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The calculator averages the word counts of the competitor pages you enter, then sets a target 10 percent above that average and a suggested range from 10 percent below to 30 percent above it. The buffer above the average exists because matching the shortest thorough competitor is rarely enough to compete for the same spot; the wider upper bound acknowledges that the very longest ranking page is not always the length to chase.
Google has repeatedly said that word count itself is not a direct ranking factor. What competitor length actually tells you is how thoroughly the topic needs to be covered to satisfy the query, since longer top-ranking pages usually cover more subtopics, questions and details than shorter ones. Use the target as a rough proxy for thoroughness, not a word count to hit for its own sake.
Treat the suggested range as a guide for how much ground to cover, not a minimum to pad toward. If you can answer the query completely in fewer words than the target, a shorter, tighter page will usually outperform a longer one stuffed with filler. If your draft is falling short of the range, it is often a sign you are missing a subtopic or a related question the top-ranking pages already answer.
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