sometimes, just a different layout can help people and search engines better understand and interact with your content.

Here’s how to improve the structure of the page:

• Use descriptive headings.
• Break up large blocks of text.
• Make content easier to scan and navigate.

8. Focus on Search Intent First

Build the page around solving that problem rather than simply increasing word count. What matters the most is that you thoroughly explained the answer to the question and helped your audience understand.

Don’t Let Thin Content Hold Your Website Back

Thin content isn’t necessarily bad because it’s short. It’s bad when it doesn’t provide value. Before deleting pages, evaluate whether they can be improved, merged, or expanded. Most of the time, the answer is that they can!

Regularly auditing your content can help strengthen your site’s authority, improve rankings, and create a better experience for visitors.

And if you find some blogs that need some serious updating (or need help finding those blogs!), my Blog Update package lets me step in and do that for you! We’ll pick some blogs that could use some updates, whether that’s adding content, restructuring the post, or fixing broken links, and get them ready to be shown in search results.