Does a page have too little useful text?
It separates short content, sparse archives and intentionally indexable utility pages.
What Check Engine measures
The main cutoffs are fewer than 60 words for very thin content and fewer than 150 words for thin content. JavaScript-dependent pages and useful hubs are treated separately. A hub needs at least 3 child targets. Archive detection uses taxonomy paths or a prose anchor share of at least 0.6 with qualifying anchor phrases of at least 4 words. Utility URLs and archive-like pages are reported differently from ordinary content. For example, a page with exactly 60 words is outside the very-thin group but remains below 150 words.
Indexable page prose supplies word counts. The check includes caveats for pages whose browser-built content may be fuller than the served HTML, so the reported count needs to be read with its source view in mind.
How to read the result
Ordinary very thin content is high severity. Thin content is medium. Utility and sparse archive findings are low. Use these cutoffs to choose pages for review. Judge whether each page answers its visitor's question before adding text.
Why it matters
Short text can mean a missing answer, a useful index or content assembled after loading. Distinguishing those cases matters before adding paragraphs, because extra words cannot repair a rendering fault or make an empty archive useful by themselves.
How to fix it
Decide what the page should help a visitor do. Supply missing information on genuine content pages, improve archive listings where useful and keep utility pages out of search when that is their intended role. Check the browser view before rewriting a page whose text is absent only from the initial HTML.
What we found in field audits
Problems in Content quality were found on 14 of the 14 sites we audited. These are area totals. Read the field-audit method.
Method note
backend/seo_engine/checks/content.py, thin_content, revision 0bb8e8d3.
Common questions
What word count puts an ordinary page in the very-thin group?
Ordinary pages below 60 words enter the very-thin group. Utility pages, useful hubs and script-dependent pages have separate treatment.
Does a page with 60 words still count as thin?
Yes. It remains below 150 words, the ordinary thin-content limit. Passing that count alone would not establish usefulness.
Are sparse archives treated as severely as very thin articles?
No. Sparse archive findings are low, while ordinary very thin content can be high severity.