Custom Search

It’s no secret, when we blog, many are searching for the information we’re providing, and as bloggers, we’ve learned it often the title that captures our readers attention.

Some have also found, by writing catchy titles we pick up more search engine traffic. In fact, many of us have written posts showing our readers which search strings bring visitors to our site, and it’s often the keywords in our titles that caught the attention of a search engine.

Reviewing how others are finding this site, I realized if I don’t use blogging terminology to attract other bloggers to this site,  some of those that are finding it via search engines  are here for the wrong reason.

In fact, many of those visitors aren’t even interested in what I have to say, and I’m guessing they’re quickly clicking off.

Why?

Because my titles are not relevant to the content of the blog post.

Today’s Lesson

Case in point.

Last year I wrote a hypothetical post and titled it, “Wife Sues Husbands Blog for Alienation Of Affection”. It was a silly post that shows how we can get so wrapped up in our blogs, our significant others may begin to feel neglected. So neglected, they begin to think “the blog” is like a mistress.

Nearly every day, I’ll get traffic coming to this site based on search strings such as “how much money for alienation of affection”, or “how to sue to alienation of affection”.

Those visitors who land there, do not want to read a post about blogging. I would venture a guess they’re looking for the site of an attorney who may be sharing this type of information.

As much as their visit adds to my statistics, in my eyes it doesn’t count. In fact, too many of these types of visits can skew our numbers as they are not actual “readers”.

On the How To Capitalize On Your Blog Statistics post, J.D. Meier said the same,

…Otherwise, readers land for the wrong reason and relevancy is queen, if content is king. That said, I still sacrifice a post title now and then if it’s stickier … I just accept that I’ll potentially get the wrong traffic.

That’s right.

By using what we think are catchy or clever titles, we can attract the “wrong” traffic.

If I’m blogging about blogging, having people land on this site who are looking for something totally different, doesn’t benefit me or the person who is doing the searching. In some ways, I am misleading the reader, plus confusing the search engines.

The more traffic I see coming in based on non blogging search strings, the more I realize I need to change the way I write.

What do you think?

Today’s Assignment

Are you attracting the wrong “readers”/traffic to your blog based on your titles?

If so, do you care?

How do you ensure those who land on your blog are the audience you’re writing for?

Raise you hand and share your thoughts.

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P.S. If I used Google AdSense on this site, the ads displayed could also be totally off base (but that’s a post for another day).

In the past I’ve opened my blog to blogging questions and have had great success with it.

Today, I’m doing the same, but this time I have two other bloggers joining me to help get your questions answered.

We have Tracy of I Hate My Message Board blog and guru/hostess from the newly opened “The TnT Bloggers Lounge” (forum) to answer any questions you may have regarding forums, how they work, how to join, the advantages of participating, etc.

Also joining us is John Hoff of WP Blog Host. He’s our resident guru on blog security, tutorials, web hosting, domain names, SEO (search engine optimization) and much more.

With this being open mic, there’s no need to stay on topic. Just jump in, ask a question, reply to another blogger’s comment or question, share your thoughts on blogging and/or any difficulties you may face or just leave a comment to say, “Hello”.

Keep in mind, Tracy, John and I all have responsibilities outside of our blogs, so if your question(s) doesn’t get answered right away, please be patient.

All comments and/or questions will be addressed.

Have Fun!

Keep it Clean!

And don’t forget to check the “subscribe to comments on this post” box so you can follow along.

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P.S. I just installed a threaded comment plugin. I’m hoping this will make replying directly to others easier. Under each comment you’ll see “reply”. If you want to reply to just that comment, just click on “reply”. If you want to add a new question or comment, just scroll to the bottom of the page and leave a comment like you normally would. If this plugin creates problems, let me know.

When I landed on this blog a few weeks ago, I assumed it was an older blog as the archives has posts dating back to 2006.

But when the author commented the other day and said she was celebrating her third month of blogging.

I was confused, so I made time to dig through her archives. It wasn’t until I read the post, Meet My New Baby Bloggling that I understood.

You see, she had been writing and posting privately, but hadn’t let the world see her work until the end of March (2009).

One of the first things that drew me into this blog was something I found in her header. There is a page titled, “Desiderata”. “Desiderata” has been a favorite poem of mine for many years. To this day, I have a copy of it on my bulletin board as a gentle reminder of how I’d like to live my life.

It starts out,

Go placidly amid the noise and haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence.
As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others,
even to the dull and ignorant; they too have their story.

To read the rest of it, just click on the link to her page.

The author of this blog weaves stories of her everyday life with lessons from which we all can benefit and identify with. In her post titled, Guest House she starts off by explaining how she was ill and hadn’t been able to post as often as she wanted. She then goes on to share,

Writing helps the soul breathe, but blogging is a different beast. It makes me feel like a madwoman most days, swinging between highs of connection, learning, new friendships and self expression and lows of paranoia, frustration, exhaustion and queasiness at the underlying hypocrisy and unmentioned stalking and plunder that goes on in the shadows.

Isn’t that a great description of how blogging can affect us? We all have our highs and lows, days of frustration and mixed emotions.

When I read her post titled, How to Harness the Power of Authenticity in Your Writing and Your Life, the last part hit home for me. She wrote,

Be brave, be vulnerable.

Be brave enough to explore the depths, to find a way out and shine a light for others to find theirs. Don’t be scared to live, to hold out your heart in both hands like a trembling bird and say “Here I am, love me as I am or leave me.” Be more afraid to die with your song still in you, to cheat your loved ones, your readers and the world of the greatest gift you have to give. You.

What a true statement. As much as us bloggers question what our readers want from us, this is the perfect reminder all they want is US. They want us to be authentic and to share our soul. By doing so, we open our hearts and show others our originality.

On that note, I’ll break the suspense and share the blog I’m showcasing this week.

Please join me in welcoming Janice of Sharing The Journey to the Blogging Without A Blog community.

Welcome Janice. It’s a pleasure to have you here and it is a joy to read your words.

Enjoy your reign!

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P.S. While there, don’t forget to download Janice’s free ebook, “Coaching Moments”

Google Analytics vs AwStats vs Webalizer statistics. Many bloggers and/or webmasters may ask, “Why is there a difference between these numbers?”

Add Woopra, WordPress Stats, Sitemeter or another statistical program to the mix, and it gets even more confusing.

Truth be told, anytime we begin to compare the results from more than one statistical program, there will always be a difference as each program uses different matrix for measuring the results.

Although many bloggers measure their success by how many visitors arrive on their site, more important is why, how and what we can do to capitalize on our statistical data.

Today’s Lesson

Let’s take a look at what is behind some of the numbers and questions we can ask ourselves.

“How are people finding our site?”

1. Are our visitors finding us via search engines? If so, was it a post where we used SEO (search engine optimization) i.e. keywords?
2. By referral? Are visitors coming to our site via another site? Did we leave a comment on another site and from there, we’re being found? Did another blogger link to us?
3. Did our numbers increase due to social media? Did a post get Stumbled? Dugg? If so, what did we do to make our content so value based others felt it was worth spreading the word? Can we duplicate it? Can we consistently produce great content?
4. Is my traffic coming from social networking sites, such as Twitter? Did we self promote a post and/or did others tweet or retweet it?
5. Or is our traffic arriving “direct”? Is the visitor typing in our URL? Is the name of my blog memorable?

Are my page views up or down? Which posts are the most popular? Why?

1. What is the first impression we’re making with our blog? Is it pleasing to the eye? Enticing a visitor to stay? Does it have flashing banner ads? Is the content easy to find? What are we showing above the fold?
2. Is my blog is easy to navigate? It’s a known fact, if a blog is hard to navigate and other posts or pages aren’t easily found by the visitor, they’ll leave. We need to give them more than one choice. Remember, we’re often only as good as our current post.
3. How new is my blog? Brand new blogs usually take time to get found. It’s up to us to develop our online presence via commenting or using social networking sites to get the word out.
4. Have we increased or decreased our posting schedule? Obviously, even our regular visitors aren’t going to be revisiting us if we aren’t producing new content. A change in our publishing schedule is often reflected in our numbers.
5. Have we increased or reduced the amount of time we visit other blogs? Spend on Twitter? Are we getting our name “out there”? Again, how much time we spend in blogosphere can affect our stats.
6. Do our post titles sound intriguing or boring? Our titles can either entice others to click through, or not
7. Are we using SEO? Although many of us don’t want to change the way we write, occasionally using search engine optimization techniques and/or plugins will help to drive traffic to our blogs. Should we consider using SEO techniques more often?
8. How do we differentiate ourselves from other bloggers who write in the same niche? If we’re using the same theme, are we making it “look” different? Is our spin on the topic original or does it appear to be canned content? Re-massaged material? How are we showing our originality?

Although visitor counts will tell us whether our blog is growing, or not, it’s the other data that is shared in our statistics that reveals the most.

Today’s Assignment

If, or when you look at your stats, do you find them confusing?

Are you capitalizing on the benefits statistics are offering, If so, how?

Which statistical program is your favorite?

Raise you hand and share your thoughts.

.

P.S. The detailed explanation of how statistics are calculated is best left to those who write the programs. Listed below are several links to Google Analytics, AwStats and Webalizer. If in doubt, check your favorite statistical program and read which matrix they use.

Google Analytics IQ Lessons
Simpletons Guide to Web Server Analysis
Webalizer FAQ page
Webalizer README page
AwStats
Awstats FAQs
(From AwStats) FAQ-COM250 : Different Results Than Other Analyzer

What a wonderful surprise I have for you today. Our substitute teacher (guest writer) is none other than the famous singer, song writer, Ms. Jannie Funster.

You all know her as the bra flinging blogger from Jannie Funster.com who will write about anything she sees, and maybe even turn it into a song.

For her lesson, Jannie provided me with a photo of herself as she studies more about blogging. Isn’t she cute?

Please take your seats and have a listen as this won’t be an ordinary lesson.

Hello Ms. Funster.

Welcome to the Blogging Without A Blog classroom.

Hello Class,

It’s wonderful to be here.

Let’s do something a little different today.

Let’s shake it up.

Since I love music so much, I’ve posted the words to my lesson on the chalkboard, so you can sing along with me.

Barbara, can we have the music. please?

Ready?

Let’s go!

Today’s Lesson

Yes, I’m a blogging girl
takin’ round the world
Surfing every day
in the Internet way.

For me a schedule
is good - like vegetables.
So how about you?
Is it something you do?

To get your blogging done
are you following one
– a schedule, I mean
to keep it clean and lean?

Should you plan your posts,
so you can make the most
of your blogging time
with your peeps so fine?

Or do you let it fly
with your gals and guys
with not even a care
of when you’re posting there?

Today’s Assignment

Are you planning your posts
to make your time the most,
or do you let it slide,
or do you you let them ride?

Raise your hand and speak.
Come on now don’t be meek.
Wanna hear what you say
What is your blogging way?
What is your blogging way?