Thin content: how to find and fix it
Detect thin and near-duplicate pages hurting your rankings. Free content-quality checks across up to 100 pages.
What it means
Thin content means the page's Main Content has too little meaningful text relative to its purpose. It's not a raw word-count threshold—it's content that lacks effort, originality, or added value compared to what the page is trying to achieve.
Why it matters
Low effort or low originality in MC is a direct trigger for lower Page Quality ratings, which the algorithms use to rank pages. Thin pages also waste crawl budget: Googlebot spends time on pages that contribute little to the index, and AI agents may skip or deprioritize them when synthesizing answers. If the page is thin but also has a deceptive or harmful purpose, it can be rated Lowest outright.
How to fix it
- Add substantive, purpose-relevant text—facts, explanations, how-to detail, or original commentary—not filler that pushes useful content down.
- Check for hidden text or links that inflate perceived content without actually helping the user or the crawler.
- Ensure the page title accurately summarizes the MC and isn't misleading or exaggerated.
- If the page genuinely serves a narrow purpose (contact page, single product, author bio), thin is acceptable—don't force word count onto it.
When it's not a problem
Thin content is fine when the page's purpose is narrow and well-served by a small amount of content. A small business page with clear ownership info, a single-product page, or an author bio page can be high quality despite low word count. The key is whether the MC achieves its purpose, not how many words it contains.
How common is it?
10021 audited sites in our corpus currently show this issue. The breakdowns below show which platforms, gatekeepers, verticals and countries are most exposed.
Related guides
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