Is # of words on page really a factor for Google?

what comes first the chicken or the egg

[annej]

I downloaded some SEO software that indicates that pages rank better if they are between 170 and 500 words. I'm wondering if this is based on the fact that most root and many second level pages are indexes of sorts. These seem to naturally rate higher but is it really because of page length or other factors?

If Google is interested in finding good content for the searcher I can't see why they would penalize pages with article length text.

[Wilksie]

The longer/larger the text in length the greater dilution of your main search terms. I doubt if you would be penalized at all - but you may not gain a great deal either because of dilution. This makes the whole idea of more is better very confusing.

IMHO G is more interested in offsite relationships than on page word count. I design for readability and ease of use rather than content word count.

>Wilksie

[BigDave]

The whole page length myth is just that, a myth.

If there is any advantage to specific sizes or keyword densities, it is so minor that it is ont worth the time to worry about. Other factors will easily override them.

[SlyOldDog]

Yes, I have pages with no text at all on them ranking pretty well where there is some competition for SERPs.

What did the software say about a page length of zero words? :)

[annej]

hmmm, the software just did an update and now the suggested length is changed to 113-1320.

I think on real specific keywords it really doesn't matter. Plus if you have enough quality incoming links you may not need any text and a full thesis may still rank well.

I mostly brought it up here as I had never thought of text length as a factor.