Last Updated on by Michael Brockbank
Getting ideas for the best articles often requires you to go through some data. Tools like Google Analytics and Search Console can greatly help for free. Today, let’s take a look at my top 10 blog post ideas and how well they perform in search results.
I’ll also show you a bit of my process to keep them performing well. Perhaps this can give you a few ideas about what to do with your own blog.
I’ll show you the number of words, how each article performs in accordance with its Yoast Focus keyphrase, and what we can do to make them better.
Also, keep in mind that these numbers are for my specific target audience.
Everyone will have a different level of success depending on the content and who reads it. But generally speaking, the information below is still valid for helping you write awesome pieces regardless of your niche or industry.
Top 10 Blog Post Ideas for WriterSanctuary
For this breakdown, I’ll look at the past 6 months and compare the data. I’d rather look at it year-by-year, but Search Console only gives you access to the last 16 months worth of data.
Let’s take a look at the articles that perform best on this particular blog.
1. Review Article
This particular review took four months to start seeing traffic. Then, it exploded after eight months of being up. Now, it drives nearly 2.5 times the traffic as the second-place article.
Not to mention that it made the vast majority of money from AdSense as well as generating revenue from the affiliate sign-up link.
- Current Number of Words: 2,553
- Avg Position / Avg Position for Keyphrase: 7.3 / 1.5
- Avg Click-through Rate Growth: -0.6%
The length of the article has grown over time. Periodically, I’ll go back and add new parts to the blog post as the brand adds new features. So, this is one of those articles that is a constant work-in-progress.
The on-page time took a nosedive while the CTR has dropped a bit. But, it still ranks overall on the first page of Google. So, that is a good thing.
How Can I Improve the Article?
Using the keyphrases people are using in Search Console, I can get an idea of adding new sections to the post or making specific points more clear.
Though, a lot of the lowest-performing queries have nothing to do with the post. This means they are irrelevant and I shouldn’t be overly concerned with them.
The best part about using Searching Console is being able to get ideas for new posts. Those irrelevant terms may be relevant to your site’s niche, just not that particular article.
2. How-To
In this tutorial, I’m helping people learn how to write for a specific content mill. As such, the audience for it is extremely narrow. But, it answers precise questions, which is why it still performs as well as it does.
Also, this particular article is actually a landing page in WordPress. It was meant as a landing page for the topic, which is how it performs.
- Current Number of Words: 1,591
- Avg Position / Avg Position for Keyphrase: 32.6 / 1
- Avg Click-through Rate Growth: -0.9%
Part of the reason why the average position of this particular article is so bad is because it ranks for irrelevant keyphrases. This is just something you have to deal with as a blogger.
Sometimes, the article will show up because Google thinks it should. The most important thing here is to make sure the keyphrase you’re focusing on is within the top 10. In this case, it’s still number one.
How Can I Improve the Article?
Given the nature of this How-to, I really don’t know if there is more I can add to make it better. It’s already at the top for the keyphrase. The on-page growth is a bit troublesome, but that can also be the result of blocking software visitors may use.
In any case, I’ll probably go through the entire article and clarify some points or perhaps restructure the opening to see if I can improve the bounce rate.
3. Definition
In this top-performing blog post, I was defining a specific feature for websites. It’s a breakdown of why you would want to use a specific function and how it helps your site grow.
- Current Number of Words: 1,744
- Avg Position / Avg Position for Keyphrase: 19.1 / 4
- Avg Click-through Rate Growth: +2.9%
This is a relatively newer blog post that has increased in all elements across the board. Although it does rank well for its focus keyphrase, it also comes up for some random searches.
How Can I Improve the Article?
This particular article can easily be boosted with a quick How-to. Though, I originally wanted to do the tutorial separate from the definition article.
However, Search Console is showing me all kinds of terms that I can add to the piece to give it more meat for readers.
What I need to decide is if I should just keep the article and add the How-to portion, or write it separately.
4. Listicle (tips)
List articles, or listicles, are nice and usually incredibly easy to write. In this case, I was providing tips to excel on a specific content mill. Again, it’s a highly focused niche topic, but it still performs exceptionally well.
- Current Number of Words: 1,697
- Avg Position / Avg Position for Keyphrase: 16.2 / 1
- Avg Click-through Rate Growth: -0.7%
This is another that has been added to over the years. Published almost two years ago, it still ranks high for closely relevant terms to the main keyphrase.
Part of the drop in click-through rate is more than likely due to Google ranking the article for irrelevant terms over the last six months.
How Can I Improve the Article?
Generally speaking, this particular listicle stands well on its own. However, I can always go through the People also ask section of Google to see if I can add a bit more clarity.
Though, Search Console has given me quite a few ideas for separate follow-up posts.
5. How-to / Definition
Another fairly recent article, this one is a combination of a how-to and definition. It’s tailored more for the general freelance writer and links out to a lot of credible sources.
- Current Number of Words: 1,238
- Avg Position / Avg Position for Keyphrase: 21.9 / 3.4
- Avg Click-through Rate Growth: +0.2%
This is a shorter blog article compared to many on this list, but it goes to show how effective a short post can be to rank in the top 10. As long as the content is focused and well-written, even short pieces of content can perform exceptionally well.
How Can I Improve the Article?
Again, Google ranks this article for irrelevant terms. However, those terms can easily provide additional content I could write.
I could always try to add more emphasis towards relevant ranking keyphrases to engage those searchers. And there might be room for answering specific questions from the search queries.
6. Review Article
Reviews work exceptionally well for any blog. Although this one doesn’t get as much traffic as the top blog post for the site, it still holds its own weight.
- Current Number of Words: 2,168
- Avg Position / Avg Position for Keyphrase: 14.5 / 6.5
- Avg Click-through Rate Growth: -0.2%
While it doesn’t perform as well, it’s the overall click-through rate that bothers me. In this particular case, it’s 0.8%. This means I need to do something to pique the interest of searchers either by changing the title, fixing the meta description, or both.
How Can I Improve the Article?
In this particular case, the brand has added all kinds of features to the product. As a result, I need to go through and write about each of the new elements.
Not only that, but the search queries in Search Console also showed a few things I should add to rank higher for those terms.
In other words, this one needs a lot of work soon.
7. How-To / Definition
This is another article that defines something while also providing a tutorial. Coincidentally, it’s also another one that is purely focused on a specific content mill, making it an ultra-focused niche topic.
- Current Number of Words: 1,309
- Avg Position / Avg Position for Keyphrase: 11.8 / 7.1
- Avg Click-through Rate Growth: +0.8%
Overall, the performance of this particular post isn’t all that bad. It ranks on the first page for most relevant keyphrases and receives quite a bit of attention.
How Can I Improve the Article?
After browsing through the search queries, I can see a lot of ranking opportunities that would easily put this article at over 2,000 words. But it’s not just word count you should worry about.
Make sure what you add is relevant to the overall topic. In my case, there are a lot of things I can do to expand this particular article.
8. Listicle
This is yet another fairly recent article that is starting to gain a bit of momentum in Google. In fact, it’s easily a work-in-progress type of post because of how it is structured.
- Current Number of Words: 1,754
- Avg Position / Avg Position for Keyphrase: 61.9 / 66.8
- Avg Click-through Rate Growth: -1.1%
This is a weird top-performing blog post in that it ranks lower for its focus keyphrase than it does on average. It’s also one that faces a ton of competition.
When something like this happens, it usually means you’ll need to lengthen the article a bit or dive a bit deeper into the topic. This is pretty easy to do with listicles. You simply add more points relevant to the subject.
How Can I Improve the Article?
Search Console is showing me all kinds of terms I can use to spruce up the article. Not only that, but it wouldn’t take much to add a few more points to the listicle.
I’m also getting quite a few ideas for adding internal backlinks to the article based on search queries. And internal backlinks can do wonders for getting a blog post to show up in the top results.
9. Product Comparison
This article is comparing one product against another in an attempt to see which one is better. I also already know that I need to rewrite the piece considering both have come out with new elements.
It’s also a much newer post than most on this list. In fact, it’s only 4 months old.
- Current Number of Words: 3,208
- Avg Position / Avg Position for Keyphrase: 10.8 / 5
- Avg Click-through Rate Growth: +1.9%
With this being such a new blog post, there really isn’t a lot of data to go by. It is ranking as a top blog post in Google, and most keyphrases are relevant.
If I didn’t already know that I need to update the blog post with current information, I’d let this one ride for a few more months to accumulate data.
How Can I Improve the Article?
As I said, I already know how I can improve the article. Remember, Google and visitors love fresh content. Updating the article to reflect product and service changes only works to benefit your website and reputation as a whole.
Nevertheless, there are a couple of search queries in Search Console that I can easily use to boost this blog post.
10. How-to
This is another tutorial I’ve actually added quite a bit to it over time. I even have a YouTube video embedded in case visitors want to watch the content.
- Current Number of Words: 2,722
- Avg Position / Avg Position for Keyphrase: 11.1 / 6.7
- Avg Click-through Rate Growth: +0.1%
Although the data shows I’ve lost about 6,000 impressions over the last six months, a lot of that has more to do with Google not using specific and irrelevant search terms for the article.
So, even though the numbers look bad, it’s actually a good thing in the long term. This means I don’t have to worry as much about terms that are not even closely related to the topic.
How Can I Improve the Article?
Although the article does well on its own, it could probably use a bit of a brush-up in the tutorial segment. Not to mention that I see some top terms that are relevant to the blog post but are not used within the text.
I’ll have to spend time clarifying a few aspects of the tutorial and answering a couple of these questions.
What Does This Tell Me About Top Blog Post Ideas?
So, what does all this information tell me? Well, first of all, the average word count for the top 10 blog post ideas on my site is 1,998.4 words.
According to many experts, this is about right for the top word counts they want you to use. But, keep in mind that a couple of these articles are fewer than 1,500 words and are performing well.
This means that the best word count is more relevant to the actual topic.
Secondly, reviews, how-tos, listicles, and comparison articles are the best for my website. Depending on your blog’s niche, yours might be a bit different. That’s why I suggest you check performance stats in Analytics and Search Console once every six months.
In reality, these types of articles are also usually the best-performing blogging styles for just about any industry or blogging niche.
And thirdly, I have a lot of work to do to update old articles to keep them fresh. Unfortunately, a lot of this work will probably have to wait until I’m done with my 30-days of blogging experiment.
I just don’t have the time needed for a lot of these fixes.
The best part about all of this is that it shows that I am actually doing pretty well for specific keyphrases to rank as a top blog post. And that Google is actually ranking those articles how I intended.
Well, with the exception of the one listicle.
Create Your Own Top Blog Post Today!
Remember, it can take quite a few months before Google starts showing your content in search results. A lot of things come into play, which includes writing for SEO and search intent.
Write the article today to start ranking for tomorrow. You can always go back and add more meat to anything you’ve published.
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