Evergreen Content Marketing Stats & Facts That Won’t Change in 2025 or 2026

Establish a loyal audience, build your brand, and improve your traffic and conversions

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Evergreen content stats and facts exist. I didn’t find them overnight, but I’m glad I did. This research-based knowledge* has had a massive impact on my 10-year journey as a content writer and strategist.

How do people read and behave online? How can eye-tracking studies help you create content that stands out in the world of too much?

Let me share what, from my experience, every content marketing expert should know.

*Sources and further reading are at the bottom of this article.

How do people read online?

People take approximately 20–30% longer to read online than they take to read on paper, according to ResearchGate.

But above all, typically, online readers don’t read very much:

• Blog readers spend around 37 seconds reading a blog post. 43% of readers skim through content rather than reading it thoroughly (QuoraCreative).
• Users will only read about 20% of the text on the average page (Nielsen).
• Only 10–20% of readers actually make it to the bottom of posts (CoSchedule).
• 55% of all pageviews get less than 15 seconds of attention (Chartbeat).

Now I encourage you to accept this fact once and for all (if you haven’t already):

Most online visitors won’t read your content.

Sh*t! I know. But there’s no need to sugarcoat the facts or be sad about the truth.

But you may wonder, if most readers spend about 37 seconds reading your articles, should you really bother? Yes. Yes. And yes. Here’s why.

First, if you’re consistent in creating engaging and high-quality content (despite the metrics), it may take time and effort, but eventually, you’ll likely find loyal readers.

They’ll likely want to read your content, learn from your expertise/life experiences, and get to know your point of view. They’ll likely spend more time than 37 seconds reading your articles. So the average length of visits won’t matter much.

If you give up, you will attract 0 readers who will spend 0 seconds reading your articles. Not cool.

Second, granted that the majority of your readers won’t make it to the bottom of your posts. However, long-form content has numerous benefits (more on that in a moment). So consider creating longer pieces regardless.

Blog posts: short-form or long-form content?

‘How long should my blog posts be?’ I get asked this question a lot.

Some digital content experts say that blog posts should be at least 2,000 words as Google tends to favor longer, more in-depth content.

In my opinion, your blog post should be as long as it should be (but I wouldn’t make it shorter than 600 words).

How long should your blog post be?

• If it takes 2,000 words to give readers the answer they’re expecting, write 2,000 words.
• If the topic is complex and in-depth, you may want to make it much longer.
• If 800 words are enough to provide relevant, quality information and the answer readers are looking for, write 800 words.

The bottom line: don’t force it, and don’t repeat words and rephrase sentences just to hit the 2,000 word count.

Plenty of my articles exceed 2,000 words, but when it comes to analytics, I’ve seen both longer and shorter articles perform well (or not so well).

Stats that speak in favor of creating longer, high-quality blog posts:

• Blog posts of at least 2,000 words generate good results for 55% of bloggers (Orbit Media).
• Longer blog posts have up to 77.2% more inbound links than shorter ones (Backlinko).
• Blog traffic can increase to about 2,000% through quality content (Omnicore Agency).
• Visitors who read an article for 3 minutes return twice as often as those who read for only 1 minute (Chartbeat).
• The average blog post is 2,520 words long and the average length keeps increasing (Portent).

Consider this. Many users search for a go-to-resource: longer content that is original, easy-to-understand, and thoroughly explains the nitty-gritty of a topic. Users are also more inclined to link to longer content, which will aid the ranking too.

Therefore, search engines tend to favor longer content with in-depth information.

Evergreen digital marketing stats and facts exist (photo credit: Karolina Kulach)

Online reading patterns [Nielsen’s findings]

If you’re familiar with online content creation or UX/UI, you may have heard about a series of eye-tracking studies conducted over approximately 15–20 years by Nielsen Norman Group (an American computer UI and UX consulting firm).

Those studies help us better understand how people read online. Interestingly, there’s a deeper truth that affects online reading behaviors that, at their core, remain similar over the years.

What does it mean? Well, basically what we learned 15 years ago is still valid (and will be for some time to come, thank God Mother Nature blessed us with some stability in this crazy world!).

Fascinatingly, fundamental scanning and online information-seeking behaviors remain constant, even as technologies and designs change. Moreover, reading patterns are even similar across languages and cultures.

It is technology that changes rapidly, not human nature.

Therefore, the understanding of basic human behavior and information-seeking patterns, is fundamental for digital content creators. Learning to use the tools is secondary (but also important).

According to Jakob Nielsen’s studies:

1. The pattern in which people read online content resembles an ‘F’ shape (vs. typical left-to-right reading). This means that online readers aren’t reading your content thoroughly from left to right, but they’re scanning it. Their eyes move incredibly fast across a website.
2. Internet users spend almost 70% of their time viewing the left half of a page and 30% viewing the right.
3. Internet users spend 80% of their time looking at information above the page fold (2010), even though they will scroll.

Nielsen’s findings about user behavior and scrolling patterns

People don’t want to waste time and effort online. If they get bored or exhausted by scrolling the text, they will leave.

As a result, online users want to:

• Minimize effort and interaction cost
• Maximize the benefit from their task at hand
• Be productive, engaged, and successful

Interestingly, today users are more inclined to scroll than in the past (probably due to the pervasiveness of long pages). Still, people spend disproportionately more time viewing the top 20% of a page.

According to more recent 2018 data, views peter out further down the page.

• The content above the fold receives the most attention (57% of viewing time)
• The second screenful of content receives 17% viewing time.

The reality is that scrolling involves some energy investment. But people will keep scrolling if they have a reason to do it. It often comes down to motivation.

The amount of time people are willing to spend reading depends on 4 factors:

1. Level of motivation: whether they find the information they’re reading important/relevant
2. Type of task: looking for specific facts vs. browsing for new or interesting information vs. researching topics
3. Level of focus and potential distractions
4. Individual characteristics and a personal approach to reading online

So how to make readers scroll for longer? If the content states the obvious or copies what has been said before (especially with the plague of AI-generated content), people will leave or scroll a little longer but probably won’t come back.

That said, you may have heard it thousands of times, but let me repeat: don’t be afraid to stand out. Share YOUR unique expertise, YOUR unique experiences, and YOUR unique challenges and failures. Share YOU.

The F-shaped scanning pattern

Now about the already-mentioned scanning pattern that resembles the shape of the letter F.

F-shaped scanning pattern (source: Eyetracking by Nielsen Norman Group)

The F-shaped scanning pattern describes users’ behavior when they assess a web page’s content.

It’s the default pattern when there are no strong cues to attract the eyes towards meaningful information (e.g. when you forget about reader-friendly formatting, content structure, SEO, UX, etc.)

In the F-shaped pattern, there are many fixations concentrated at the top and the left side of the page. This indicates:

• The first lines of the text receive more attention than the subsequent lines.
• The first few words on the left of each line receive more attention than the subsequent words on the same line.

The F-shaped scanning pattern is bad for users and for you as a blog/content writer or website creator.

Users may skip important content simply because they don’t feel motivated to read properly what’s on the right side of the page. You, in turn, will miss a chance to keep a new visitor.

Therefore, do your best to reduce the impact of (F-shaped) scanning. This will help you turn scanners into committed readers (or committed scanners) and visitors.

How to optimize your content and website for scanners? [10 tips]

Both quality content and good UX-friendly formatting reduce the impact of scanning. This is how you can do it:

1. Structure your content in a way that is easy to scan and allows users to find the most important information.
2. Format the text to direct users to what you want them to see and to what they may want to see. Use headings, subheadings, highlights, bullets, and bold important information (but in moderation!).
3. Put your most important information first, e.g. in the first two paragraphs on the page, in the first two words of a sentence.
4. Improve your content experience: make it painfully user-friendly.
5. Use plain, easy-to-understand, language, and keep your content clear, concise, useful, and unique (as per UX writing rules).
6. Reserve the top of the page for high-priority content (most relevant and interesting information).
7. As the right side of the page attracts less attention than the left, the most important content should be front and center (keep secondary content to the right).
8. Avoid making your content too general and go more niche.
9. Don’t promise in your titles what you can’t deliver (what if people scan for it?).
10. Write with passion, but edit with cold blood: always cut unnecessary content.

Last but not least, don’t become a blog post machine whose goal is just to keep your blog topped up. It can be tempting, especially in the age of AI and ChatGPT.

Take time to create content that matters. Cultivate your unique voice.

What Makes A Successful Writer? A Special Kind Of Absence

For more detailed data on the research by Nielsen Norman Group, check out the links below:

F-Shaped Pattern of Reading on the Web
How Little Do Users Read?
Horizontal Attention Leans Left
Scrolling and Attention
How People Read Online

Apply UX writing principles to content writing

I believe that UX writing rules apply to all nonfiction online writing. They also help reduce the impact of scanning.

UX writing rules say that you should write your text in a way that is:

• Clear: write in a language free of jargon (unless appropriate) and with context
• Concise: write in a style that is efficient and scannable
• Useful: write in a way that directs or inspires the next action

How to apply UX writing rules?

1. Be concise. Be clear and efficient: make your sentences as short as possible, without excluding necessary information. If you can use six words instead of 15 to convey the same information, go for it.
2. Be clear. Be concise but never assume that people will know or guess what your words mean. Avoid mental shortcuts: instead choose to add those few extra words for the sake of clarity. For that, use your best judgment and/or ask others whether your text is clear to them.
3. Consider the context. For example, if your article is about search engine optimization (SEO) for advanced content writers, explaining thoroughly what SEO is and why it’s important is redundant. On the other hand, if it’s a SEO guide for beginners, be careful about using jargon without explaining it first.
4. Be useful. Inspire your readers to do something that will make their lives better. It may be purchasing an item, downloading an ebook, checking extra resources, or taking action in real life, such as changing their daily habits.
5. Have one primary intention. Write to add value to someone’s life. Try to provide or discuss something that other materials don’t. For example, you can create something more in-depth, or the contrary (the quickest and most essential guide on a given topic).
6. Be practical. If you struggle with removing redundant text, create a separate document where you can keep all those ‘unwanted’ passages. You can call it ‘Pending’. Knowing that there’s a safe place where you can stash away your temporarily unwanted work that you may use at some point in your life should help you make tough decisions.

Evergreen content stats & facts: conclusion

I’d like to finish this article with this statement/reminder: getting the writing basics right is evergreen.

Getting the writing basics right in a nutshell (in 2025/ 2026 / infinity):

1. Learn to write well (yes, it takes years of both practicing writing and reading quality content).
2. Study human nature and observe people (practically all the time).
3. Set the right expectations. Regarding online readers, keep your expectations low. Regarding your content, keep your standards high.
4. Analyze meaningful content data (using your analytics and external research), draw conclusions, and learn from them.
5. Put knowledge into practice.
6. Repeat.

I’m Senior Content Content Manager & Strategist (specializing in driving organic traffic and leads) and a non-fiction writer who loves creating content that will speak to people and rank on Google.

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Sources & further reading

TechJury: 29 Important Blogging Statistics Every Blogger Should Know
CoSchedule: How To Get People To (Actually) Read Your Content
SalesForLife: 13 Stats That Prove That Nobody is Reading Your Content
ResearchGate: Reading Online or on Paper: Which is Faster?
Chartbeat: Tony Haile’s Data State of the Union
Orbit Media: Blogging Statistics
Portent: How Long Should Blog Posts Be?
Omnicore Agency: Digital Marketing by the Numbers
Backlinko: Content Study
ChartBeat: Using Engaged Time to understand your audience
Nielsen Norman Group
QuoraCreative