You have been blogging on GitHub Pages for a while and have a dozen or more posts. You see traffic coming in, but it feels random. Some posts you spent weeks on get little attention, while a quick tutorial you wrote gets steady visits. This inconsistency is frustrating. Without understanding the "why" behind your traffic, you cannot reliably create more successful content. You are missing a systematic way to identify and learn from your winners.
In business, a post-mortem is often done after a failure. For a content creator, the most valuable analysis is done on success. A "Positive Post-Mortem" is the process of deconstructing a high-performing piece of content to uncover the specific elements that made it resonate with your audience. This turns a single success into a reproducible template.
The goal is to move from saying "this post did well" to knowing "this post did well because it solved a specific, urgent problem for beginners, used clear step-by-step screenshots, and ranked for a long-tail keyword with low competition." This level of understanding transforms your content strategy from guesswork to a science. Cloudflare Analytics provides the initial data—the "what"—and your job is to investigate the "why."
The "Top Pages" report in your Cloudflare dashboard is ground zero for this analysis. By default, it shows page views over the last 24 hours. For strategic insight, change the date range to "Last 30 days" or "Last 6 months" to smooth out daily fluctuations and identify consistently strong performers. The list ranks your pages by total page views.
Pay attention to two key metrics for each page: the page view count and the trend line (often an arrow indicating if traffic is increasing or decreasing). A post with high views and an upward trend is a golden opportunity—it is actively gaining traction. Also, note the "Visitors" metric for those pages to understand if the views are from many people or a few returning readers. Export this list or take a screenshot; this is your starting lineup of champion content.
Take your number one post and open it. Analyze it objectively as if you were a first-time visitor. Start with the title. Is it clear, benefit-driven, and contain a primary keyword? Look at the introduction. Does it immediately acknowledge the reader's problem? Examine the body. Is it well-structured with H2/H3 headers? Does it use visual aids like diagrams, screenshots, or code snippets effectively?
Next, check the technical and on-page SEO factors, even if you did not optimize for them initially. Does the URL slug contain relevant keywords? Does the meta description clearly summarize the content? Are images properly compressed and have descriptive alt text? Often, a post performs well because it accidentally ticks several of these boxes. Your job is to identify all the ticking boxes so you can intentionally include them in future work.
Now, return to Cloudflare Analytics. Click on your top page from the list. Often, you can drill down or view a detailed report for that specific URL. Look for the referrers for that page. This tells you *how* people found it. Is the majority of traffic "Direct" (people typing the URL or using a bookmark), or from a "Search" engine? Is there a significant social media referrer like Twitter or LinkedIn?
If search is a major source, the post is ranking well for certain queries. Use a tool like Google Search Console (if connected) or simply Google the post's title in an incognito window to see where it ranks. If a specific forum or Q&A site like Stack Overflow is a top referrer, visit that link. Read the context. What question was being asked? This reveals the exact pain point your article solved for that community.
| Referrer Type | What It Tells You | Strategic Action |
|---|---|---|
| Search Engine | Your on-page SEO is strong for certain keywords. | Double down on related keywords; update post to be more comprehensive. |
| Social Media (Twitter, LinkedIn) | The topic/format is highly shareable in your network. | Promote similar content actively on those platforms. |
| Technical Forum (Stack Overflow, Reddit) | Your content is a definitive solution to a common problem. | Engage in those communities; create more "problem/solution" content. |
| Direct | You have a loyal, returning audience or strong branding. | Focus on building an email list or newsletter. |
You have identified the champions and dissected their winning traits. Now, systemize those traits. Create a "Content Blueprint" based on your top post. This blueprint should include the target audience, core problem, content structure, ideal length, key elements (e.g., "must include a practical code example"), and promotion channels.
Apply this blueprint to new topics. For example, if your top post is "How to Deploy a React App to GitHub Pages," your blueprint might be: "Step-by-step technical tutorial for beginners on deploying [X technology] to [Y platform]." Your next post could be "How to Deploy a Vue.js App to Netlify" or "How to Deploy a Python Flask API to Heroku." You are replicating the proven format, just changing the core variables.
Your analysis is not just for new content. Your top-performing posts are valuable digital assets. They deserve maintenance. Go back to those posts every 6-12 months. Check if the information is still accurate. Update code snippets for new library versions, replace broken links, and add new insights you have learned.
Most importantly, expand them. Can you add a new section addressing a related question? Can you link to your newer, more detailed articles on subtopics? This "content compounding" effect makes your best posts even better, helping them maintain and improve their search rankings over time. It is far easier to boost an already successful page than to start from zero with a new one.
Stop guessing what to write next. Open your Cloudflare Analytics right now, set the date range to "Last 90 days," and list your top 3 posts. For the #1 post, answer the five key questions listed above. Then, brainstorm two new article ideas that apply the same successful formula to a related topic. This 20-minute exercise will give you a clear, data-backed direction for your next piece of content.