Google Analytics: Top 10 Blog Posts Visited in 2020

After I finished my thoughts about the top Amazon clicks and purchases of 2020, I got to thinking that readers with blog experience are probably going to ask why I focus so much on Amazon analytics instead of Google analytics. Google analytics provides tons of information about traffic to one’s website.

Not only does it tell you how many people visit, how long they stay and how many pages they read, it tells you the breakdown of gender, age, areas of interest based on internet history as well as what country they are accessing from, what language they are using to view the website in and what type of device they use to visit. But probably the thing content creators are most interested in knowing is what content most engages readers. In other words, what articles and pages are most viewed.

The idea being that a smart blogger will take that info and create like-content to keep readers coming back. Let me say from the get-go, I’m not a smart blogger. No doubt, it’s why I only get on Google analytics once or twice a year. I don’t care what posts are popular. Well, that’s not entirely true. I care. It’s just that I still want to write on the topics I want to write about.

For example, I love writing and sharing my experiences and adventures at the various places I visit. At no time I’ve looked in Google analytics has one of those posts made the top 10 list. But that doesn’t mean I’m going to stop sharing them.

Graphic that reads: 92% Readers in North America; 46% Female, 54% Male; 61% are 18 - 34 Years Old. — **I created the graphic but this is a snapshot of what I learned from Google analytics regarding Supersize LIFE readers.**

Google Analytics: Top 10 Blog Posts

Today, I thought I’d share the top 10 posts visited by readers in 2020 and offer a few thoughts. There is a definite trend. Plus, if you are new to the blog or missed these, here is a chance to go back and catch up on some past posts.

Actually, I kept saying blog posts but Google analytics registers it as which pages are visited. Of course, in my case, nearly every page is a blog post but I had to clarify because one of the top 10 is a general page. I included the publication year as well since I think that’s interesting.

The Most Obvious Conclusion

I remember myself just after I decided to pursue the RV life. I jumped headlong into research about the lifestyle, about adventures but, mostly, about which RV was the best match for me. That process involved reading everything I could find on the rigs I was interested in.

Almost immediately, a level of frustration set in at how little could be found. Manufacturers and dealers, of course, flooded the internet touting their RVs. But I didn’t trust those. Their goal was different than my goal. They wanted to sell RVs while I wanted to know everything—good and bad—about the RVs that I thought might be a good fit for me.

If you’ve followed along since the beginning or have gone back and looked at some of my early posts, you know I almost immediately decided that a molded fiberglass trailer was for me. I researched every single molded fiberglass trailer ever manufactured. Many were just too small for a full-timer which left me with five—Oliver, Escape, Bigfoot, Scamp and Casita.

When I look at the top 10 visited pages list, I have to remind myself of that.

Need for Camper Information

Six out of ten of the posts on the list are general info posts about RVs. It’s not very exciting but it’s entirely understandable. Even five years after I was hungry for camper information not from the manufacturer, people remain hungry.

I thought it was interesting that both posts about what I hate about my Oliver Travel Trailer made the list but the list of the things I love about the Oliver didn’t. Who knows? Maybe it was number 11 on the list. But in doing research, it really is the negative aspects of an RV that are hard to find. As a buyer, this was important to me as I wanted to know what to expect in terms of problems in the future. Notice I said “interesting.” I didn’t say it was surprising.

Out of curiosity, I did a Google search for “Oliver Travel Trailer Reviews” and my post about what I hate was first on the list, even ahead of content put out by Oliver themselves. That’s likely the reason it gets so many views. Don’t we all almost always click on the first listing when we do a search?

Which Trailer Should I Buy?

Two of the articles—the Final Four ones (this was back before I understood the importance of SEO so please ignore the stupid titles on these posts)—are five years old. They are two of the very earliest posts I wrote, the sixteenth and nineteenth. For reference, today’s post is the two hundred and fortieth. (that’s, number 240). I wrote one other post in the series. Can you guess the title? Yep, The Final Four, Part One. (I know, I know…stupid.)

Part One covered the Casita. Part Two covered the Oliver and the Escape. Finally, Part Three covered the Bigfoot Travel Trailer. By the time I wrote these, I dismissed Scamp as an option. The reason? The 19-foot trailer (the largest they make) is a fifth wheel and I really wanted a van as a tow vehicle rather than a truck as I need the storage capacity as a full-timer.

There are tons more Casitas circulating than the other trailers. Oliver has made a total of about 700 trailers (my trailer, Quill, that I picked up in 2017 is hull number 249) and both Escape and Bigfoot are manufactured in Canada. It’s my theory that the Casita review didn’t make the top 10 simply because there are lots of Casita reviews out there to choose from.

A white trailer. — **The 21 foot Escape, a trailer that was once on my list of possible RVs to live in.**

The Most Surprising Post on the List

The article RV Life and 7 Ways to Dry a Bath Towel caused me to laugh out loud. It just seemed so random. Who knew that others found it as challenging as I did?

The article is part of a series on some of the more mundane chores we do in RV life, including Grocery Shopping, Laundry and Dealing with Shoe Storage. I couldn’t help but wonder why drying a bath towel made the list when the others didn’t.

And, though it didn’t make me laugh, I asked the same question about More Fast, Easy Low-Cost RV Hacks. Why did it make the list when Fast, Easy Low-Cost RV Hacks and Still More Fast, Easy Low-Cost RV Hacks didn’t? Or, even more to the point, why didn’t the article actually written in 2020, RV Tips, Tricks, Gadgets and Hacks, make the list?

Yes, these are questions I’ll never know the answers to but they are fun to contemplate. At least to me, they are.

A 36" long towel bar suction cupped on to the side of a white RV, a blue towel hanging from it. — **One way to dry a bath towel is to attach a suction cup towel bar to the outside of your rig.**

Amazon and Google Analytics: A Connection?

When I went back and looked at the posts that made this top 10 list, I made one connection. Remember in the Amazon analytics post when I wondered about items with the highest number of clicks that were not featured in an article? I may have connected two dots.

Two of those items were the Coleman Canopy Tent and the Betron Noise Isolating Earbuds. Guess what article those items were listed on as a recent reader purchase? Yep, 6 Things I Hate About the Oliver. Makes me know even more that trying to analyze what readers click on is a losing battle. Exposure to the particular links is clearly a big factor.

Sticks-and-Bricks Life

The exercise of looking at Amazon and Google analytics deeply made me realize that analysis is one of the things I miss about my old life. I worked as the numbers person in a small non-profit in Alaska for 15 years before I decided to hit the road as a full-time traveler. While things like running payroll and paying bills was rote, analysis never was.

The situation was different each time whether it was the area I was examining or the results themselves. It was never boring. And, each time, there was a chance I would gain insight into the organization. I just loved it. Though, I have to say, I spent way more time running payroll and paying bills. Analysis was a task I only got to do if there was time and there was rarely time.

Still, if you have been scratching your head about the Amazon and Google analytics posts, now you might have an idea of why I traveled down this particular rabbit hole.

I’ll try to refrain from doing it again. But I promise nothing.

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Debbie LaFleiche

Content Creator. Pet Parent. Adventurer. Experience Seeker. Still cannot back up the trailer. See full biography in About Debbie, Solstice and Kitty in Connect Category.

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