There has been alot of discussion lately among Genea-bloggers on how to attract readers to your blog. Thomas MacEntee over at Geneabloggers reported recently that there are now over 900 genealogy related blogs listed at the site. 900! How does one choose which blogs are of interest to them?
Well the people at Google have this nifty little program called "Analytics." Oh it has all kinds of bells and whistles that you can use to customize your reports to tell you all kinds of things about your blog. One of the features I like best is the keyword(s) report.
This report will tell you what words are entered into a search engine that lands a person on your blog. Here are a few examples that totally floored me:
German Russian Heritage - ok, well that fits the bill since my father's line are Germans from Russia and I have written a few articles about them.
Vat of Crabbiness - I borrowed this phrase from Terry Snyder over at Desktop Genealogist Unplugged. Terry if you are out there start writing again!
Barbara Eden Look-alike - OK, I may have worn the costume but not once did I mention her name so Google gets points from me for facial recognition searches.
National Donut Day - That's right, when you think of donuts you think of me.
Insane Asylums - I am going to have to go back and read all my posts. I don't think I have written about this subject. Unless they are just making a friendly suggestion, then ok they might be on the right track.
Polka Disco - Heel, Toe and Away We Go - I kid you not. This exact phrase was entered into a search engine and they were pointed to my blog. Donna Pointkouski this is all your fault!
And the number one phrase????
Nuns With Guns - Jaysus, Mary and Joseph, I am going to Hell in a Handbasket for sure.
What are the words people put into search engines that lands them on your blog???
This is likely the entry that is being picked up by the 'insane asylums' search:
ReplyDeletehttp://sherifenley.blogspot.com/2009/04/san-joaquin-county-local-history-sack.html
What a hysterical collection of search terms. But somehow appropriate in combination.... I'll have to give Google Analytics a try.
ReplyDeleteThank you John! I didn't know you read my blog, what a pleasant surprise. I already read your blog Tuesday thru Sunday and as soon as I learn to spell that word that means "to transcribe", I'll read your blog on Mondays as well!
ReplyDeleteMotha Superior,
ReplyDeleteAnd a-one, and a-two...yes, it's all my fault!
Consider yourself lucky. When I did a similar post, What Are They Looking For?, one of my common search terms was (and still is) "ugly women". I don't know what they were thinking, but wait until I tell the nuns with guns because that's just so RUDE!
Sista Donna
Had to try it, but not sure I installed right. It says to wait 24 hours. I'm excited. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteKB
Had to try it. Waiting for results, they say up to 24 hours, but I'm not sure I installed it correctly. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteHere are some of the bizarre ones that have been used on my blog:
ReplyDelete1. Sears catalog tapeworm
2. I'm honored
3. Joe dad
4. Catfish mafia Detroit
Lots of heavy drinkers out there ;-)
Sheri,
ReplyDeleteGreat post! My search terms weren't as colorful as yours, but there's one I've been getting a lot for the last couple of years..."Am I Irish" (the 3rd ranked term bringing people to my blog). Are people really thinking Google (or my blog) will tell them if they are Irish or not?
Tim
I am afraid that all the search terms I get are a fit with my blog. The only search term "Bruce Ivan" sort of makes sense since I have written about my uncle Bruce Ivan Hillman. I really need to find out who this Bruce Ivan is?
ReplyDeleteYou mentioned Barbara Eden in you MyHeritage Celebrity Look-a-Like post. Also, Google will use image file names and alt tags when indexing your site. That's why it's important to name you image files with descriptive names, so they can be found by other searchers.
ReplyDeleteMy best ones are:
1. i dream of my grandmother and great grandmother summary (5 searches - interesting dreams?)
2. delete my heritage (that would be something, right?)
3. great stories about ponies (what?)
4. i dream of a city called glory
5. yeltsy funny moments
There are a lot more! Thanks for making me look ;-)
You mentioned Barbara Eden in you MyHeritage Celebrity Look-a-Like post. Also, Google will use image file names and alt tags when indexing your site. That's why it's important to name you image files with descriptive names, so they can be found by other searchers.
ReplyDeleteMy best ones are:
1. i dream of my grandmother and great grandmother summary (5 searches - interesting dreams?)
2. delete my heritage (that would be something, right?)
3. great stories about ponies (what?)
4. i dream of a city called glory
5. yeltsy funny moments
There are a lot more! Thanks for making me look ;-)
Kathleen - Be sure to let us all know what people are searching for when they land on your blog.
ReplyDeleteGreta - I wish that I knew how to use all the features. Lately I have not had the patience to just sit down and learn all about it.
Sista Donna - You is a pretty girl - otherwise I would not be rooming with you at NGS!
Jasia - Hey don't be talking about the catfish mafia to loudly. They don't take "Get Out of Hell Free" cards.
Tim - Hey - that would be a specialized niche for you - Telling people whether they are irish or not. I can just see the dough rolling in!
Petman - Bruce Ivan Let us know if you find the real Bruce Ivan!
Abba-Dad - "great stories about ponies?" Between you and my genea-sistas and Thomas we can take this show on the road and make a fortune!
I'm now tempted to do a Google search for "catfish mafia". Randy ought to do a SNGF challenge where we all take our top ten or twenty search terms and write a short story including them all. LOL
ReplyDeleteOh Sheri, you are such a tech genius. Every time I try one of your amazing applications or gadgets or whatever they're called, my computer freezes up (it's only a year old!!!). Reading the other comments, I guess I'll forgo the agony of figuring out how to get there and what bizarre things I might encounter like polka, tapeworm, and catfish. Camel does it for me.
ReplyDelete