How to Display a Popular Posts List in WordPress (Get Crazy Engagement)

You’ve been using MonsterInsights to record how many people view your pages. And, Google Analytics has been neatly storing that information. Now what?

Imagine asking Google Analytics to show off your top posts to your blog visitors. With Popular Posts, you can start making your Google Analytics data work for you in almost no time.

In this blog post, I’ll cover how to add the top 5 Posts (from the past 30 days) to your curated list of Popular Posts. This feature will keep your readers hooked on your content, and they’ll want to return for more.

Prerequisites:

You’ll need the MonsterInsights Pro plugin.

You’ll need to install and activate the Dimensions Addon (available to Pro level customers and above).

This post contains affiliate links (I don’t recommend anything that I don’t believe in), meaning at no extra cost to you, I might receive a small commission for purchases made through these links.

Step 1: Set up the Post Type Custom Dimension

It is absolutely vital that the Post Type custom dimension be in place for this to work best. Here is a follow-up article on how to set up the custom dimension in MonsterInsights, and connect it to your Google Analytics account.

Step 2: Wait 24-48 Hours for Data

If your Post Type custom dimension wasn’t set up in Google Analytics before, you’ll need to wait around 24 hours for the new setting to take effect.

Step 3: Specify How Popular Posts are Sorted

Navigate to Insights » Popular Posts » Inline Popular Posts » Sort By.

Click on the Curated radio button.

Click inside the text area below the Curated radio button. A drop-down list will appear. Select the title of your post from the drop-down list, or type in the title of your post to do a search.

Once a post is selected, it’s automatically added to the text area. Each selection is added to the list. To remove a selection, click on the x icon in front of the post title that you wanted to be removed.

Step 4: Add the Top 5 Posts from Google Analytics

Navigate to Insights » Popular Posts » Inline Popular Posts » Automated + Curated.

Click the Add Top 5 Posts from the Google Analytics toggle button to slide to the on position. A button labeled Check configuration will appear below the toggle button.

Click on the Check configuration button. If the check configuration is successful, you’ll see the following message.

If, however, you’re missing a setting, such as the required Post Type custom dimension, you’ll conveniently be guided to where you need to go to resolve it.

It automatically saves your changes, so don’t worry about that. If you want to go back to the top and click on the “Save Changes” button, you can.

To see the work you just did, make sure you’ve inserted your inline Popular Posts somewhere on your site. Then, visit that page to see your hand-picked Top 5 posts proudly on display. Congratulations!