On July 27, 2026, Semrush estimated that a roundup I wrote for Softr was bringing in 3,400 organic visits a month, traffic it valued at $139,400 in Google Ads spend. The article was a list of the best knowledge management software, published on Softr’s blog on February 26, 2026. It went from zero to that point in five months.
It didn’t stay there. By October, the same page was down to a handful of visits a month. Below is how I wrote it, what made it climb, what probably pulled it back down, and what I’d do differently, with the numbers from Semrush at each stage.
The assignment
Softr is a no-code platform that teams use to build apps on top of their data, and a knowledge base is one of the things people build with it. That makes “best knowledge management software” a search where Softr’s buyers are comparing tools, and a page that ranks for it puts Softr in front of them at the moment they’re choosing.
The decision to put Softr at #1 on the list was the company’s own. That’s common for a company blog, and it changes the writing job. A reader comparing tools knows who published the page, so the list has to be useful enough that they keep reading anyway.
How I researched the tools
I worked from each tool’s product demos and documentation rather than marketing pages. Demos show what a tool does once you’re inside it, and documentation shows the limits a sales page leaves out, such as which features sit on which plan.
Every screenshot was one I took myself, so every tool on the list showed its real interface rather than a stock hero image. A reader trying to picture their team inside a tool learns more from the actual workspace than from a logo.
How I structured the roundup
The structure did most of the work, and it was built around one question the reader brings to a search like this, which is “which of these fits my team?”
- A comparison table right after the intro. A reader in a hurry could see every tool, what it’s best for, and where its pricing starts before scrolling.
- A clear “best for” on every tool. Each entry named the team or situation it suits, so the list read as a set of answers rather than a ranking.
- The same profile for every tool, Softr included. Each one covered who it’s best for, its features, and its pricing. Softr’s entry followed the same format as the other ten, which is what kept a company-published list credible.
- Sections for the questions that come after the list. Types of knowledge management software, what to look for, how to choose, and a short FAQ covered what a reader asks next, without sending them back to Google.
Today, the version on Softr’s site covers 11 tools. Softr updated the article on October 5, 2026, and those changes weren’t mine, so the details above describe the structure I wrote rather than every line on the current page.
How it performed
The page picked up its first keywords within weeks of publishing and climbed quickly from April. By late July, Semrush showed it ranking for 51 keywords in the US, with an estimated 3,400 visits a month and a traffic cost of $139,400. Traffic cost is Semrush’s estimate of what the same visits would cost as Google Ads clicks, so it reflects how commercial the searches were as much as how many people came.
Searches around knowledge base and knowledge management software are expensive to buy. In Semrush’s data, “best knowledge base software” costs about $38 a click and “best knowledge management software” about $36, which is why a few thousand visits added up to a six-figure estimate.
What happened after the peak
Semrush’s monthly traffic history for the page swings hard. It peaked at about 1,600 visits in May and again in July, fell close to zero in the months between, reached about 1,100 in September, and dropped to almost nothing in October. As of October 16, Semrush estimates about 8 visits a month, with the page ranking between #14 and #45 for its main keywords.
I can’t point to a single cause from the outside, and Semrush’s monthly estimates are noisy on their own. Two things stand out, though.
- A second Softr page competes for the same searches. Softr also publishes a best knowledge base software roundup, and both pages currently rank for “best knowledge base software,” at #28 and #45. When two pages on one site target the same search, Google often swaps between them, and neither holds a strong position. That pattern would fit the swings in the chart.
- The article changed in October. Softr’s update on October 5 coincided with the October drop. Updates can help or hurt, and without seeing the before and after, I can’t say which this one did.
What I’d do differently
I’d check the client’s site for overlapping pages before writing. A quick search for the topic on Softr’s blog would have shown the knowledge base roundup, and the two pages could have been split by intent, or merged, before they started competing.
Next time, I’d also agree on a monitoring plan at handoff. Once an article is delivered, the writer rarely sees it again, and a page earning six figures of traffic value deserves a monthly check on its positions and a refresh before it slides. Catching content decay early in Search Console costs far less than winning the rankings back.
What you can take from this
If you’re putting your own product in a “best X” roundup, give it the same profile as every competitor and let the format carry the credibility. Readers forgive a company ranking itself first, as long as the comparison is honest enough to use.
Build the page around the reader’s decision, with a table near the top, a clear “best for” on every option, and the pricing they’d otherwise hunt for. Then protect it. A ranking roundup is worth checking every month, and the SEO KPIs worth tracking for a page like this are its target-keyword positions and whether another page on your site has started competing with it.
Is one of your comparison pages slipping, or competing with another page on your own site? Book a call with me, and let’s get it back where your buyers can find it.
