Internet Searches Mock the Aspiring Writer

The internet is a strange and unpredictable place, people. I’d love to wake up some fine morning and find that people are reading my short stories. (Seriously, go read my stories.) Or that my articles on how I’m using a bullet journal are suddenly popular.

But right now? At the very top of my stats?

Well, that would be my rant from a couple of years back on how disappointing it is that you can buy candy (ewww!) but not condoms in the women’s restroom vending machine.

I guess I just hit the sweet spot with “Restroom Vending Machine” searches.

No, there’s no affiliate gold mine to restroom vending machines. (I’ve looked.)

I did think about writing a short story about a haunted restroom vending machine. I’m sure that all those busy executives looking for the cheapest possible consumables want to read about a vending machine possessed by the ghost of a dead matchmaker.

Or possibly not.

The truth is, I get the idea. The number of posts about Restroom Vending Machines compared to the number of posts about “short stories” or even “bullet journals.” I get more search traffic from the most ridiculous things.

I just don’t really know how to work it in my favor.

What about you? How do you work the Google search?

5 Comments

  1. Reply

    LOL, that is funny and so true–I see why that rant is popular. I mostly work with the SEO on my website and making it turn green on each post for the best ranking.

      • Reply

        I have Yoast SEO plugin and then I just read the analysis it gives of each post when I create them and try to do the things to make it turn from red to green which means it will be picked up by search engines better.

  2. Reply

    I’m as lost as you. The posts I think will do well don’t, and the ones I least suspect do just fine, so I know the feeling.

    That said, I have noticed rants/strong opinions tend to do well. The internet is a contentious place. Posts which I do as part of the Author Toolbox blog hop do well, along with the IWSG ones, because these groups are awesome and do the visiting they’re supposed to.

    I also pin a lot of my posts to Pinterest and try to attach a fun or interesting caption and sometimes those pins take off! I’ve had a hundred referrals from Pinterest in one month for a post I wrote nearly two years ago about book-themed tattoos. The plugin I used there is the Pinterest Pin It button from WordPress.

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