Monday, April 11, 2011

This blog is not about sweaters, but it is a little about poop.

Not a sweater blog,
but not an anti-dude blog either.
And that title, friends, is for all the people who accidentally hit on my blog when googling (or yahooing, binging, etc.) the search term "cardigan sweaters".    :^)

Not that anyone has ever done that, since my blog stats don't indicate anyone has actually ever found me using keywords like "cardigan sweater" or "knitting". Well, except for the one person who was looking for the "cardigan chronicles blog," which is actually a blog about sweaters (but that could've been news to the person searching, since they went ahead and clicked into my obviously-not-about-sweaters blog).

Hey, do you like the photo?

Note: Any men reading this (ahem, Ron) can feel free to abstain from answering that question...or not (I repeat, not for you, Ron).

I was originally going to use a frumpy cardigan on a mannequin photo, but decided I like this photo better. It's much more colorful.

Did anyone happen to notice that yesterday was my 100th post? No?

Yeah, I waited until today to say anything because I was actually conducting an experiment to see if anyone would notice. That's okay; I didn't notice either (not true), and my feelings are not hurt (that's true). I was just waiting to use my 100th post as an excuse to write this incredibly random, long-winded, overly sarcastic post about sweaters and (soon-to-be-about) poop, and well, Sunday was not a good day for me to do that.

So the handful of people who've been following my blog since the beginning might remember (and wish they didn't) a post I did about deer poop and the safety of deer in my yard. Did you know that corgis require a mystery nutrient contained in deer poop in order to survive? (By the way, I'm looking for investors in my new venture to bottle and sell the deer poop in my yard as a corgi dietary supplement. There's enough of a supply to keep every corgi in Virginia, USA in good health.) :)

Um yeah, so that wasn't one of my better posts. (More on that later.)

Back to search keywords.

Have you ever looked at the different keywords your readers are using to find your blog? All the "experts" will tell you that if you want to help people find your blog, you need to make it easy for search engines (like Google) to find you. And so in order to do that, even though it might seem obvious, you should really know what kind of readers you want to attract.  As for me, I'd like to attract corgi owners (both breeds really), dog and cat owners, people who enjoy reading about dogs and cats...and complete nonsense. If I get a stray person who likes to read about sweaters, or ice cream, or even eating ice cream while wearing a sweater, well, that's just the cherry on top (pun intended).

So as I've obviously been known to do now and then, I looked at the search keywords in my stats a few weeks ago and amongst the expected "chronicles of cardigan," "jon farleigh and dewi cardigan" and numerous variations wherein, for some reason this one seemed a little peculiar:

"deer dung soup"

And to be clear that this was not some sort of Google stat FAIL, I went ahead and googled it myself (as if the folks at Google don't already think my search history is bizarre), and whatdaya know? There's my little blog (on like page 13). WTFudge?

Yes, I'd blogged about deer and poop in the same post (see above), but I never once used the word "dung," (but, come to think of it, I did do a post about soup - but NOT dung soup)!!!!  I repeat: WTFudge?!

So do I consider it a cherry on top that I got a reader who might have been looking for recipes for DEER DUNG SOUP?  Um, well, I dunno?! Would you??

Has anyone ever found your blog using an unconventional search keyword?


(Know what? Ironically, with this post I have just further optimized search engines to find my blog using the search keywords "sweater" and "dung." Neat.)

20 comments:

  1. One time, Dina (Reddog Mom), Dawn (Days at Daybreake) and I were all posting about our three girls who are littermates and what girl they would be in your average highschool. I think Grace was the cheerleader, Moira was the mean girl, and Scout was the smart girl who played dumb to get the guys - or something like that. Anyhow, I named the post "Honey's High School Girls" (Honey is their mom's name.) Anyhow - use your imagination to the traffic that brought to my blog.

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  2. Nick's blog traffic is surprisingly tame - most of the traffic either comes over from Facebook or from one of the blogs like Grandma Carolyn, Grandma Penni, or Grandma Janet.

    Builder Mama, however, always provides entertainment. I get a lot of hits for things like "staph infection" or "chronic sinusitis" thanks to all of Monkey's prior health issues. But I also get some really interesting hits that make zero sense. One last week involved senior citizens, group s-e-x, and I can't even put the search here because you will be deluged with people looking for geriatric nookie. Ew.

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  3. Well, isn't this a fun topic!!

    @ Janet and Liz - Imagine the disappointment for those readers. Well, Liz, I dunno, Builder Mama is secretly my guilty pleasure. And I might have found it using a not-so-savory keyword. not)

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  4. Haha, loved this post!

    Most of my search words are lame: Cheese Sticks, Ladybugs with Big Butts, People Who Look Like Megan Fox...

    ...and there ya go, now I'm passing these along to your blog.

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  5. BOL! What a funny post. Deer Dung Soup? YIKES!!!

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  6. I must write pretty boring posts because my Search Keywords were just the following. Nothing racy or even amusing.....

    tail of two cardis 439
    middleburg christmas parade 19
    middleburg christmas parade 2010 10
    cardiganshirecorgis.blogspot.com 5
    herecame 3
    two cardis middleburg parade 3
    "english coonhound for adoption" 2
    corgi 2009 middleburg parade 2
    Corgi ear taping 2
    funniest sheep picture ever

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  7. I can answer the question about why your blog ended up associated w/dung when you never used the word (ok, this is the ONE thing I learned from my unwanted job in ecommerce). Google has a common synonym dictionary as well. Dung is a synonym for poop - hence, deer dung. I have NO IDEA where deer dung soup came from though :)

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  8. I LOVE looking at where our traffic came from. Here's one of my favorites:

    "excited about croutons"

    We like croutons and all...but excited about them?

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  9. Indeed, this is a fun topic! Here are a few keywords that will bring you to banjoandmillie.com (some expected, and some not so much):

    millie and the banjo (apparently, there is a band)
    beat boxing beagle
    banjo parts supply
    little miss pee
    millie munchkin
    potty dance

    and my personal favorite:
    when can you have sex after umbilical hernia surgery

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  10. lol!!! good post, I've never tried it, I don't mean "deer dung soup"!!!
    I'll have ago, but I get the funny feeling it will be Saturday Steps!!!
    See Yea George xxx

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  11. Am I the only guy who reads your blog?

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  12. That is hilarious! I do get a lot of random ones:

    "why puppies have to wear the cone of shame" was one that made me giggle.

    Someone also found me searching "blogspot is for bear" - I'm not sure what they were trying to find! Other random ones include "puppy quotes I found my lost balls" and "flying leonbergers." :)

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  13. Wow! I love all the keywords y'all put in!

    @Shanimal - Big-butted ladybugs? BTW, thanks for passing me the "big butt" baton. Nice.

    @Taryn - You saying dear dung soup is exciting? My next most exciting is "ice cream pictures." Obviously anyone who needs to find you, already knows how to get there. :)

    @RDM - Thanks for the info. How very google-ish of them to have synonym lists. Clearly, there's not too much on the interwebs about deer dung soup, until now since it's all over this post.

    @Lori, mom of Gus - Excited about croutons? I think I'd like to meet that person. ;)

    @Banjo and Millie - Can Banjo beat box? Do you know how long one has to wait after umbilical hernia surgery? Just checkin'. :) Must be that person found your blog more interesting than finding the answer.

    @George's Typist - Glad to know deer dung soup isn't regular fare in Great Britain. I will anxiously wait for your "ago" maybe on Saturday.

    @Ron - The Hubby reads it. Aside from him, you're the only guy who I know by name. Oh wait, I think Garrett at Ebonwald might look at me once in a while. If that's true, then the comment was for him, too. ;)

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  14. @Pup Fan - "Puppy quotes I found my lost balls" - I bet that person found a lot more about lost balls than your blog. :) Flying leonbergers? Do they fly? Those are some weird searches.

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  15. Happy 100th Post! And many more to come!
    Sure is interesting to know what people look for, right?
    Kisses and hugs
    Lorenza

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  16. YES! and i've been collecting those keywords to make a post. am i too late now? poo :( i've had some crazy ones though i don't think i can beat deer dung soup.

    i love dogblogs that talk about poop and other anal stuff. this IS a dogblog after all, and NOT a blog about argyle cardis. [a poopy story might enliven that kind of blog too.]

    anyway, I LOVE this post. it makes me feel 100% better about my own shitty and risque ones :) keep up the good work!

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  17. i just read Banjo and Millie's comment. I think they might have everyone else beat. Even YOU!

    "when can you have sex after umbilical hernia surgery'...???? come on...! that deserves a medal.

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  18. Georgia's Typist - NO, bring on the keyword post! I'm SURE you can make it just as good (or better) than some dung soup.

    As for Banjo and Millie - Yes (except for Builder Mama who mentioned that she had one about geriatric "nookie" that was too colorful to post), her's is pretty comical. Especially since she isn't prone to post about shitty, risque stuff like you and I.

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  19. To all: For the record, today, someone found The Chronicles of Cardigan using "fat guy in a sweater." Sweet!!

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