I read an article on Death by Blogging at Sarita's blog yesterday. I knew blogs were popular, but I had no idea people were making a living, well, blogging. That just boggles my mind. Anyway, it got me thinking about blogs and how people find them.
I use google a lot. I've found some great sites that I wouldn't have normally discovered if I hadn't followed links. I decided to see check how people ended up here. I went to my sitemeter account and checked the search terms used by the last 100 visitors to my blog. (That's all I can track.) Here they are:
Melissa McClone (2)
Ben Barnes smoking
Annelise Robey Jane Rotrosen Agency
Mothers Addicted to Irish Dance
Filthy Fifty Workouts (2)
Melissa 7
Clubsport Flashpass
Harlequin Special Treat
Crossfit Michael
Crossfit Good for Climbers?
Disney Princess rain gear
"broken arms" blogspot family
Interesting. Only two people were looking for me. One was looking for my agent. The others, especially the Crossfiters were probably surprised when they ended up on a romance writers blog!
How did you find the blogs you read? Do you google and follow links?
And has everyone discovered Google Reader? As usual with anything technology related, I was late to the party, but Marianne and Dru explained how it worked and I love it! So much so I want to add more blogs to it. Any suggestions?
18 comments:
A lot of people find my blog through Dogs. Though the Rita's and GH netted a lot hits. Funny + Parenting leads the pack, though. Maybe I should write more posts like that....
Hm, I don't know much about google reader - I know there were a lot of legal/IP issues about it, but I don't think that's what you're talking about :P.
As to how I found your blog, it was through your webpage. :X Which I don't know how I found - a link from somewhere else I'm sure. I find a lot of blogs from author webpages, which I do google. Or, group blogs. And of course, the ever lovely draw of contests.
I got a lot of hits from my Rita post, too, Amy, but my tracker only keeps the last 100 visitors which gives me a short time frame on my blog. I haven't paid to get more since I'm not really sure I'd use all the functions. And to be honest, even if just a couple people came each day, I'd still blog. I just enjoy it.
I think you might be thinking of Google books, limecello. Google reader just gives you an easy way to see if websites or blogs have been updated. It's awesome.
Thanks for letting me know how you found the blog! And yes, contests are a big thing. I'm trying to figure out what to give away starting in May. I won't get more books until I go to Nationals. I was thinking amazon.com gift certificates. Any thoughts?
Mostly, I follow links in other blogs I read! LOL... it's one of the reasons I try to provide hyperlinks whenever I talk about someone. I think I found you from Tori's blog. I have NO idea how I found her, but I think it was because she commented on my blog first, and I always try to visit people who visit me. I found Suzanne McMinn's blog from Tori, too.
Google Reader makes suggestions for other blogs based on what you already have in there, just look at the righthand corner.
It can be a serious time-suck though. Be warned!
And once again I posted with the wrong account. **sigh**
That was me, up above ^
Haha! I knew it was you, Marianne!
I've posted with the wrong name before when I was logged on with a different blogger name and had to go back and correct that.
Oh, I haven't really checked out all google reader has to offer so I'll look for that. Mainly, it's just cut down on the time I used to spend seeing if people had updated their blogs or not so I figure I can add a couple more. It's finding those to ad that will be the time waster ;)
I do a lot of goggle serches for authors sites. Sometimes I find blogs through newsletters and sometimes just serfing the internet. I can't really remember how I found your site, it could have been from another blog, I am not sure.
I love google reader and don't forget to hit refresh. I've found most of the blogs I read from other bloggers. I came to your blog from Brandy.
I click on links in other people's blog; when I discover a new author, I check their website and blog.
Too funny, Dru! I found Brandy on another blog I read.
Why do you need to refresh google reader? In case there are updates while you're reading??
And I'm a link clicker too! I've found some interesting things that way.
I'm pretty sure I found you through a link off of another site. But, you're now in my favorties and thats how I get here everyday. *G*
Oops, I forgot to put sitemeter back on my blog after I had Chris put the new template on.
How are you feeling today? Better I hope?
As for contests? I know I LOVED the book I won from you that was BY YOU. *G* (It's on my keeper shelf.....)
Have a good day!
Last month, the top five searches I had were:
dancing with the stars (14)
richard widmark (11)
big brown (6)
tori lennox (5)
priscilla presley (4)
So, a racehorse was more popular than I am, but I'm more popular than Priscilla Presley. *g*
I find blogs from author's sites and other blogs. Some are from word of mouth. I've only googled if I'm looking for a particular book or author that I've already heard something about. Sometimes a contest has brought me to a blog but I have to enjoy it to keep coming back :)
Yes, that is why I refresh, to catch updated blogs.
Can I just say what a complete idiot I am when it comes to computers. I was trying to buy something on line for my son's upcoming first communion and it said to do something with my cookies. Instead of going to preferences I ended up resetting Safari and losing all the websites I normally type in and all my saved log ins. How am I going to remember all of them? Yikes! I really should have waited until I felt better :(
Hi Melissa, I hope the antibiotics work and you get better soon.
I am very bad with computers, I know very little about everything to do with them! I signed up for a daily newsletter from Worldstart.com for it's computer tips and help. What's so funny is 80% of the help and tips I still don't understand or get. It's so frustrating and embarrassing! I heard of google reader just recently, I don't know anything about it of course.
I discover blogs from auther sites, if a author has one and I like them then I add them to my favorites so I can visit them whenever I'm online. I have found a few through other blogs and I found yours through the LASR website. If a author has a forum they use for communication with fans I don't bother, they are a bit confusing and I hate signing up to comment.
I discovered your blog from another author's blog. I use Yahoo and Google. I have never heard of google reader. I will have to check that out! Reading is my favorite hobby and going on blogs is getting to be one of my top hobbies! giggle! I am up to 35 favorite blogs that I visit all the time. If I get really busy like the last 2 weeks and I don't have that much time to go on them.
Michele L.
Only 2 people were actually searching for you... Wow... I know I was amoung them!
I usually follow the links from the blogs I like, and these I have found them with Google.
Definitely check out google reader Michele. It would make those 35 blogs much easier to read and see when they are updted.
Hmmm. It seems like posting on other people's blogs lead to readers of your own!
Nathalie - lots of people find me through my name, but that was about a day and a half of google searches only. That's all I can track (100 visitors) unless I want to pay for my sitemeter. Most people who came that day had no referral as to how they got there. There are some days when it's a lot of google searches. I must have had a hundred visitors the day after I wrote a blog post on the song Hey There Delilah. All were searching on the real Delilah!
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