# Five articles instead of three in a newsletter: higher click rate

- Outcome: Won
- Page type: Email (Lead-gen)
- Elements: Content amount
- Date shared: 2015
- Test run by: [HomeAdvisor](https://liftarchive.com/practitioners/homeadvisor/)
- Commentary by: LiftArchive (our analysis, not theirs)
- Original source: https://marketingsherpa.com/article/case-study/home-advisor-content-marketing-and-testing
- Page: https://liftarchive.com/test/homeadvisor-newsletter-more-articles/

HomeAdvisor's newsletter got a higher click rate when it carried up to five articles instead of three, though no figures were shared. HomeAdvisor ran the test itself, and it was published as a MarketingSherpa case study.

## Result

**higher click rate**

- Click rate: increased with more articles. The size of the lift was not shared.
- Time in email: the team suspected readers spent longer in the email, but this was not measured in the source.

## Control

HomeAdvisor's modular newsletter featured three articles.

## Variant

The same newsletter featured up to five articles, giving readers more things to click.

## Why it likely won (our reading)

- More articles mean more chances that one topic matches a reader's current project.
- HomeAdvisor sent only to engaged subscribers, who are more likely to browse a longer email.
- Longer reading time may also send good engagement signals to inbox providers, which was part of the team's thinking.

## Caveats

No click figures, sample size or test length were shared. The test ran on an engaged-only list around 2014.

## How to run this test

- Hypothesis: If we include five articles in our newsletter instead of three, then click rate will rise because readers have more chances to find a topic they care about.
- Primary metric: Newsletter click rate
- Guardrail: Conversions from newsletter clicks
- Guardrail: Unsubscribe rate
- Guardrail: Mobile rendering and load time
- Who should test it: Lead-gen and content businesses with broad audiences and plenty of articles. It may not help when the newsletter has one main call to action you don't want diluted.

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Credit: HomeAdvisor ran this test and owns the result. Summary and commentary by LiftArchive (https://liftarchive.com/test/homeadvisor-newsletter-more-articles/).
Usage: Free to use, quote and build on, with credit and a link: name the practitioner or organization that ran the test and link to its LiftArchive page. The results belong to the practitioners who ran and shared them; the summaries and commentary are LiftArchive's.