What Types of Blog Posts Get the Most Traffic?

TL;DR

Here’s something worth sitting with before we get into post types: if you searched “what types of blog posts get the most traffic” hoping to find a format you can just replicate for guaranteed results, the answer is a little more complicated than that.

Not because it’s a bad question — it isn’t. But because the type of post that gets traffic is largely determined by what the keyword demands, not by a universal ranking of formats. The question to ask before you choose a format isn’t “which post type performs best?” It’s “what does someone searching this keyword actually want to find?”

That said, some formats do consistently outperform others in search, and understanding why helps you make better decisions when the keyword doesn’t make it obvious. So let’s get into it.

Why format matters as much as topic

Google doesn’t just rank pages for the hell of it (I don’t think. Although sometimes I’m not sure).

It ranks pages that match what searchers are trying to do. If every top-ranking result for your keyword is a step-by-step guide, and you publish a listicle, you’re fighting the intent signal Google has already read from millions of searches. You might have the better content. You’ll probably still lose.

This is why checking the search results before you write — not just for keyword difficulty, but for format — is one of the most useful habits you can build. Article 22: What Is Search Intent and Why Should Bloggers Care? covers this in detail. The short version: look at what’s already ranking and let it tell you what to write.

The post types that consistently perform well in search

How-to guides and explainers

How-to content is the backbone of most successful niche blogs, and for good reason. List posts and how-to content generate above-average shares and engagement, and they map directly onto the most common type of search: someone has a problem and wants to know how to solve it.

The format works because it matches informational intent almost perfectly. The reader arrives knowing roughly what they’re looking for. Your job is to give it to them as clearly and completely as possible (ideally faster than the competing results do).

How-to posts targeting specific long-tail questions are your fastest route to traffic for a new blog. “How to propagate a pothos in water” is more winnable than “how to propagate plants” and more useful to a reader who already knows what plant they have.

Long-tail question posts

These deserve their own mention because they’re the single best opportunity for a new site. A long-tail question post targets a specific, conversational search phrase — usually something that maps directly onto what someone actually types when they have a problem.

“Why are my pothos leaves curling at the edges?” is a long-tail question post. It won’t get enormous traffic on its own, but it’s highly specific, relatively easy to rank for, and arrives with built-in intent clarity. Write enough of them and they compound. Each one brings in a small, steady stream of exactly the right reader.

Pillar content and cornerstone guides

Pillar content is the big, definitive article that covers a topic comprehensively — the one that everything else on your site links to and from. “The Complete Guide to Pothos Care” is a pillar article. It’s longer, harder to write, and slower to rank, but it signals to Google that your site is a serious resource on this topic.

Content over 3,000 words wins three times more traffic than average-length content and four times more backlinks on average. That’s not an argument for padding every post out — it’s an argument for making your cornerstone content genuinely comprehensive. The backlinks matter as much as the traffic, because they’re what build the authority that helps your other posts rank. Rank Tracker

You don’t need many pillar articles. Two or three per niche topic area is enough to anchor the site. Write them once, keep them updated, and let everything else link back to them.

Comparison and review posts

“WPX vs SiteGround.” “Best grow lights for pothos.” “GeneratePress review.” These posts target commercial intent — readers who are close to a decision and want help making it. They typically have lower search volume than informational posts, but the reader arriving at them is much further along in their journey, which makes them disproportionately valuable for affiliate income.

Product reviews and comparison posts work best in the 1,000 to 1,800 word range (According to Bluehost). Enough space for pros, cons, features and recommendations without unnecessary length.

The key to ranking with these is real experience. A comparison post written by someone who has actually used both products is a fundamentally different thing from one scraped together from other reviews. Google is increasingly good at telling the difference, and so are readers. If you’re thinking ‘but I don’t have/can’t afford these products’ CHANGE YOUR NICHE.

The format Google has cooled on: listicles

Listicles — “10 tips for caring for your pothos,” “7 signs your plant needs repotting” — were the dominant blog format for years. They’re easy to skim, easy to share, and they perform extremely well on Pinterest, where visual, snackable content thrives.

I called that time the Buzzfeed Years.

But alas, Google’s relationship with listicles has shifted. Word count helps Google understand context and relevance, and pages with extremely low word counts often fail to perform well in search results — usually not because they are short, but because they lack sufficient context, depth, and usefulness. The typical listicle, especially a short one, tends to tick precisely those boxes.

(Word count is a whole beast that needs it’s own article).

This doesn’t mean never write a listicle. It means thinking carefully about where each format actually belongs.

Where listicles actually work: your newsletter

Not every piece of content you write needs to be a blog post.

Listicle-style content — tips, roundups, quick-hit recommendations — tends to do very well in email newsletters. It’s the format readers expect and enjoy in their inbox. It’s easy to consume between meetings or over coffee. And crucially, it gives your newsletter its own reason to exist rather than just being a blog post with a subject line.

I save a lot of my “10 tips for X” ideas for the newsletter rather than publishing them as posts, for two reasons. First, they’re rarely what Google is looking for when someone searches a topic seriously. Second, they make the newsletter worth reading — which is a different and equally important job.

Content that doesn’t suit search can still suit your audience. Put it where it will actually land.

(It also means you can more easily fit your newsletter writing into your schedule, because it’s basically another blog post. And you won’t be publishing dross. I am SICK of thinly veiled sales emails that start with some tangentially related story about something that happened last week that then remind the author of this awesome new tool they’re using. Fuck all the way off.)

What not to write (at least for traffic)

Opinion pieces with no search demand. These have their place — they build personality, they can go viral on social media, and sometimes they attract links from people who find them interesting. But they will not bring you organic search traffic, because nobody is searching for your opinion on a topic. Go in with clear eyes about what job these posts are doing.

Posts targeting navigational intent. If someone searches “Canva login,” they want Canva’s login page. There is no version of this where your blog post wins. Navigational searches are not worth targeting — ever.

Posts so broad they’re impossible to rank for early on. “Pothos care” is not a realistic target for a new site. The sites ranking for that term have years of authority behind them (regardless of how accurate the information is 😐). The same information, broken into specific long-tail questions, is both more rankable and more useful to a reader who has a specific problem.

How long should posts be?

The honest answer is: long enough to fully answer the question, and not a word longer.

That said, the data does point in a consistent direction. Posts between 1,500 and 2,500 words typically perform best for competitive keywords (source), and longer posts often perform well for broader or more competitive topics because they allow you to explore nuances, include examples, and cover related questions that users frequently ask (source).

For new blogs targeting long-tail questions, shorter and more focused often beats longer and more padded. For pillar content and competitive keywords, depth wins.

The test worth running once your site has some content: look at your top-performing posts by traffic and note their average length. That’s your personal benchmark — more reliable than any industry average, because it reflects your niche, your audience, and what Google has already decided to reward on your site.

Longer content over 10,000 words can actually hurt your rankings (source), especially when content is not “on point” and fails to nail search intent. Length without substance isn’t a strategy. It’s just a longer way to not answer the question.

Which post types to prioritise at different stages

When you’re new (0–30 posts): Focus almost entirely on long-tail question posts and specific how-to guides. Low competition, clear intent, fast to write. Build the habit of matching format to intent before you worry about anything else.

When you’re established (30–60 posts): Start adding pillar content that ties your existing posts together. Look at what’s working in Google Search Console and write the comparison and review posts that sit alongside your best-performing informational content.

When you’re growing (60+ posts): Update and expand what’s already ranking rather than always adding new. A post ranking in position 8 that gets expanded and refreshed will often outperform a brand new post targeting the same keyword.

I know it’s tempting to just write more and more articles, but…don’t. Source: trust me bro.

Frequently asked questions

What to read next

Understanding post types is only useful once you know what to write about — Article 23: How to Come Up With Blog Post Ideas That People Actually Search For covers that in full.

Once you’ve got a list of posts to write and know what format each one needs, Article 25: How to Build a Blog Content Plan (And Actually Stick to It) helps you turn them into something you’ll actually follow through on.