Thursday 17 May 2012

What leads people to your blog?

My blog, specifically?

I was a bit shocked to look at my all time statistics and find out a post with no comments made it to the top ten posts. It must be the magic word "giveaway". I wonder, would it work the same way if I wrote, say, "dead giveaway"? Because that's what the title of that post is, in relation to its "popularity".
The most viewed posts are not necessarily those with the most comments. Comments come from regular readers, or readers with a deep interest; post hits come mostly from people who are just skimming the internet.

But "popularity" of posts is not what I'm really interested in. The various ways people stream to my blog on an everyday basis are much more fun to watch.

Here are some of my favourite search keywords from my statistics (also known as "random facts about myself and the users of internet"):


"grizzly king," - Yes, including the coma. It's good to know I'm not the only one who occasionally adds unwanted characters into her searches.

"nape crochet" - OK, so this is more of the "whatever were they thinking?" kind. And whatever was Google/whatever-else-searching-engine-they-used - whatever was that "thinking" that my blog was hit 7 times with this search?

"Gambrinus statue" - I think this pleases my secret sense of absurdity. With an ecclectic blog like mine, you can hit a Dress Diaries while searching for a highly hypothetical god of beer (or mythical king). Especially funny with a person who much prefers her Riesling over her Gambrinus. (I actually don't recall ever having that. And the first beer I ever tasted was actually a Švyturys. Take that, stereotypers.)


"my braid long hair art" - This holds promises. How do I get my braid long? How do I create long hair art? What on earth am I supposed to imagine under "hair art"?!

"who is the most famous czech artist" - "Some people think that Google answers questions," my father said. This is a proof that no, it does not. Not in a straightaway manner, anyway, more like a roundabout way.

Father actually made that comment about this:
"what are the name of the clothes that church women cover their legs when they wear a dress to church" - 3 hits! I don't know about other "church women", but I usually wear over the knee stockings... Sometimes tights. In summer, when it's hot, and when I am most likely to wear a dress or a skirt, I don't cover my legs. And yes, on Sundays I go to church dressed like that. There, you perpetrator(s) of those three hits. You have your answer.


Then there are those very well-behaved hits. Like "edwardian dress" - that's a perennial favourite; people who like Edwardian dresses keep hitting the blog of a person who generally does not; also proven by the fact my most popular post is one about an Edwardian dress. Another perennial favourite is "civil wedding dress" - the Grace Kelly book is to blame; again, a very popular post. And "kacabajka", which is something I've encountered myself: when I tried to find out more about this type of jacket online, I only found out I can't because the only relevant hits are from my own blog. (Although things have changed a bit since my last try and now Czech Google also gives me results concerned with folk costume. But the image search still gives you my blog on the first page.)

And then there's "marmota-b blogspot". That's encouraging. May I suggest simply typing that into the command line of your browser, with a dot where the break is right now, instead of googling it? That's what that little space above in your browser is for, you know?


Now you know I'm using Firefox (for blogging, that is) and that I read Advanced Style. Ah, the great reveal!

Wait a minute, I wrote "some of my favourite keywords" up there, didn't I? That's not true. My favourites are really searches such as these: "vintage wooden bead red necklace"; "bobbin lace flower", "crochet hooks made of bone". Those are hits coming from creative people, fellow crafters, or fellow people interested in crafts (which is not the same thing, although I guess most of the time they overlap). They probably do not lead to comments, or followers, or anything like that, but they give me a hope that my blog does give back to the crafting community, in some small way.

Although it seems most everyday hits come from blogs that link up to me, one way or another - so, thank you very much! I hope you're getting some hits from me, too, if I have you linked up. (And sorry if I don't -.I try to keep that space not too cluttered, so an ommission does not mean that I deem your blog unworthy; I just probably discovered it too late, or kinda forgot about it momentarily at the right time.)

If you have a blog, do you ever look at the statistics? What was your funniest search hit? Any surprises in the popular posts department?

18 comments:

  1. OH man, this is such an interesting topic! Right now my top posts are "You Shall Not Pass" (which was about SOPA). But the most bizarre word search that hit my blog was "blow dry pussy". Um... what?

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    1. Blow dry pussy? Oh, poor pussy! They hate the sound of these appliances. :-)

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  2. I just looked at mine, and the top search keyword was "steve urkel costume". I don't think I've ever talked about Steve Urkel on my blog!

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    1. Who's Steve Urkel? ;-) (Don't bother answering, I can look him up if I want. It's just that, yes, sometimes it's really bizarre.)

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  3. i love looking at those stats (um, katza, whaaaa??)

    today my top is "at work in her slip". while that would make things a lot easier, i can't, as the swap i'm living in comes with gardeners who appear at any time of the day.

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  4. I don't always get to comment but I do enjoy your blog. I've never checked my statistics. I should try, at least for a good laugh.

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    1. Very often it's boring, but there's a goof laugh or puzzle every now and then!

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  5. I've had a fair share of strange keyterms. :)

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  6. "Heidi klum in diapers" and "best hem for chubby knees". I really worry about whomever wants that first one!

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  7. Goodness, I don't have such strange ones as some do, I guess! My most looked-at posts are all connected to the memes I join up with - Leila's on Thursdays and Ginny's yarnalong on Wednesdays.

    I am always checking my statistics - it's fascinating. But the most common search is just "searching for a balance" - and, I don't know if the searcher is searching for a balance in their life, or if they're searching for my blog by name! Oh, well. My macaroni salad recipe is also popular. Nothing too strange, really. But you ladies have some doozies!

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    1. Some strange ones are easy to explain, e.g. when I realise the individual words do appear on my blog - only not together. Perhaps you just don't have any weird words on your blog. ;-)

      Others are simply puzzling.

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  8. Oh..my.. I quite enjoyed this post and had a few laughs, because I've encountered the same situations. I always check up on statistics (having an e-business one simply has to)and had quite curious key/search words appear. Can't remember any particular ones right now but there have been such. Usually I get pretty 'normal' searches regarding that mostly, mine is a crochet oriented blog so all time hits include: crochet headbands, crochet necklace tutorial, crochet flowers and variations of the name of my blog.
    I might do a post like this one too. Thank you for the wonderful idea !!

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    1. Oh, I get normal ones all the time. Which makes these treasures all the more funny!

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  9. It's so interesting to look at your statistics isn't it? My favourites from mine are 'how to draw a kestrel step by step' and 'abandoned woods horror' - and I really have no idea how I got a hit for the second one!

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    1. Mysteries of the internet! I like the kestrel one. For the record, kestrels are probably my favourite birds, and I learned how to draw one (in flight, silhouette-like) quite early in my life.

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  10. It's interesting to see keyword statistics, and I find my most popular posts are those with the fewest comments as well. Nice blog, I actually just found it, searching for 'dress diaries' if you're wondering how!

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