Why Displaying Popular Posts Helps Increase Page Views
One of the easiest methods to increase user engagement and retain visitors on your WordPress site is by highlighting your most popular posts. Showcasing these posts serves as social proof, directing new visitors to valuable content that others have found helpful. By strategically displaying these popular posts, you can boost page views, reduce bounce rates, and improve the overall user experience.
This guide explores why displaying popular posts is crucial for content marketing and how to implement it effectively on your WordPress site.
Why you should display Popular Posts
1. Encourages Deeper Exploration
Visitors landing on your site often don’t know where to start. A popular posts widget highlights your most engaging content, encouraging users to explore further rather than bouncing off the page.
2. Increases Time on Site
By guiding users to your best-performing content, you keep them engaged longer. The longer visitors stay, the better your chances of converting them into loyal readers or customers.
3. Boosts Internal Linking & SEO
Displaying popular posts creates additional internal links, helping search engines crawl your site more effectively. It also distributes page authority, which can improve rankings for key content.
4. Builds Social Proof & Credibility
Users trust content that others have engaged with. Highlighting posts with high traffic, shares, or comments signals credibility and increases the likelihood of further engagement.
5. Drives More Ad Revenue & Conversions
Higher page views translate into more ad impressions and better conversion opportunities for monetised sites. The more users navigate your site, the greater the chance they will take the desired action—signing up for a newsletter, purchasing a product, or clicking an ad.
Where should you display Popular Posts
1. Sidebar & Widget Areas
One of the most common methods is using a sidebar widget to display popular posts. This ensures that high-traffic content is visible on every page.
2. Inline Placement Within Articles
You can embed popular posts within your content as “Recommended Reads” or “Popular Articles.” This placement naturally catches the reader’s attention while they’re already engaged.
3. Dedicated Popular Posts Page
Creating a “Top Posts” or “Most Read” page provides a dedicated hub for your best content, which can serve as a high-value landing page for visitors.
4. Exit Intent Popups & Slide-ins
Using exit intent technology, you can suggest popular posts when a user is about to leave your site, increasing the likelihood of retaining them for another session.
How to add Popular Posts to your WordPress site
1. Using a Plugin
The easiest way to display popular posts is with a plugin. Several plugins allow you to track views and display trending content automatically.
Installing and Using Top 10
One of the best plugins for tracking and displaying popular posts is Top 10. Here’s how you can install and configure it:
Step 1: Install the Plugin
- Log in to your WordPress dashboard.
- Navigate to Plugins > Add New.
- Search for Top 10.
- Click Install Now, then Activate the plugin.
Step 2: Configure Top 10 Settings
- Go to Top 10 > Settings in your dashboard.
- Under the Counter and Tracker tab, configure the tracker type and where you’d like to display the post count.
- Under the Popular Post list tab, you can configure the number of posts to show, which post types to include, etc.
- Explore the various tabs for more settings to configure how the popular posts list appears (e.g., include post excerpts or set ordering preferences).
Step 3: Add the Popular Posts Widget
- Navigate to Appearance > Widgets.
- Drag the Popular Posts [Top 10] widget into your sidebar or footer.
- Configure display options, such as showing post titles, thumbnails, or view counts.
Step 4: Use Shortcodes or Blocks
For more flexibility, you can insert popular posts anywhere using the shortcode:
Alternatively, you can use the Top 10 Gutenberg Block to add a popular posts section to pages or posts.
With these steps, a fully functional popular posts section will run effortlessly.
3. Using Google Analytics for Data-Driven Popular Posts
For a more customised approach, you can pull data from Google Analytics and manually highlight your top-performing posts.
4. Manually Featuring Posts
If you prefer complete control, you can manually curate a list of top posts and display them using a custom HTML widget or Gutenberg block.
Conclusion
Displaying popular posts is a simple yet powerful strategy to boost engagement and increase page views. By implementing a well-placed popular posts section, you guide visitors toward high-value content, improve internal linking, and create more opportunities for monetisation and conversion.
Want a hassle-free way to add popular posts to your site? Consider using a dedicated plugin like Top 10 to automate the process effortlessly.
Would you like a step-by-step guide on implementing this? Let me know in the comments!
