Why do people come here?


I looked at the top 60 of 365 search strings people type into search engines when they come to my site.  These represent 34.14%  of the search terms people type to get here. 

It seems that most people come here looking for:

  • Relient K ( 7.4%)
  • Gnewsense ( 5.2%)
  • Fedora 8 ( 4.71%)

The best thing is that ever since I switched from blog posts with URLs that look like http://server.ericsbinaryworld.com/p?923 to http://server.ericsbinaryworld.com/year/month/day/posttitle/ the search engines have been bringing more and more relevant searches over to my server.  Before they were way off topic due to the fact that the search engines were not picking up on my topics efficiently enough.  As you know, I love having more people come because it means more readers and I don’t feel like I’m typing for no reason.  Also, especially when it comes to Linux issues, I’d like to think that my posts can help others who are going through the same situations.  When it comes to the specific search terms that people are coming over for when it comes to Fedora 8, it’s obvious they are coming with questions I provide the answers to.  Here are some examples:

  • fedora 8 upgrade
  • fedora 8 upgrade slow
  • fedora 8 upgrade stuck
  • fedora 8 upgrade checking for dependencies
  • fedora 8 upgrade dependencies


And this is something I dealt with here, here, here, here, and here.  I then provided the final solution along with some extra words

So, I would advise anyone with the choice, to have those nice readable URLs.  Not only are they better for the users, but also for the search engines!

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5 responses to “Why do people come here?”

  1. But you’re at 48,563 spam comments blocked, so *somebody* must love you! (-:P

    Seriously, social bookmark sites like Digg and Reddit don’t hold it against you if you submit a link to your own site once in a while, as long as it’s of good general interest. Also there’s Free Software Daily, which is like the “Digg for FOSS”. kinda.

    Also, does your profile on Flickr link to your blog, and vice versa? Everywhere I go online, I look for opportunities to make it easier for traffic to flow. Even my user-agent string advertises my site!

    These days, I don’t have to worry about traffic, it just happens. But a little self-promotion breaks you past that hump, then there’s enough links and readers out there that it’s self-sustaining.

    Another thing that helped me is casting a wider net. Once you have good search traffic coming in, blogging a niche subject brings you much more traffic than a popular subject. Look how many Google hits pop up for “Ubuntu” or “Fedora”. Now look how many pop up for… oh, say.. Pilot Linux, Mythbuntu, or NuxOne.

    I’ve written maybe four posts that mention Nethack, yet I get search hits for it every single week.

  2. Yeah, I see what you mean. As I said, I think the new canonical names are helping a bit. I even noticed a story about SEO (Search Engine Optimization ) for those who don’t know. I’m not into it, but it said that WordPress’ work on canonical names helps drive more relevant traffic.

    As far as a link in – I have one pretty much everywhere. q:o)

  3. Just so that it’s been said, there’s “black hat” SEO and “white hat” SEO. I advise only non-evil techniques.

    But, considering I can hardly seem to open my mouth without stirring up a flame war, perhaps my advice isn’t the best to follow…

  4. I totally know what you’re talking about. I have some acquaintances at work that do borderline blackhat SEO to get google ads. I’m against doing sleazy stuff. I don’t want people to come here thinking they’re going to read about X only to read some fluff or to not have topic X at all. I think it’s mean and a violation of trust. (Also, it can get you into trouble with Google)

    I just want lots of people to come so that I know others are seeing what I write, no other reason. But at least you come… and my brother, although he never comments. (Also my wife, but she’s not interested in half of what I write here – she’s not so much of a techie)