I have several neighborhood pages that display IDX framed listings and I have a two sentence description in a content block before the frame. The pages are indexed. I don't know how many words are on the page, but there aren't many.

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Sam Chapman
Austin, Texas
Austin Homes |Lake Travis Real Estate |Austin Luxury Homes

I have always been told that the page should contain at least 250 words but Sam makes a great point.

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Donna Long
Homes in Columbus Ga
Auburn Real Estate
Phenix City Real Estate

my understanding of it is that any number of words on a page could help you build your website but the more substantial the index page is the more boost it gives your website

Judy it is always going to be about the content quality. My home page has fewer words than my sub pages but the content calls for it. It is not a dodge of the question but I would say a good blog post should be about 200 words or so. That gives enough space ti develop the idea, crate interest, and ad value and insight.