Word count was never a direct ranking factor, but content length seo discussions persist for a reason: longer articles usually cover a topic more completely, which tends to correlate with better rankings.
That said, length for its own sake backfires. Padding a 300-word answer out to 1,500 words just to hit a target usually hurts readability more than it helps rankings, so treat content length seo advice as a floor, not a goal.
A good rule of thumb: keep expanding a page for as long as you are adding genuinely useful detail, and stop the moment you start repeating yourself. See our on-page SEO guide for how to structure longer pieces once you get there.