How to Identify Content That's Driving Leads vs Just Traffic

By Emily Redmond, Data Analyst at Emilytics · April 2026

TL;DR: Build a conversion rate by page report in GA4. Plot posts on a 2x2 grid: high traffic + high conversion = double down. High traffic + low conversion = rewrite.

You have two posts. Both get 3,000 organic visitors per month. One generates 90 leads. The other generates 5.

Which is your best content? Obviously the first one.

But most teams don't measure conversion by post. They see 3,000 visitors and call it a win, never knowing that half their "success" is converting nothing.

Here's how to find which posts are actually driving leads and which are just vanity traffic.

The 2x2 Grid: Your Content Strategy in One Chart

Plot every post on this grid:

        High Traffic
             |
        _____|_____
       |     |     |
High   | A   | B   |
Conv   |_____|_____|
       |  C  |  D  |
Low    |_____|_____|
        Low Traffic

Quadrant A (High traffic, High conversion): Your golden content

• Examples: "How to [solve problem]", comparison guides, tutorials
• Strategy: Publish more like this. Optimize for SEO to drive more traffic.

Quadrant B (Low traffic, High conversion): Hidden gems

• Examples: Niche how-tos, customer stories
• Strategy: SEO work only. Rewrite titles/metadata. Or promote via email/social.

Quadrant C (High traffic, Low conversion): Awareness content or wrong audience

• Examples: Trend reports, news pieces, "Why [industry] matters"
• Strategy: Rewrite for conversion. Add CTA. Or repurpose as middle-funnel content.

Quadrant D (Low traffic, Low conversion): Delete

• Strategy: Archive or delete. No traffic, no conversion. Not worth keeping.

How to Build This in GA4

Step 1: Create a conversion rate report

Explore > Report:

Step 2: Add a calculated metric

Click + > Create calculated metric:

Conversion Rate = (Conversions / Users) × 100

Step 3: Export and plot

Export to Google Sheets. Create two helper columns:

Column A: Page title
Column B: Users
Column C: Conversions
Column D: Conversion Rate (C/B)

Now create a scatter plot:

• X-axis: Users
• Y-axis: Conversion Rate
• Each post is a dot

Draw a line at the median for both axes. Now you have your grid.

Example data:

In this dataset:

• "How to Build a Content Strategy" = Quadrant A (high traffic, 6% conversion)
• "SaaS Content Guide" = Quadrant B (lower traffic, 10% conversion)
• "Top 10 Trends" and "What is Content Marketing" = Quadrant C (high traffic, low conversion)

Your next move: Promote Quadrant B post for SEO. Rewrite Quadrant C posts. Keep Quadrant A as a template.

💡 Emily's take: A client had 12 posts in Quadrant C—high traffic, low conversion. They were all "industry analysis" pieces written for thought leadership. Valuable for brand, but not for leads. We didn't delete them, but we repositioned them: added CTAs, created email sequences from them, and published follow-up "how-to" posts. That turned awareness traffic into lead generation.

Why Posts End Up in Each Quadrant

High traffic, high conversion posts usually:

• Match search intent precisely (searcher wants solution)
• Have a clear CTA aligned to the content
• Target mid-funnel keywords (ready to buy, not researching)
• Are how-to, comparison, or customer story content

High traffic, low conversion posts usually:

• Broad awareness content (trend reports, industry analysis)
• Target top-of-funnel keywords (early research stage)
• Lack a CTA or CTA is misaligned
• Don't match audience intent (searchers want info, not solution)

Low traffic, high conversion posts usually:

• Niche keywords (low volume, high intent)
• Excellent content for a small, specific audience
• Target long-tail keywords

Low traffic, low conversion posts usually:

• Either poorly written or poorly optimized
• Target keywords with low search volume
• Not aligned to your product

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Should I kill Quadrant D posts immediately? A: Archive them first. 301-redirect to a related post. Don't delete—you lose backlinks. Redirect the domain authority to a post that can use it.

Q: What if a post in Quadrant C has great engagement but low conversion? A: It's serving a purpose (awareness, audience building), just not directly converting. Measure the downstream impact: do readers come back? Do they convert later? If yes, keep it. If no, rewrite it with a conversion goal in mind.

Q: How often should I check this grid? A: Quarterly. Some posts take 3–6 months to fully rank and accumulate traffic. Monthly checks show noise. Quarterly checks show real trends.

Q: Is there a benchmark for what conversion rates should be? A: 2–5% is average for blog content. 8%+ is excellent. Below 1% usually means wrong audience, wrong CTA, or misaligned content. If most posts are below 2%, your blog isn't attracting qualified readers.

The Bottom Line

Not all traffic is created equal. Find your Quadrant A posts—high traffic, high conversion—and double down. Rewrite Quadrant C. Delete Quadrant D. This one chart changes your content strategy.

Emily Redmond is a data analyst at Emilytics — AI analytics agent watching your GA4, Search Console, and Bing data. 8 years experience. Say hi →