# How to find your best posts on X and do more of what works: a 20-minute weekly routine

> Sort your X posts by engagement rate, not likes, and look for patterns in format, topic, timing and first line. How to compare fairly on a small account, a worked example from our own account (how-tos 91 impressions per post vs promos 12), and a weekly review you can repeat.

**To find your best posts on X, rank them by engagement rate (engagements ÷ impressions) rather than likes, then look at the top and bottom few for patterns: format, topic, time posted and first line. Do more of what the top posts share and less of what the bottom ones share. Once a week, 20 minutes is enough.**

## Why sort by engagement rate, not likes?

Likes and impressions depend on how many people happened to see a post: timing, whether a bigger account replied, luck. Engagement rate asks a fairer question: of the people who saw it, how many reacted? X defines it as "number of engagements divided by impressions", and counts as engagements every interaction, from replies and reposts to profile clicks and expanding the post.

Then check two more columns for the top posts:

- **Follows,** which X defines as "times a user followed you directly from the post". These are the posts that grow your account.
- **Profile visits:** posts that make people curious about you.

## How do you find your best posts?

1. **Open your numbers.** On x.com, go to More → Creator Studio → Analytics (under Tools), or straight to x.com/i/account_analytics (as of November 2026; reported as an X Premium feature since 2024). Creator Studio's **Inspiration** section also lists your top posts by engagement, a quick place to start. See [How to use X analytics to grow](/blog/how-to-use-x-analytics-to-grow).
2. **Only compare posts that have finished.** X's ranking stops showing posts in the For You feed after about 48 hours, so leave out posts younger than two days.
3. **Rank by engagement rate.** Take the top 5 and the bottom 5.
4. **Label each one** with its format (text, image, video, thread, quote, reply), topic, the day and hour you posted, and its first line.
5. **Look for what the top five share** and what the bottom five share. One great post is luck; three similar ones is a pattern.

## What patterns should you look for?

- **Format:** do text posts, images, quotes or threads do best for you? In Buffer's 2026 data, text had the highest median engagement on X (3.56%), ahead of images (3.40%), video (2.96%) and link posts (2.25%), but your audience may differ.
- **Topic:** which subjects in your niche get replies and follows?
- **Timing:** do your best posts cluster on certain days or hours? See [How often should you post on X, and when?](/blog/how-often-to-post-on-x-and-best-times)
- **First line:** do specific, number-led openers beat questions or stories?

## A worked example from our own account

We did this for @Transformer_gg: 46 posts from one week, each at least 48 hours old, using X's own metrics, grouped by type.

| Post type | Average impressions |
| --- | --- |
| How-to posts | 91 |
| Quote posts | 61 |
| Explainers | 43 |
| Promotional posts | 12 |

What we took from it:

- **How-tos travelled furthest,** about 7.5 times the average promo. So we post more how-tos.
- **Quote posts drove action:** 14 link clicks from 20 posts, more than any other type, and our best post of the week (871 impressions) was a quote.
- **Promos barely reached anyone.** We now keep them rare and wrap them in something useful.

It's one small account over one week, so we'll recheck it next week. But the routine is the same at any size.

## The 20-minute weekly routine

1. **Pick the week:** posts from 2–9 days ago.
2. **Rank by engagement rate,** and note follows and profile visits for the top 5.
3. **Label the top and bottom 5:** format, topic, time, first line.
4. **Write one sentence:** "Next week, more of ___ and less of ___."
5. **Plan 3 posts** that use what worked.
6. **Check last week's sentence:** did the change help?

Keep the notes in a simple spreadsheet. After a month you'll know your best format, topics and times better than any general guide.

## Your best posts help with brand deals too

Brands want to see that your audience engages. Knowing your best posts, and your engagement rate, makes it easy to show them. Transformer is the agentic influencer marketplace: real creators, paid on confirmed posts. Run it from the dashboard or from your agent. [Check your influencer value](/value): our estimate for one sponsored post on your account, from your followers, views and engagement.

## FAQ

### How do I find my best posts on X?
Rank your posts from the last week or two by engagement rate (engagements ÷ impressions), leave out posts younger than 48 hours, and compare the top and bottom five by format, topic, timing and first line.

### Should I judge X posts by likes or impressions?
Neither on its own. Impressions depend on timing and luck; engagement rate shows how people responded once they saw a post. Follows and profile visits show which posts grow your account.

### How often should I review my X analytics?
Once a week. Daily numbers swing a lot on small accounts; a weekly review shows patterns you can act on.

### What content performs best on X?
It depends on your audience, which is why reviewing your own posts matters. Across many accounts, Buffer's 2026 data found text posts had the highest median engagement on X, then images, video and link posts.

## Sources

- [X Help Center: About your activity dashboard (archived June 2024, X's last published metric definitions)](https://web.archive.org/web/20240602053423/https://help.x.com/en/managing-your-account/using-the-post-activity-dashboard)
- [Buffer: State of social media engagement in 2026 (March 2026)](https://buffer.com/resources/state-of-social-media-engagement-2026/)
- [xai-org/x-algorithm (updated November 2026)](https://github.com/xai-org/x-algorithm)
- [Social Media Today: X launches advanced analytics for Premium subscribers (June 2024)](https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/x-launches-advanced-analytics-for-premium-subscribers/718957/)