Anyone who has been blogging even for a brief time will tell you that some of the search terms used to arrive at one’s blog can, to say the least, be rather… well, odd. I monitor mine constantly in order to ensure people finding my site are, largely, getting what they want from it. So when I see the phrase “semiautobiographical” in my search engine term list, or “Kafka and the doll”, for example, I get a nice warm fuzzy feeling knowing that I have helped someone along their way with, perhaps, that vital piece of information they may have needed.
Today, however, I was a little surprised to see among my search engine terms the phrase — or, rather, the question — “What is the best way to blow up a car?” I looked at it, nestled between “deal or no deal June 11″ and “current affairs in biology”, and thought, That’s interesting. And it was. There’s no disputing that. So interesting, in fact, that my highly creative imagination started working overtime and I found myself dictating the same question into Google — knowing that the question would not have been answered on my blog, but fairly sure that there would be many, many answers to it out there.
And, sure enough, there were a few! Being an extremely responsible blogger, however, I’m not going to post any links to what I found. Suffice to say, I can now break into, hotwire and blow up a car.
In theory, at least. I mean, me blowing up a car…? The very idea. You just know something’d go wrong… right?
Then you look at the automatically generated posts, Gary – now that is quite funny! LOL
I always look at that “search terms” list and laugh…it honestly never occurred to me to look at it from the perspective of a searcher, and wondering if they are getting what they want from my blog.
Sorry to give such a serious comment on such a lighthearted post, but you’ve really got me thinking!
P.S. Then again, I am quite proud that my blog is apparently the “go to” place on the net lately for information about not only actor Tadanobu Asano, but King Henry VIII’s Royal Arsewiper (i.e. “Groom of the Stool”) as well!
Ha ha that’s great. One of the weirdest ones I’ve gotten was Rucci Sucks…… don’t know what they were looking for lol. Usually I get a lot of searches for my name actually, so I guess that is good.
Hi Gary,
In my other blog, I had searches for ‘ways to drown’ and ‘how to drown someone’. All very spooky.
Will: That first one is actually mine — the post that generated the hits in the first place. It’s about the inflatable car, if you remember. The one that you can drive off cliffs?
The second one took me to a gadget programme! Bizarre.
jimsmuse: Don’t apologise. I’m always happy when I’ve managed to get someone thinking. In the world in which we live, that can be quite an achievement
Groom of the Stool! Please tell me that’s a real title
Damian: No, it’s probably best that we don’t know what they were looking for LOL. Reminds me of a movie I once saw…
I get a lot of searches on my name, too. I find it a little unnerving, at times, not knowing who they are.
kallioppe: Nice! Let’s just hope it was a crime writer researching their next novel! (Now that I think about it, I’ve actually performed some pretty bizarre searches in the name of research myself.)
http://jimsmuse.wordpress.com/2008/04/12/groom-of-the-stool/
You can see the link above for more information about Groom of the Stool — and yes indeed it was real (and at the time very venerable) title. You can consult Wikipedia for more detailed information, but I assure you my blog post is a lot more entertaining.
P.S. You never heard of the title? Maybe you slept through that lesson in British history class?
It does a vaguely ring a bell, Carrie but, yes, I had a horrible history teacher way back and I never paid the slightest bit of attention! He never brought the subject alive for me and, today, it’s still not something I find myself drawn towards. British history in general — and the Royal Stool in particular!