How One Article Doubled Our Page Views (And How You Can Swipe the Strategy)

Let’s be honest. Most content strategies are full of fluff. “Engage your audience.” “Post consistently.” “Leverage synergy.” Blah, blah, blah.

You want results. We wanted them too. And we got them.

One article on our retro-nostalgia site The80sand90s.com doubled our page views. Not metaphorically. Literally. One post. Twice the traffic. No ads, no social push, no newsletter blast. Just good content, and the mighty hand of Google said, “We like this.”

Here’s exactly how we did it… so you can too.

Step 1: Type Like a Human, Not a Marketer

We opened Google and typed “80s vs 90s” into the search bar. That’s it. No keyword tools. No AI-generated keyword clusters. Just real-life typing like a real-life person.

We paid attention to Google’s autocomplete suggestions and the “People Also Ask” box.

Boom. A brainstorm appeared:

• 80s vs 90s fashion

• 80s vs 90s music

• 80s vs 90s style

• What came after parachute pants and before skinny jeans?

These suggestions are what real people are actually searching for. So we picked the juiciest: “80s vs 90s Fashion”

Step 2: Write Like You Actually Like the Topic

We didn't write for search engines. We wrote for readers, and it turns out that’s exactly what search engines want now, too.

The article:

• Compared fashion trends from both decades

• Included pop culture references that brought back feelings (think grunge flannel, mall bangs, Reebok Pumps)

• Used short, scrollable paragraphs, punchy subheads, and a little nostalgic sass

We weren’t pretending to be Vogue. We were being that friend who remembers what your high school boyfriend wore to prom and will not let you forget it.

The result? Readers stayed on the page. Google noticed. And pretty soon…

Bonus Round: We Got Picked Up by Google Discover

Yup. That happened.

No promotion. No backlinks. No hustle. Just a good article that got scooped up by Google Discover, Google’s content feed for mobile users. That meant thousands of extra eyeballs from people who didn’t even know they were searching for “Hypercolor shirts” until Google slipped it into their feed.

Step 3: Make It Look Good (Not Just Read Good)

This part is crucial:

• Images and gifs broke up the content and visually showed the difference between decades (because you can’t explain acid wash jeans with just words)

• Bold subheadings helped people skim like champs

• The layout was clean and mobile-friendly.

Design matters. Especially when you're dealing with visual topics like fashion. We made it look like a fun scroll, not a term paper.

Step 4: Interlink Like a Boss

Since we already had other retro content (like 90s slang, 80s tech, and questionable childhood toys), we linked to those inside the article.

• Google loved the internal connections.

• Readers clicked around like it was a nostalgia buffet.

• Our bounce rate dropped and time on site went up.

All of that told Google, “This site’s worth recommending.”

The Result

• Page views doubled.

• The article became one of our top performers.

• We showed up in Google Discover, no marketing budget required.

• And maybe most importantly: we got a win that didn’t involve dancing on TikTok.

Proof from our analytics. Traffic doubled on publish day.

Want the TL;DR Playbook?

1. Use Google like your audience does. Type in a keyword and see what pops up.

2. Choose a topic with built-in tension or comparison (“vs” content is a traffic magnet).

3. Write content that’s fun, cultural, and visually appealing. Avoid robotic SEO tone.

4. Link to related content on your site so visitors stick around… and Google notices.

Want us to do this kind of magic for your brand?

At Fervorfish Digital Media, we turn great content ideas into serious traffic, even without a social push.

📩 Contact us to find out how.