As I’ve mentioned before, I like to check the Site Meter logs to see how many people have visited my blog (and my other web sites), what countries they’re from, and so on. One of the things I can see is what the referring sites are—that is, where someone clicked a link to get here. The vast majority of links to my blog—or at least those which are identifiable—are either from my regular web site or my writing course, or from search engines. It’s the search engine clicks that are interesting, because they show me what kinds of queries land people on my blog.
Lately, hands-down, the winner has been Daisy the Goose. I cannot believe how many people have searched for the Daisy the Flying Goose story and wound up at my blog. There has, in fact, been an upswing in visitors the last couple of weeks, and at least part of that is attributable to the goose. Another perennial search favorite is information about snakes, such as someone recently looking for “cool names for snakes.” Google searches for images of “girls wrestling” are pretty common. I wondered at first if they were people looking for mud wrestling or whatever, but then realized they were coming from search pages that actually showed the images of high school wrestling, so I’m guessing it really is mostly people genuinely interested in girls participating in the sport of folk wrestling. More than a few people come looking for articles on intelligent design or “will people steal my story ideas.”
Hardly anybody ever clicks through on the ads, by the way. After two years, I finally racked up enough earnings to get my first check for a hundred big ones. (I mistook the envelope the check was in for junk mail and nearly put it through the shredder.)
The blogosphere’s a funny place. But you already knew that, right?
substandardTim
i click on ads from time to time to try and lend some support. Perhaps the ads that show on your blog aren’t high paying ones. I have one blog that gets me a few pennies a click and one of my websites can get me over $2 a click.
Charlza
It’s taken me about a year and I’m about $7 from my first 100 Google check.
I was surprised by my number 1 search result for finding my website: beef jerky. I documented my beef jerky making process about 2 years ago and hands down, it’s what people want. It *really* surprised me.
Jeffrey A. Carver
Sometimes it’s puzzling the ads that appear; right now, for instance, I see a cluster all having to do with stopping fears and anxieties. Where did that come from?
Usually they’re writing or book related, and of course they’re not likely to pay much. I do feel a little funny when I see ads for outfits I suspect are vanity presses, and just hope nobody falls for them. Most of the clicks seem to happen on my regular web site, not my blog, for reasons I can’t even guess at.
Anyway, you’re doing better than I am, Charlza. 🙂 Maybe it’s those beef jerky afficionados!
substandardTim
I have a friend that pulls in over $400 a month from google ads. I’ve never understood how. His site designs definitely leave something to be desired but I guess plenty of content trumps design.
Kitty
Sometimes I wonder about my demographics- the suggested website ads want me to take a quiz to see if I’m gay, get sedated to go to the dentist, or phone hypnotherapy to overcome a fear of flying.
Which would you like- should I pretend I’m wondering if I’m gay or should I pretend I have a fear of flying or the dentist? 🙂
Todd Wheeler
Curious about these (don’t have them on my own blog). Does it involve using keywords for one’s web site?
On another track, do you all have concerns about the type of ads that appear to your visitors?
substandardTim
the ads show up mainly based on the content on your webpage. there is certainly potential for filthy ads showing up, or competitor ads depending on your site. you can filter out specific ads that you see on your site and dont want to see again. i had one site where i needed to block about 20 different ads but all of my other sites havent had that problem
Jeffrey A. Carver
What Tim said. Mostly, to be honest, I don’t even notice the ads. When I do, more often than not, they’re something to do with writing or publishing. We’re not supposed to click on the ads ourselves, so I don’t really know what most of them are. (Actually, we’re not even supposed to talk about them. So you didn’t hear any of this from me.)