How does the Google search engine work? What causes information that you post to show in the first page of Google results? There are plenty of people on-line who claim to understand the Google algorithm and are willing to sell you there services for something called Search Engine Optimization, but for most of us, Google is a bit of a mystery.
When I do a daily blog posting, I expect that most of my views for that day will be from that posting, primarily from subscribers to my blog, or maybe for postings from the previous few days. Over the past ten years, I have learned that other viewers may be drawn to my site as a result of searches using Google or other search engines. In 2023, for example, 34 percent (14,473) of my 43,661 total views came from Google searches.
In the last couple of months, however, I have noticed a rise in daily views that seems to be driven largely by an increase in Google searches. I have a modest goal for my blog of about 120 daily views and in May and June the daily views have averaged over 200. I’d like to think that my blog postings have been better than average recently, but the numbers don’t bear that out.
So far this month, 59 percent of my 4,074 views came from Google searches, including 562 views of a 2013 posting called Fuzzy White Caterpillar and 217 views of a 2019 posting called Groundhog in a tree. In the case of the latter posting, when I do a Google search of “Groundhog in a tree,” my posting shows up as the first result. Yikes!
I really don’t care that much about the number of views that my blog gets, but my analytic mind is fascinated by the data. As I have noted repeatedly in the past, I use the words and images in my blog postings to share a bit of the world as I experience it, showcasing with a sense of wonder and curiosity the amazing world in which we live, as filtered through my eyes and through my brain.
In case you are curious, this white water lily was one of several that I encountered during a recent visit to Green Spring Gardens. Somehow this simple image conveys a sense of the peace and serenity that I felt as I captured the image. My hope is that we can all experience a bit more of that peace in our daily lives.
As for Google, I am somewhat perplexed and a little amused that Google seems to like me a bit more recently and is sending additional viewers my way and suspect that it is only a passing fancy. As Andy Warhol is reported to have said, “In the future, everyone will be famous for 15 minutes.”
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 