Thin Content and Why It Hurts
Thin content is any page that offers little real value — a few generic sentences, auto-generated text, or near-duplicate pages created just to target keywords. Google actively filters such pages out, and a site full of them looks weak overall.
Quality, not quantity, is what wins rankings today, and a smaller site of strong pages routinely outperforms a sprawling one of shallow ones.
Signs of Thin Content
Thin pages tend to share a set of recognisable traits.
- Very little unique text or genuine insight.
- Many similar pages differing only by a town or keyword.
- Content written for search engines rather than people.
How to Fix It
There are two routes, and choosing the right one for each page matters.
- Improve pages with potential by adding genuine depth and originality.
- Consolidate several thin pages into one strong, comprehensive page.
- Remove or redirect pages that serve no real purpose at all.
The Site-Wide Effect
A large number of weak pages can drag down how Google perceives your whole site, not just those pages. Pruning or improving thin content often lifts the rankings of your stronger pages too, because it concentrates quality and crawl attention where it counts.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long should a page be?
Long enough to answer the question well. There is no word count target — value, not length, is what matters.
If you need a hand with any of this, your Progressive Robot delivery team is ready to help. Raise a ticket from the Support area of your client portal or speak to your account manager and we will guide you through the next steps.