With one swift and decisive keystroke, I single-handedly reduced the number of visitors to my blog by an average of 15 visits per day.
How did I do that and why? Did I write something offensive and turn people off? Did I write one too many “Strong vs Weak Words”posts?
Nope.
I’m not mentioning the name of the shoe company, but I bet you can figure out which one it was. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
I deleted an old blog post containing the name and slogan of a huge athletic clothing/shoe company.
You see, many unwitting folks searched for the company, or the slogan, and found themselves face-to-face with me. Imagine their surprise!
At first I found the attention flattering and enjoyed being fawned over. Those people made me think I am wildly popular among sports fanatics. Then, I realized they are merely “false friends” with nothing but sneakers, tennis skirts, and sweat bands on their minds.
During the Olympics, the number of hits by shoe-crazed fans doubled because the athletic company plastered their logo on all things Olympics. I’m surprised the Queen wasn’t wearing the company’s logo in a diamond-encrusted brooch.
Last Saturday I said, “Enough is enough,” and deleted the post. My fake fans weren’t playing nice. Where is their good sportsmanship ethic!?
I now return to my lonely little blog, but with peace of mind that (most of) my visitors meant to stop by here for tea.
Robin Coyle 
That’s interesting. But look how many people are here for you! And your awesomeness. Me especially… I’m your number one fan!!!! (Duh)
And I’m YOUR number one fan. (Duh.)
In response to Val’s comment about Google cacheing the post, that’s partially true. Google doesn’t cache the whole post, just the link and the first five lines, or 50 words, or something like that. Thus, when someone goes to click on the link, they get a message that the post no longer exists. One could always take the link and go to the root directory, but most people don’t do that, not even me!
I’ve had stragglers come visit . . . using search engine terms for posts I deleted, so it makes sense about Google cacheing part of the post. I wondered how they trickled in.
I can’t believe you didn’t like the Google juice. That’s about 75% of my purpose because some of those “false friends” actually wind up clicking on my link to Jim and hiring him as their Realtor, or clicking on my link to my home inspection blog and hiring me as their home inspector. Eventually I’ll replace the text links with graphic/text links, and I’ll have a couple more links to other ventures of mine, such as Classical Street and my galleries at Fine Art America.
I don’t mind one or two “false friends” stopping by here, but during the Olympics, it was ridiculous. Funny. . . I googled the brand name to see if I came up and I couldn’t find any mention of me or my blog in the search results.
Except that Google will have cached the post and people will still come by from it! But never mind. I’ve just found your blog and it looks like fun. 🙂 And I promise I didn’t come by on any search term. How did I come here? Er… I’m not sure.
Did you find me from Le Clown perhaps?
After I deleted the tag, I still had hits. Must have been from the Google cache. Since I deleted the entire post, I haven’t had any more visits. Problem solved? Let’s hope so.
Mmm, no. I think it might have been from Fear No Weebles…
I have a couple of posts like that. They’re becoming more and more obvious as I go through and check all my photos. I may well do something about them as I go along.
By the way, I’ve nominated you for the Illuminating Blogger Award. There’s no obligation to accept, but I wanted to let you know. The details are here: http://ileandrayoung.com/2012/08/14/illuminating/
🙂
Fortunately, the athletic company seems to be the only culprit for me. I am happy to report my visit tally doesn’t seen to have been dinged because I deleted the post.
Thank you kindly, ma’am, for the award! Lovely of you!
Earl Grey, please….
Since it is cocktail time here, can I interest you in a vodka tonic instead?
Vodka works for me!
I have an old post that gets a lot of hits too, but it has nothing to do with brand names. Seagulls! I wrote a post about a critique partner telling me that my seagulls were making the wrong sound. What sound do your seagulls make? It’s a surprisingly popular topic on the web.
Seagulls? That is crazy. People search for what seagulls sound like? What’s next? Underwater basket weaving?
I triple-dog-dare you to write a post about underwater basket weaving. 🙂 I’d love to see the results.
Ha! You are on! Let me see how I can work it into a Strong vs Weak Word post.
“Robin just loved her underwater basket weaving class.”
Better yet . . .
“Robin flunked her underwater basket weaving class because she yammered on about Strong vs Weak words while the teacher was talking.”
Yes! Can’t wait for this one! You’re such a rebel. First you delete your very popular and hit garnering (famous shoe brand) post, now you’re taking on dares.
Hi there! Where are the shoes? I’m confused. -I actually found my way here through Maddie Cochere. I really enjoy her posts and comments. She mentioned you, so I had to come and check out your blog. I’m really new at this, and so consequently haven’t had a lot of search engine hits yet, but the ones I have had are pretty ridiculous. Someone actually found me by Googling “can you wear silicone caulk next to your face?” Why on earth would someone want to do that? Funny that I actually wrote about doing just that, as a beauty treatment. Imagine their surprise when I spelled it out for them. I plan to like, follow and abandon you all within a matter of days! Any one else need a false friend for a few days?
I love Maddie! So glad you found me through her, and now I’ve found you!
How does one use caulk as a beauty treatment? Does it work? I could use the help!
Please don’t abandon me! I’ll get so lonely when you are gone.
If you go to my blog,I have a full totorial on using the caulk. I won’t abandon you. We’re like..totally ..best fake friends now, right? Sorry it took so long to see this. I was reading other posts from other fake friends
I shall dash over to your blog to check out my new facial treatment. You are such a kind fake friend.
I take it with milk, not lemon, if it is not too much trouble.
No trouble at all!
Very well done – to your own self be true. I do remember a post on FP that suggested putting “boobs” in as a tag for better traffic. “Better” traffic?
“Boobs” would jack up one’s stats, but think of all the creepy people who would start hanging around. Ugh.
I feel like I’m still a neophyte. I rarely look at my statistics, so I’m not sure who ‘hits’ me. I love my subscribers, and comments are manna from heaven. Thanks for your blog – I learn from it and enjoy every post.
I am delighted you like this little blog. Truly, I am!
Isn’t it fun when the little dialog bubble glows orange!? I love comments too and the blogging community we have going here.
Coffee and cake while blogging is a must!!
Agreed! A glass of wine ain’t bad either . . .
Stick with the people that read and comment. 4 or 5 hundred followers is nice but there is not enough time in a day to read all posts and comments thoroughly and still find time to write and comment. I’ve become more selective too now
Isn’t it funny how many people follow and then you never hear from them again? I had a gal “like” about 15 of my posts and then followed me. She hasn’t been around since.
It is weird who hangs around and who doesn’t.
Terrific title. Great post
I don’t know if you saw in an earlier comment I made . . . a gal read and liked about 15 of my posts all in one day, followed me, and then I haven’t seen her since. Weird. If she liked what she saw so much, where did she go?
Ah ha! I know see you are a Ms. Karen.
With such a huge worldwide brand as that one, there must be soooooooo many sites that mention them, I think it’s pretty amazing that people were finding their way to yours! Did you ever try searching for the brand yourself and seeing how far up in the search engine list you appear?
The post of mine that gets the most regular repeated hits is one from last November where I wrote about a phobia I have which is called trypophobia – the people who search and then end up on that page could I guess be called false friends, in that they probably don’t sign up or hang around after reading that, but I don’t mind because perhaps that one post has helped them in some way! This was the one (in case you’re interested!) – http://vanessa-chapman.com/2011/11/06/get-them-holes-away-from-me/
I did search for Nike and “Just Do It” and didn’t find one single link to my blog. Isn’t that curious?
I checked out the link to your “hot” blog post. I don’t think those are truly “false friends” because your topic was on the mark. My post was about entering a writing contest so their search was way off target. No Air Jordan’s to be found!
Did you say tea? I’ll take mine with no sugar please 🙂
Hey, it is almost cocktail time. Can I interest you in a vodka tonic instead?
Because I continuously use the tag Breezy, I think I’m torturing Chris Brown fans. … I’d like a cup of Earl Grey, please.
i love this!
As I said to Maggie, I’m pouring cocktails, not tea right now. Interested?
It is funny that the cocktail hour starts earlier when one is on vacation.
For the middle of August, we had a surprisingly cold day yesterday. I think I was looking for tea when I commented. Today, I have a hankerin’ for a Bloody Mary – spicy please.
Ooooooooh . . . my favorite! I’m make two so grab your purse and head for Lake Tahoe!
Be there in five!
Awesome!
That’s why I’m here, my friend! 😎
And that delights me, my friend!
I have one like that. I got tons of hits on it. The bogging award pictures. It finally has died down, but yes..tons of false friends. 🙂
I need a link to you bogging award pictures! Let’s fire up the hits again.
Way to stand on principle, Robin!
Now, I’m off to write a post about Nike 🙂
Throw in a Diet Coke mention and your stats will go through the roof!
So I guess this is a bad time for me to mention my new company, run-a-lot, ‘The Robin Coyle choice… Run-a-lot…. win-a-lot’
🙂
Good one! Too bad I didn’t win the darn writing contest.
It’s good to be amount the faithful again.
In the words of said company – Just do it!
It feels good to lose the false friends, but I’ll miss the stats!
Interesting post. Good on you. There’s no point in kidding yourself that any hit is a good hit. I think my tagging and/or content isn’t inclined to make me susceptible to this type of false friend. It’s apparent from the other stats – likes, comments, who true blog friends are… time & life permitting of course 🙂
The comments make my day! And usually make me laugh! It shows who my true friends truly are!
I’m seeing more searches on variants of “tall ships” leading to my single post about them. I think it’s because I included several photos. Like Carrie, I wonder if any of the searches lead to repeat visits or even a follow down the line.
I think your more intellectual topic of “tall ships” is more likely to bring you real likes and followers than my smelly sneaker post.
I know ‘false friend’ very well. I get a few with my Sunday Spin posts. Random people searching for computer tables, piano guys, and worms bring me lotsa hits!
That is funny. The couple posts where I mentioned John Lennon has brought me a fair few hits. That is ok. I’m a Beatle fan and my blog welcomes hapless Beatle fans who wander this way.
I haven’t made my mind up on ‘false friend’s yet. I’m still stressing about building any kind of readership and false will do right now!
Here is a hint. Do product placements all over your blog! You will have a “commercial” following in no time!
I’ve never done a search for swishy shoes – but I’m sure if it led me to your blog I’d be very happy! *insert tick here* 😀
Aren’t you sweet. But think of the teenage boy looking for new running shoes?!? I can hear the swear words from here!
Did you make the Swoosh sound when you deleted that post? 🙂
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I did! And the crowd roared!
You cracked me up!
I came here trying to learn something, so I can’t offer any words of knowledge or wisdom. You’ll do what you think is correct.
I got rid of the offending post pronto!
It is a step away from those who click “follow” via wordpress, then proceed to never “like” or “comment” and I assume, never read either.
When I first started blogging, I lapped up that type of “false friend.” Now, I’ve learned to take my time in following back to see if they coming knocking at my door again. Unless of course, when I check out their blog after they follow me, I see they are the “real deal” and write about things I’m interested in. Or, simply make me laugh!
I pretty much do the same. I might follow back to check on a couple of posts. If it is something I’m really interested in, then all well and good, if not, then I see how they interact with me, because they might still be a good blog friend. Or I might not hear from them again.
Yeah . . . so many you never hear from again. Where are their manners?
Exactly.
I came here for tips on my tennis game, and all I learned was stuff about writing!
Tennis lessons are at 2:00 on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Stop back by here then. 🙂
So do you not have a blog? The email with your comment links to your gravatar. Don’t I know you from Le Clown?
Ha! It is funny what people search for. I have a few posts about denial, and apparently, a lot of people are in search for help with denial. Who knew???
But at least your posts with denial talk about denial so folks visiting you isn’t far off. My post with the athletic company reference was about entering a writing contest where I said to myself, “Just d……… it.” Nothing to do with sneakers!
I’m still here and I love Jasmine and Green Tea, please, with a spot of lemon and one cube. 🙂
I’m glad you are still here! Do you prefer a tea cup or a mug?
gallon jug, please. 🙂
I suppose at some point I should remove my images of a shirtless Hugh Jackman and a shirtless Will Smith from an old post. That would eliminate some of my false friends who land on my blog by looking for celebrity six-pack abs. But then I think, maybe, just maybe, one of those false friends will become a true friend and stick around. Hey, it could happen. 🙂
I suspect you enjoy revisiting your posts with Will and Hugh from time to time as well. I say keep the posts!
Well…if you insist…
Celebrity-six-pack-lovers around the world insist!
Amen sister!
Hmm today as been a little slow – maybe I should throw a shoe company tag in my post along with Catwoman–what do you think? I take my tea plain, and hot out of the oven cookies sound wonderful
Shoot . . . I forgot I was going to write something smart-alecky in this post about suggesting we put product placements in every post we make. Think of the visitors we would have!
Cookies are coming right up!
I am not above doing that – you can just put it in your tag–forget about mentioning them in the body of your post.
what kind cookies?
Excellent idea! But, our blog visits would be high, but void of good BBFF friends, right?
Snicker-doodle (because I like saying the word Snicker-doodle).
We would still have our BBFFs and good stats — boy I am having a bad day–getting greedy in my old age!
Slow day for me too. I blame it on the last day of the Olympics. Slow since summer started, really.
Okay then I am definitely putting Nike or Catwoman or the word naked in my tags (just kidding)
I’m here for the tea and the words, please. If it’s any consolation, my hits went up astronomically all of a sudden, and I thought, wow! Until I realized that many of them were because people were searching for the keyword “Catwoman,” who was the subject of a recent post. Oh well.
How did I miss your Catwoman post? I must go look for it!
How is it going with keeping up with your, AND LeClown’s blog? With the number of comments you both get, are you getting any sleep?
No need to rummage for it:
http://fearnoweebles.wordpress.com/2012/07/26/catwoman-vs-cat-lady/
Well, Le Clown’s comments aren’t very high at the moment since I’m just The Help; his followers are eagerly awaiting his return, I’m sure. But my own comments are keeping me busy, which is quite nice!
Thanks for the link! That was a fun read.
It seems like Le Clown is getting a ton of comments right now! His slow day beats my biggest day by a long shot! Yours too!
The blogosphere is a strange place—there are so many blogs that should have ZILLIONS of comments! Well, maybe not zillions, since that takes a lot of work. But you know what I mean.
The blogosphere is indeed strange. Le Clown in one of the strangest things about it. Don’t tell him I said so!
Aww, c’mon! Well, I’ll just tell him *I* think he’s one of the strangest things then.
I am still here, although I do need soome new trainers, I last saw one of mine disappear under the table attached to a puppy
Then you are a true blog friend.
Why do puppies think shoes are teething material? I lost a beautiful red high heel when our lab was a puppy.
He thinks everything is for chewing or is a tuggy, he has claimed several cuddly toys infact anything he sees the toddler play with he thinks he should be allowed to play aswell
I would like some tea please Robin 🙂
Coming right up! Would you like a cookie too? I just took them out of the oven.
Yes please! 🙂