mxverify / alistapart

Sites where “alistapart” is a top search keyword

One site on record lists “alistapart” among the searches that send it the most visitors, by traffic estimates. It is searched about 720 times a month on Google, worldwide (Google Ads, Sept 2026). Each site checked on the backlink value checker adds its top five search keywords, so this list grows as sites are checked.

Keyword intelligence

720Google monthly search volume−28% since Oct 2025

−17%Last 3 months vs 3 beforesteady

29/100Demand scoreweak

4/100Keyword difficulty (US)very easy

InformationalSearch intentwants to learn

170Third-party estimated keyword demandSept 2026

1Sites getting visits from itSept 2026

LowPaid competition (Google Ads)0 of 100 advertisers' index

What the data says

Demand is down on the year, now levelling off: Google searches for “alistapart” fell 28% (1,000 to 720) from Oct 2025 to Sept 2026; the last three months averaged 720, 17% below the three before.
Searches peak in Jan 2026 (1,300) and are lowest in Jun 2026 (720), a 1.8× swing within the year: time content to be indexed before the peak.
The listed site takes about 160 visits a month from “alistapart”, 94% of its 170 searches (traffic estimates). The other 6% goes to sites not on record here, or ends without a click.
No advertiser pays for “alistapart” (cost per click $0 in both sources): its traffic is worth audience, not ad money.
The two sources differ about 4 times for Sept 2026: Google Ads counts 720 searches, the traffic estimates 170. Read each for its trend, not as an exact count.

1Demand

Search demand, month by month

Google monthly search volume (Google Ads, worldwide)Third-party estimated keyword demand (right axis)

Every month's figures

	Oct 2025	Nov 2025	Dec 2025	Jan 2026	Feb 2026	Mar 2026	Apr 2026	May 2026	Jun 2026	Jul 2026	Aug 2026	Sept 2026
Google monthly search volume (Google Ads, worldwide)	1,000	1,000	1,000	1,300	880	1,000	1,000	880	720	720	720	720
Third-party estimated keyword demand (right axis)	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	170

Google monthly search volume: Google Ads, worldwide, read 1 Nov 2026. Third-party estimated keyword demand is a separate source, many times apart in size, so it has its own axis at the right: read the two lines for their trends.

2Who gets the traffic

Share of the visits, Sept 2026

Site	Share	Visits	DR	Linking sites
alistapart.com	100%	160	85	23.7K

Each site's latest estimate of its visits from this keyword; DR: Ahrefs Domain Rating; linking sites: sites linking to it (third-party link index).

Where these sites' visitors are

United States33%
Canada10%
India6%
United Kingdom6%
Pakistan4%
Other countries42%

The listed sites' own visitors by country (all their traffic), weighted by each site's visits from this keyword: their audience, not where the keyword is searched.

Phones and computers

Phones14%
Computers and tablets86%

Page loads of the listed sites by Chrome users (Chrome UX Report), weighted by each site's visits from this keyword: a site's device mix, not the keyword's. No source gives a keyword's device split.

3Ranking competition

4/100Keyword difficulty (US)very easy

40/100Ranking easecontested

DR 85First page, median Ahrefs DR

295Linking sites per top-ten pageaverage, US

On Google's page:People also askRelated searchesKnowledge panelAI Overview

Google's first page, United States

#	Site	Page title	DR
1	alistapart.comlisted here	Getting Paid	85
2	alistapart.comlisted here	Events	85
3	alistapart.comlisted here	A List Apart Issue № 126	85
4	alistapart.comlisted here	Meeting Design	85
5	alistapart.comlisted here	Topic: Information Architecture	85
6	zeldman.com	A List Apart Archives - Jeffrey Zeldman Presents	76
7	alistapart.comlisted here	The Problem with Patterns	85
8	alistapart.comlisted here	A List Apart Issue № 150	85
9	alistapart.comlisted here	Topic: Writing	85

Google's results for “alistapart” in the United States, in English, read 1 Nov 2026. DR: Ahrefs Domain Rating; “—”: Ahrefs gives no rating.

Keyword difficulty is 4 of 100 for US results: very easy on the vendor's scale.
alistapart.com holds 8 of Google's top 9 results for “alistapart”: Google treats it as a search for that site.
1 of the sites listed here is in Google's US top 9: alistapart.com (#1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #7, #8, #9).
The first page's median Ahrefs DR is 85; the lowest-rated result, zeldman.com at #6, has DR 76.
The top ten pages have about 295 linking sites each on average (US results, third-party link index).
Google shows an AI Overview for “alistapart”, citing 4 sites, alistapart.com among them: it sits above the results and takes clicks from them.

4Intent and related searches

Informational: wants to learn · also navigational, commercial
The searcher's goal, as a third-party keyword database classifies it (US).

Keywords the same sites get visits from

write for us 1 of these sites · 2 sites in all
“write for us” sites 1 of these sites · 1 site in all
alisttapart 1 of these sites · 1 site in all
how should time be allocated for side projects in company 1 of these sites · 1 site in all

Keywords the listed sites also get visits from, the most shared first: linked by the same sites' traffic, not by meaning.

5Opportunity

29/100 · Demand score, weak

How much searching there is and what advertisers pay for it.

Searches	37	720 a month · weight 40%
Year	38	−28% since Oct 2025 · weight 20%
Momentum	33	last 3 months −17% on the 3 before · weight 20%
Commercial	0	$0.00 a click · weight 20%

40/100 · Ranking ease, contested

How open Google's first page is: 100 minus its difficulty and strength.

Keyword difficulty	96	4 of 100 (US) · weight 50%
First-page strength	15	median Ahrefs DR 85 · weight 50%
One site's results	11	alistapart.com holds 8 of 9; ease capped at 40 · weight 0%

What to do with it

Treat it as a brand search: Google answers “alistapart” with the brand's own pages, so a third-party page competes for what is left.
Google answers part of it in an AI Overview: the pages it cites get a link above the results.

A business score needs your own figures (conversion, deal value) and is not made here. Scores are fixed formulas over the figures shown; they are not Google's.

6Sources

Google monthly search volume, Google Ads cost per click, bids and paid competition: Google Ads, worldwide, read 1 Nov 2026.
Third-party estimated keyword demand, cost per click and each site's visits (est.): third-party traffic estimates, Sept 2026.
Keyword difficulty, intent, SERP features, top-ten links: a third-party keyword database, United States, read 1 Nov 2026.
Google's first page, AI Overview, related searches: Google search, United States, read 1 Nov 2026.
DR: Ahrefs Domain Rating. Linking sites: a third-party link index.
Phones and computers: Chrome UX Report.

Tiles, findings, scores and actions are worked out from the figures on this page by fixed rules.

Site	Report	Visits (est.)	Month
alistapart.com	Valued	160	Sept 2026

Listed A–Z. A top search keyword is one of the searches that bring a site the most visitors, by estimate. It is not a position in Google, and the order here is not a ranking. Visits (est.): the traffic estimate's own figure for the keyword on that site, which behaves like visits a month, not an amount of money (2026-09-29: it had been shown in dollars). This page is kept out of search results until 15 sites share the keyword.

Searches, cost per click and ad value above: Google Ads, worldwide. Sites and their visits: third-party traffic estimates, Sept 2026. The traffic estimates' own searches figure for the keyword is in the section below; the two sources often differ several times over.