17 Best of 2018: Our Top Marketing Articles From A Whirlwind Year

If you've ever encountered me in person, it will come as a no surprise that I stopped growing when I was 12.

Now, this small stature doesn't mean I haven't evolved and advanced in all this time. With every coming year, people and companies transform in ways we may not physically see -- but that certainly wasn't the case with IMPACT, this year.

Aside from doubling the size of our team, we made several changes to our brand, website, and articles in 2018 that we hope improved your experience with us.

Here's a quick rundown. We:

• Unveiled our new publishing-focused website
• Ramped up our news coverage
• Formalized our contributor and sponsorship programs
• Launched our agency micro-site
• Launched THE LATEST newsletter
• Launched Content Lab Podcast
• Launched our killer pillar strategy

All of these initiatives have proven to be great moves so far and they have heavily impacted the list I'm about to share with you, but before we get into it, let's take a look at some of the big trends I uncovered:

Many Contributors Made the List.

You'll notice a handful of the articles listed below weren't written by members of the IMPACT team, but contributors from other organizations.

We have always accepted guest contributions on our website, but recognizing quality and subject matter issues, this year, I began formalizing our program, creating stricter guidelines and becoming more selective.

The names below are the cream of the crop. 

In 2019, you'll see even more progress in this area and I couldn't be more excited. 

Video Was a Popular Subject.

From how to set up an in-office studio to strategy and success on social media, learning how to do video marketing right was clearly a popular goal in 2018. 

While video has been a hot topic for many years to marketers, this was the first year we saw it so prominently featured in our highest performers. 

Historic Optimization Still Proving Fruitful.

In 2016 and 2017, historic optimization was a huge part of IMPACT's content strategy and helped grow our traffic dramatically -- but towards the close of 2017, I also felt like it became a safe and easy fallback.

If someone missed a deadline or we had a spot to fill, "just historically optimize something."

While this was effective, sure, it felt like we were resting on our laurels; not sharing new views with the world or taking risks. This year, I set out with the goal of not leaning on this tactic as heavily and we succeeded.

Out of the 797 articles we published as I write this (nearly double from last year), only 86 were historically-optimized.

Even with this change, however, it's important to note that those updated articles still proved to be some our most fruitful. In fact, six made our top 17 below. 

Top Marketing Articles of 2018

Now, without further ado...

From over 5 million views and nearly 800 articles, I'm excited to unveil our top 17 (most viewed) from 2018!

#17: Subdomains vs Subfolders: What's the Difference and Which Is Better for SEO in 2018?

by Franco Valentino 

ToTheWeb.com's Rosemary Brisco was arguing with some clients about whether subdomains or subfolders are superior for SEO ranking... Read More 

#16: The Complete Guide for Marketers for Google Adwords in 2018

by Jason Linde 

As marketers, we can agree that our industry is no stranger to change. Whether it’s a new Google algorithm making your organic rank plummet or a new user experience in your favorite app... Read More 

#15: 25 New Video Marketing Statistics to Fuel Your Strategy in 2019

by Katie Pritchard

Success with video marketing in 2018 hit a new high - with more and more companies (including small to midsize) realizing the power of putting their team in front of the camera... Read More 

#14: Podcast Metrics: How to Measure Your Performance (With Such Little Data)

by Kathleen Booth

Podcasting has been around for awhile (since the 1980s, to be exact), but in the last few years, the level of interest amongst listeners has... Read More