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I’ve looked at Semrush, Moz, and HubSpot enough times over the years to know this:
Most successful company blogs have one post getting far more visitors than the rest.
That one post drives much of the success of the blog, and behind the scenes, the marketing team or agency struggles to create another post that rivals its success.
But it’s hard to beat. Growth content, done well, has compounding benefits which accrues more and more results to the leading pieces of content:
- A post starts to rank, which brings in readers who find the post useful.
- Since it’s useful, it starts to rank for more keywords.
- With more rankings, it gets more links.
- With more links, it gets more rankings.
Onward and upward the growth compounds.
Therefore, a goal of any company’s blog strategy should be to attain that top post. If you have a handful of posts with a few hundred visits per month, keep shooting for the post that brings in 10,000 visits.
In this post, you’ll get a peek behind the scenes at the techniques and outcomes for the top-ranking blog post on 10 great SaaS company blogs.
The Data Behind Each Top SaaS Blog Article
Click on any article title below to jump to the analysis.
|
Blog Title |
Monthly Organic Traffic |
Top 10 Keyword Rankings |
Backlinks |
|
HubSpot: |
225,000 |
1,300 |
3,894 |
|
BigCommerce: The Truth About Dropshipping: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly |
90,000 |
401 |
5,235 |
|
Shopify: Get Inspired: 200+ Motivational Quotes To Encourage Your Success |
150,000 |
857 |
6,882 |
|
HelpScout: |
22,000 |
257 |
1,344 |
|
Wistia: |
12,000 |
45 |
193 |
|
ClearPoint Strategy: |
14,000 |
335 |
10,892 |
|
Jotform: |
26,000 |
140 |
1,281 |
|
Moz: |
25,000 |
13,518 |
323,473 |
|
Buffer: |
35,000 |
179 |
1,272 |
|
Intercom: Defining customer support in 2022: why it’s key to your long-term success |
5,000 |
45 |
627 |
The overall findings
- Eight of the 10 articles (80%) are between 2,000 and 3,000 words.
- The two of 10 articles (20%) that are under 1,000 words are paired with a video.
- Five of 10 articles have a table of contents you can use to jump to sections (like you see above).
- Every post has clear calls to action throughout the article: subscribe to the blog, download an offer, or try out the software.
When you hit on a successful post like this, it’ll likely beat your wildest expectations: You typically target a handful of keywords, but you’ll see all these posts rank for 45 at the least and thousands at the most. You might also target a top keyword with, say, 1,000 searches per month and end up with far more visitors.
1 The 100 Most Famous Quotes of All Time by HubSpot
- Blog post type: Social
- Word count: 2,872
- Targeted keyword: “famous quotes” (searched 201,000 times per month with a keyword difficulty of 71)
Results (Data From Semrush)
- Estimated monthly organic traffic: 225,000
- Page one keyword rankings: 1,300
- Backlinks: 3,894
What makes it successful?
- Format: The post is well-formatted with clear sections and numbered lists.
- Graphics: There are simple graphics to call out top quotes (likely created with something like Canva).
- Linkable: Big lists are linkable. On top of that, people like quotes. If you have a top ranking list of quotes, lots of people will link to your article to strengthen their own article.
- Shareable: People like to share quotes. This topic capitalizes on that.
What could be improved?
The topic isn’t related to HubSpot’s product in any way. The article helps with site authority, links, and visitors, but likely doesn’t generate any direct return.
2 The Truth About Dropshipping: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly by BigCommerce
- Blog post type: Pillar
- Word count: 2,644
- Targeted keyword: “dropshipping” (searched 165,000 times per month with a keyword difficulty of 91)
Results (Data From Semrush)
- Estimated monthly organic traffic: 90,000
- Page one keyword rankings: 401
- Backlinks: 5,235
What makes it successful?
- Reader level: The content is introductory, which matches well with the high-level keyword.
- Format: Clear section headers and subheaders, and a table of contents make the post easy to navigate.
- Calls to action: There are clear calls to action that stand out and match with the topic throughout the article.
What could be improved?
The chapters are a bit disjointed—they don’t flow well from one to the other. Likely, these were separate articles on specific topics that were later joined together to target the bigger keyword.
3 Get Inspired: 200+ Motivational Quotes To Encourage Your Success by Shopify
- Blog post type: Social
- Word count: 4,713
- Targeted keyword: “motivational quotes” (searched 673,000 times per month with a keyword difficulty of 91)
Results (Data from Semrush)
- Estimated monthly organic traffic: 150,000
- Page one keyword rankings: 857
- Backlinks: 6,882
What makes it successful?
- Format: The post is well-formatted with clear sections and numbered lists.
- Graphics: Each section gets its own simple graphic to call out top quotes and break up the text.
- Linkable: Big lists are linkable. On top of that, people like quotes. If you have a top ranking list of quotes, lots of people will link to your article to strengthen their own article.
- Shareable: People like to share quotes. This topic capitalizes on that.
What could be improved?
The topic isn’t related to Shopify’s product in any way. The article helps with site authority, links, and visitors, but likely doesn’t generate any direct return.
The calls to action (likely stock graphics within the template) don’t match the content well.
4 How to Write a Value Proposition (+ 6 Modern Examples) by HelpScout
- Blog post type: Pillar
- Word count: 2,595
- Targeted keyword: “value proposition” (searched 33,100 times per month with a keyword difficulty of 92)
Results (Data From Semrush)
- Estimated monthly organic traffic: 22,000
- Page one keyword rankings: 257
- Backlinks: 1,344
What makes it successful?
- Header image: There is a custom, creative illustration at the top.
- Format: The post is well-formatted with a table of contents on the left, clear headings and subheadings.
- Examples: The article has examples from real companies.
- Up to date: The examples within the article are modern references, which makes the information useful and applicable for today’s businesses.
What could be improved?
There is only one internal link (a link to another page or post on HelpScout’s site). HelpScout is missing an opportunity to pass through authority from this top post to others that would benefit.
5 What Is ISO? by Wistia
- Blog post type: Video, Regular
- Word count: 780
- Targeted keyword: “what is ISO?” (searched 14,800 times per month with a keyword difficulty of 78)
Results (Data From Semrush)
- Estimated monthly organic traffic: 12,000
- Page one keyword rankings: 45
- Backlinks: 193
What makes it successful?
- Video: This is primarily a video post with text to support it. The video is hosted on the company’s product (a video platform). The video is exactly one minute, giving readers a quick, visual way to learn the topic.
- Direct: The video and the article are direct and to the point. They answer the question quickly, which matches what the searcher seeks.
What could be improved?
There are no internal or external links. Internal links help pass through authority to related pages and external links give credit to sources of information used in the article.
6 18 KPIs To Measure Performance by ClearPoint Strategy
- Blog post type: Video, Pillar
- Word count: 3,136
- Targeted keyword: “KPI” (searched 110,000 times per month with a keyword difficulty of 86)
Results (Data From Semrush)
- Estimated monthly organic traffic: 14,000
- Page one keyword rankings: 335
- Backlinks: 10,892
What makes it successful?
- Video: The video complements the article (which is a list) by providing real examples and background about the author’s experience with the topic.
- Navigation: The table of contents helps readers jump to a section that interests them.
- Calls to action: There are matching calls to action within each section of the article, which increases the conversion rate to lead.
What could be improved?
There is a lot of text, so the article could benefit from simple graphics to break up the text.
7 How to calculate standard deviation in Excel by Jotform
- Blog post type: Video, Regular
- Word count: 840
- Targeted keyword: “standard deviation excel” (searched 22,200 times per month with a keyword difficulty of 69)
Results (Data From Semrush)
- Estimated monthly organic traffic: 26,000
- Page one keyword rankings: 140
- Backlinks: 1,281
What makes it successful?
- Content: The article is straightforward and to the point, quickly addressing the searcher's query.
- Video: A helpful video expands upon the text which may be useful to the reader.
- Call to action: A customized call to action matches the topic.
What could be improved?
The site could benefit from more internal and external links.
8 The Beginner's Guide to SEO by Moz
- Blog post type: Pillar
- Word count: 895 (+ words from chapters)
- Targeted keyword: seo (searched 110,000 times per month with a keyword difficulty of 100)
Results (Data From Semrush)
- Estimated monthly organic traffic: 25,000
- Page one keyword rankings: 13,518
- Backlinks: 323,473
What makes it successful?
- Chapters: There is a simple overview with deeper, useful chapters that sit on sub-pages.
- Graphics: Useful graphics support the text.
- Sidebar: Moz uses its sidebar well by explaining terms from its SEO glossary to help the reader.
- Reader level: The article is well-written and easy to understand. The content matches the search intent.
What could be improved?
Some chapters don’t have many graphics.
There could be an option to download the entire guide (since it’s long and covers multiple pages).
9 The Superhuman Guide to Twitter Advanced Search by Buffer
- Blog post type: Pillar
- Word count: 2,445
- Targeted keyword: twitter advanced search (searched 165,000 times per month with a keyword difficulty of 83)
Results (Data From Semrush)
- Estimated monthly organic traffic: 35,000
- Page one keyword rankings: 179
- Backlinks: 1,272
What makes it successful?
- Depth: This is a specific topic jam-packed with incredibly deep knowledge and practical ideas.
- Navigation: The sidebar has a table of contents that makes it easy to see where you are and jump to other sections.
What could be improved?
I don’t see any glaring weaknesses in this article.
10 Defining customer support in 2022: why it’s key to your long-term success by Intercom
- Blog post type: Pillar
- Word count: 1,993
- Targeted keyword: “customer support” (searched 8,100 times per month with a keyword difficulty of 78)
Results (Data From Semrush)
- Estimated monthly organic traffic: 5,000
- Page one keyword rankings: 45
- Backlinks: 627
What makes it successful?
- Format: It has clear sections, supporting graphics, and call-out quotes to break up the text.
- Call to action: There is an in-post form to download a guide that perfectly matches the text, helping the company to maximize leads from this post.
What could be improved?
There are no internal or external links. Internal links help pass through authority to related pages and external links give credit to sources of information used in the article.
Now it’s your turn
If you’re ready to pursue your own top blog post (think thousands or tens of thousands of visits per month), here are some general takeaways from the list above:
- Target 2,000+ words of quality content (not fluff).
- Go after a linkable and shareable topic (a list of ideas, quotes, people to follow, the most complete guide on the internet, etc.).
- Consider creating a video to pair with the post.
- Include chapters and a table of contents to make the post navigable.
- Create custom calls to action to match the content of the article.
If you need some assistance finding those great opportunities and writing content that makes you proud, we can help you produce growth content to do just that.
