The Hidden (yet interesting) Side of Blogging

Writing and reading blogs is always fun, however the hidden side of blogging can be equally interesting and perhaps at times intriguing. The hidden side, as I call it, are the statistics and other information that bloggers can read behind the scenes.

I’ve noticed the more and more I blog the more I watch the “Stats” page. When I first started blogging I was only really interested in how many visitors and views my blog received each day. Once my two older sons started watching my stats it became all about “Views by Country”; they loved watching the map of the world fill up as visitors found the blog, and there was always excitement when there was a view from a tiny country on the other side of the globe.

I then discovered it was quite interesting to watch the section titled “Top Posts & Pages”. This became quite interesting as I could see the blog posts that were being read, the hot topics. Some posts are very popular and are still read months later while others are more just a post for the moment. Strangely I have discovered readers are more likely to push the “like” button on a frivolous post, yet exponentially more people read meatier posts about things like bad developments, problems with math in the Alberta education system and city hall not enforcing their by-laws. In a way it makes sense because honestly, how can anyone “like” habitat being destroyed or paying for an education system where children aren’t taught.

My most recent obsession has been watching the “Search Term Engines”, which shows the words and phrases people have used which eventually led them to my blog. This is a truly fascinating read and gives you amazing insight as to what the searchers are looking for. There are of course a lot of very boring terms, but then there are the ones that really stand out. For instance I have seen a huge number of searches regarding RV parking by-laws with the City of Red Deer……..to those searching I wish them “good luck”, you know the city isn’t going to enforce them, they are too busy holding”Red Deer is Ready” rallies and wanting to build yet another swimming pool. Another search that comes up all the time is “east pit mine”; this is a little recreation area west of Edmonton where you can walk and fish. Sometimes you find out about things by accident through the search terms, in this case it was an incident that happened at my son’s high school; that was an eye opening experience as to the seriousness of some searches. Some search terms just make you feel bad like the one that came up this winter reading “frozen septic system cabin lake isle”……those poor people.

I have also seen my name come up in search terms, which is quite normal as I have a lot of customers that remember me more by name than the business name. Today, however, I read the most interesting and specific search term I have seen. The search term read “debra hunter on pender island bc does she like living there”. Pretty interesting. The search term is so specific, and obviously not from a blogger or they would have gone to “about” or the “gravatar” and just gone to my Pender Island blog. Really interesting.

So I have decided, in this post to answer the question., but first, a little background to get everyone up to speed.  We are a little nomadic. Jokingly years ago my husband said “Wouldn’t it be great to have shacks all over the place?”, and some how this idea stuck. We have three places, “home, home” as our youngest calls it, which is in Red Deer (Alberta, Canada), the cabin which is in Lac Ste. Anne County (Alberta), and “Pender home” which is on Pender Island (BC, Canada). The search inquiry is about us living on Pender.

The answer to “debra hunter on pender island bc does she like living there” is YES. It is a quiet island, with pristine beaches and lots of hiking. It has a great climate which allows for hiking and kayaking even in winter. The people at the hardware store, grocery store and sushi restaurant couldn’t be nicer…..plus the recycle depot is amazing. We do like living there……well as long as they keep nasty development at bay……but that seems to be the threat everywhere. Thanks to the search term I could answer the question.

I’ll also pass on the link to my blog about Pender Island; it is www.islandhomeblog.wordpress.com . Check it out, it is like a virtual walk on a beach (literally).

It will be interesting to see what search terms will pop up tomorrow, hopefully something intriguing and not another “RV parking by-laws Red Deer”.