Should I show more posts on homepage and categories?

[Sutra]

Recently switched themes (using Thrive Performag now), making changes, and getting rid of a lot of stuff to increase page speed and user satisfaction.

I have about 400 published posts. I post anywhere from 3 - 5 articles a day. I currently show 10 posts on the homepage (plus have a sidebar showing another 6 related posts). Each category page shows 10 posts per page.

Will showing more posts on the homepage and the category pages be better for SEO (perhaps even use the infinite scroll option)? I have read conflicting things so I'm not sure. From a user point of view it seems both good and bad. Good because they can keep scrolling down, don't have to click to next page. But bad because it increases page load time.

What say you?

 

[The Kloser]

I'm also using Performag theme. Been using it now for couple of years with no issues. TBH, I have been looking into MyThemeShop for a possible switch. I heard from few that the speed is much better using it.

Do you have pilar content done for this site? That's what I keep permanent on the side bar plus 4 most recent blog posts with thumbnail images. I also run 1 skyscraper ad along with the listed articles.

In regards to SEO, I made sure each category have a unique description and that's that. Love to hear from others if they have seen any SEO gains listing more articles per page.

 

[contract]

# showing doesn't affect much. (In the grand scheme of things)

Even big brands rank for big terms with a sentence of content and nothing more than just the website standard theme itself.

I would split test 10 vs 20 and see what happens. ie. Bounce rate, CTR on your articles, etc. Focus on the ad rev at the same time and compare the differences.

I've done both and stuck with 10. Better pageviews, more engagement from visitors as they slowly get sucked into the site deeper.

 

[Sutra]

Do you have pilar content done for this site? That's what I keep permanent on the side bar plus 4 most recent blog posts with thumbnail images. I also run 1 skyscraper ad along with the listed articles.

Yeah, have pillar content. It's only relevant to a certain segment of visitors. So the Smart widgets are perfect for that. Really like that Performag has so many things built in. I've been able to get rid of around 6 plugins.

# showing doesn't affect much. (In the grand scheme of things)

Even big brands rank for big terms with a sentence of content and nothing more than just the website standard theme itself.

I would split test 10 vs 20 and see what happens. ie. Bounce rate, CTR on your articles, etc. Focus on the ad rev at the same time and compare the differences.

I've done both and stuck with 10. Better pageviews, more engagement from visitors as they slowly get sucked into the site deeper.

Good point about getting sucked in deeper. The suck factor, haha, plus faster loading sounds like it would be the best option. But of course, as you mentioned, will have to test to know for sure.