Identifying High-Performing Content with SEO Data

Not all content on your website is created equal. A small percentage of your pages—often following the 80/20 rule—will be responsible for driving the vast majority of your organic traffic, leads, and sales. These are your high-performing content assets.

Identifying these "power pages" is a critical part of any smart SEO and content marketing strategy. By understanding what your best content is and why it's successful, you can:

• Double down on what's working to create more successful content.
• Optimize these pages further to maximize their impact.
• Use them to boost the visibility of your other, less-visible pages.

This guide will show you how to use the data from Google Search Console and Google Analytics to identify your high-performing content.

What Defines "High-Performing" Content?

High-performing content excels in one or more of these key areas:

1. High Organic Traffic: It attracts a significant number of visitors from search engines.
2. High Rankings for Valuable Keywords: It ranks on the first page of Google for important, high-volume, or high-intent keywords.
3. High Engagement: Visitors spend a lot of time on the page and interact with the content.
4. High Conversion Rate: It is effective at turning visitors into leads or customers.
5. High Number of Backlinks: It has earned valuable links from other reputable websites.

How to Find Your High-Performing Content

You'll need to use both Google Search Console and Google Analytics to get the full picture.

1. Find Pages with the Most Organic Traffic (Using Google Analytics)

This report shows you which pages are the main entry points to your site from organic search.

• How to find it:
  1. In Google Analytics, go to Engagement > Landing Page.
  2. Change the date range to a significant period, like the last 90 days or 6 months.
  3. Add a filter to only show the Organic Search channel.
• What to look for: Sort the report by "Users" or "Sessions" to see which pages are bringing in the most organic visitors. These are your workhorse pages.

2. Find Pages with the Highest Rankings and Impressions (Using Google Search Console)

This report shows you which pages are most visible in the search results and which queries are driving that visibility.

• How to find it:
  1. In Google Search Console, go to the Performance report.
  2. Click on the Pages tab.
• What to look for:
  • Sort by Impressions to see which of your pages are being shown most often in the search results.
  • Sort by Clicks to see which pages are getting the most clicks.
  • Click on a specific page to then see the Queries that page is ranking for. This helps you understand the keywords that are driving its success.

3. Find Pages That Drive the Most Conversions (Using Google Analytics)

Traffic is great, but conversions are what matter most. This report shows you which pages are actually driving business results.

• How to find it:
  1. Ensure you have conversion tracking set up in Google Analytics.
  2. Go to the Engagement > Landing Page report and filter for organic traffic.
  3. The "Conversions" column on the right will show you how many valuable actions were completed by users who started their session on that specific landing page.
• What to look for: Look for pages that have a high conversion rate, even if they don't have the highest traffic. These pages are incredibly valuable because they are effective at persuading visitors to act.

4. Find Your Most-Linked-To Pages (Using an SEO Tool)

This report shows you which of your pages have earned the most backlinks, making them your most authoritative pages.

• How to find it: You'll need a third-party SEO tool like Ahrefs, SEMrush, or Ubersuggest. In these tools, you can enter your domain and look for a "Best by links" or "Top pages by links" report.
• What to look for: These pages are your "linkable assets." They hold the most "link equity" or ranking power.

What to Do With Your High-Performing Content

Once you've identified your power pages, you can leverage them.

• Keep Them Updated: Make sure the content on these pages is always fresh, accurate, and up-to-date.
• Optimize for Conversions: Add or improve the calls-to-action on your high-traffic pages to maximize their ability to generate leads.
• Use Them for Internal Linking: These pages have the most authority. Use them to pass that authority to other important but lower-ranking pages on your site by adding relevant internal links.
• Create More Content Like It: Analyze the topics, formats, and styles of your most successful pages. This is a clear signal of what resonates with your audience and with Google. Use these insights to guide your future content strategy.

Conclusion

Your website's data tells a story. By diving into your analytics, you can identify the handful of pages that are doing the heavy lifting for your SEO and your business. Understanding and leveraging this high-performing content is one of the smartest and most efficient ways to improve your overall SEO performance and accelerate your growth.