Do top-performing blog posts tend to have certain characteristics in common, such as copy length, headline length, headline type, and content structure?
To find out, SEMrush analyzed 700,000 posts on blogs that receive between 50,000 and 500,000 average monthly unique pageviews. The researchers evaluated the performance of each post by looking at its traffic (average unique pageviews), engagement on social media (Twitter and Facebook), and backlinks. They then examined how the top-performing posts differed from other posts.
Below, key findings from the report.
Content Length
Blog posts with more than 3,000 words receive 3x more traffic, 4x more social shares, and 3.5x more backlinks, on average, compared with articles of average length (901-1,200 words), the researchers found.
Headline Length