5 Types of Blog Posts That Bring in Traffic

I’ve been blogging for various websites besides my own blog for over 12 years. Currently, I write for HubPages and have been since March 2014. There, writers are free to write on any topic, so I write about anything that I’m interested in: movies, books, writing, etc. It has been interesting to see which posts have gained the most views over the years. Below are five types of blog posts that bring in traffic.

The trendsetter blog post

My Top 15 Favorite ASMR Artists

Published: 3/23/14

ASMR was still in its YouTube infancy when I wrote this blog post. This genre of online videos was like an underground movement that came onto my radar when I came home from work one day stressed out and looking for a way to unwind.

I was also brand new to HubPages at the time that I wrote this article, and this was the kind of topic that I had been looking for to share on this platform. It was an obscure topic that interested me, and I wanted to educate readers about it.

Now that I knew that I wasn’t the only weirdo who fell asleep to whisper videos, I wanted to help others who shared these feelings but didn’t yet know that there was a name behind this feeling.  I also wanted to showcase my favorite channels and recommend their best videos for people to try.

As luck would have it, the ASMR community has exploded over the years. ASMR artists are some of the most popular personalities on YouTube. Their videos are now professionally polished and have an array of eager followers who appreciate their ability to put them to sleep.

It is by far my most popular article on HubPages, and its views have grown at a steady, continuous pace. The article link pops up on the first page of Google listings under “ASMR artists,” and with Google searches being my number one source for HubPages reader traffic, the subject’s growing popularity mixed with my being one of the first to write about it has been instrumental in making it the success that it is.

The new spin on an old topic blog post

10 Great Heroic Superhero Movie Moments

Published: 4/12/15

Movie articles are my most favorite type of article to write on HubPages, but they are hit or miss when it comes to views. The most successful ones start out with little traffic and then slowly increase in popularity, but it is a slow burn that only seems to rise in temperature when I stop looking up their daily views.

Superheroes are another passion of mine, but they too don’t usually get the attention that I had hoped on HubPages. However, my  “10 Great Heroic Superhero Movie Moments” article is the exception to this rule. It is my second most popular article on the site, and I wrote it along with its sister articles, “My Top 10 Chase and Rescue Scenes in Superhero Movies” and “My Top 10 Favorite Superhero Movie Fights.”

All three were published on the same day, but the latter two received a modest number of views. They are all written in the same format, a top 10 list about superhero movies, feature a mixed bag of Marvel and DC heroes, and are frequently edited and updated in order to stay relevant and to boost views. Yet, the public prefers the heroic moments to the rescues and fights.

While learning about SEO, you find that keywords are a strong component to obtaining views. So, you would think the words “fight” and “rescue” would be stronger search terms among readers. However, there are also tons of list articles on these subjects. So, there is more competition on the Google search rankings.

The topic of heroism is a little less mainstream yet still relevant. So, my search ranking under “superhero movie moments” is very high on the list.

The firsthand experience blog post

What It’s Like to Have Your Wisdom Teeth Removed

Published: 4/20/15

Blogging gives you the chance to share personal stories and help people who may be in the same boat. While brainstorming ideas for blog posts one day, I thought about popular experiences that I lived through and wish I had known more about before I went through them.

One experience that came to mind was having my wisdom teeth removed. This non-life threatening yet still scary experience is a pretty common occurrence that people may be reading up on.

So, I got to work telling my story, ending up with a long, detailed step-by-step piece about my personal experience. I outlined everything from the preparation to being put under to the recovery process. Also, I added researched facts about wisdom teeth and the extraction process and worked in my own personal tips and feelings about each part of the process.

This article far exceeded my expectations. It’s still going strong in my daily views column, and its ranking falls just below my superhero article in terms of views. According to my poll, most of the people reading it have not yet had the surgery but need to. So, I’m hoping that it has helped calm any fears that people have had before undergoing their wisdom tooth extraction. Hopefully, like me, they came out with flying colors.

It just goes to show that a personal story doesn’t have to be tragic, dramatic, or over the top in order to be useful and entertaining. It just has to be personal and universal.

The DIY blog post

How To Paint Outdoor Metal Railings and Light Poles

Published: 6/8/17

Before I begin a home improvement project, I read articles and watch videos on how to go about it. As a result, I’ve learned to take pictures and record my attempts as I go so that I can turn it into useful “how to” blog posts. I’ve written about everything from pouring cement to starting a garden. But it’s my article about stripping and repainting outdoor metal that has really done well.

I don’t pretend to be an expert in these areas. So, my tips are written from a rookie’s perspective. I cover as much about what to do as what not to do, what worked versus what didn’t work.

With this project, I found that stripping the old paint off was harder than actually painting. In fact, painting was simple. Just apply it with a sponge brush and catch drips. But getting that loose paint off took weeks of using various tools, some of which I bought just for this project and turned out to be useless.

I think that readers appreciate the “first timer” perspective of my post. It gets them thinking about painting the metal outside of their own home. It’s especially gratifying to receive comments on this post from women who might be afraid to try a home improvement project by themselves. After all, if I can do it, they can do it.

The popular book review blog post

Book Review: Turtles All The Way Down by John Green

Published: 11/18/17

Whenever I read a new book, I always take the time to write a HubPages review afterward. But I never expect much to come from them. Bestsellers tend to have a lot of blogging competition. So, I don’t worry about how many views it will get. I just try to make it the best that I can.

In saying this, it’s surprising that my fifth most popular article on HubPages is a review of YA author John Green’s Turtles All The Way Down. Perhaps I just struck while the iron was hot, and the article was passed around among fans. But it is still receiving steady views over 18 months after I first published the review.

The great thing about books is not everyone reads them the weekend they come out. So, unlike new release movies, you don’t need to rush out to see it to avoid spoilers. You can wait and see what others think about it before you decide to invest your time into reading it.

I liked Turtles All The Way Down a lot, and I typically won’t write a book review if I didn’t like the book. So, the praise in my blog post is genuine. Hopefully that comes through in the review. I had previously written a post comparing Green’s most famous work The Fault in our Stars book and movie. That post has a good amount of views as well. But again, Turtles All the Way Down was just popular enough to spark readers’ interests but not popular enough to get bogged down in competition on Google search rankings.

What topics have you found led to successful blog posts? Leave your answers in the comments below!

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