Here we go again. It’s already the end of 2021, which means it’s time to dig into the web analytics and stats and compile lists of “top content” from the year. These lists contain the year’s most viewed posts and most listened-to podcast episodes. It excludes any blog posts or podcast episodes from prior to 2021, even though some of that old content is still getting plenty of traffic. After a bit of analysis, some clear “top 5” lists started to emerge.

Top 5 interviews of 2021 (podcast and Q&As)

Fewer than five podcast episodes were released in 2021, so I’ve rounded out this list with written, Q&A interviews.

1. Season four wrap-up: How brands (and branding professionals) can do good (podcast)
2. Diego Segura goes through the doors that open (podcast)
3. Q&A with Sruthi Sadhujan of Hyperakt
4. Q&A with Martin Lindstrom
5. Q&A with Matt Miksa, author and brand strategist

Although technically excluded from this 2021 post, some podcast episodes released at the end of last year got a lot of listens in 2021:

1. Emily Heyward builds brands that inspire obsession
2. Nirm Shanbhag sees brand architecture from the consumer’s perspective
3. Alina Wheeler has a doppelgänger named Blake Deutsch

Top 5 articles of 2021

The list below excludes blog posts that are less “article-like,” such as Definitions and Useful Lists. (For those, see below.)

1. Five of the best branding books for 2020 and 2021 by Christine Smith
2. The best and worst brand name changes of 2021
3. What are the important elements of a logo? by Veronica Scott
4. How to avoid a rebranding mistake: five examples by Beth Doane of Main & Rose
5. The five and a half steps of Branding: In Five and a Half Steps by Krystle Dickerson

Top 5 other blog posts of 2021

Some of the site’s most popular posts are definitions and lists, which feel significantly different from the articles.

1. Introducing the Brand Personality Cards (these are still on backorder)
2. Famous brands with ambigram logos (Useful List)
3. Famous brands that share a brand name (Useful List)
4. Definition: What is a metonym?
5. Definition: What is branding?

Some of the site’s most visited pages aren’t listed above:

• Branding resources (includes books about brand strategy and naming, podcasting gear, and more)
• Branding glossary
• The How Brands Are Built Store (free, downloadable e-books and templates)

Looking forward to more in 2022. Anything you’d especially like to see (or hear) more of? Leave me a note in the comments below.

Thanks, and Happy New Year!!!

Rob Meyerson is a brand consultant, namer, and author of Brand Naming: The Complete Guide to Creating a Name for Your Company, Product, or Service. He also runs Heirloom, an independent brand strategy and identity firm, and hosts the podcast How Brands Are Built.