Shorter Is Better: Study Says Shorter Content Earns the Most Backlinks

Source: SEJ

Shorter content earns the most backlinks, on average, according to an analysis of over 5,000 articles: the most linked-to articles are averaging 695 words in length.

This interesting study includes further analysis of content length, as well as insights on: Most shared articles, Most linked-to articles, Evergreen vs. timely content.

Here Are Some Key Takeaways From The Study:

Linkability and Shareability of Articles

This study examines the share count and backlink count of articles to identify what marketers can learn from content that earns the most shares and links.

“The goal was to identify qualities of content that has also managed to be deserving of links so we can reveal ways to optimize content for link building.”

In conducting the study, only articles with at least 25 backlinks were included.

Fractl also avoided studying content from major news sites in order to make its findings more relatable to marketers.

With that out of the way, let’s dive into the data.

Evergreen Content vs. Timely Content

An article is considered evergreen if it can maintain relevance for an extended period of time.

An “evergreen score” (a BuzzSumo metric) is assigned to articles based on the number of social engagements and backlinks an article receives after being published for 30 days.

The more engagements and social media activity, the higher the score.

Read more here.