Kindle Review, Barnes and Nobel, (Censored)
Welcome to the Used Books Blog Year in Review sponsored by John Barth. That’s right, not meta-fiction but meta-blogging.
The blog began in late June as a way to stay connected to books and to learn more about search engine optimization (SEO). I struggled at first with WordPress but got the hang of things and began to post regularly. An interview with Fine Books & Collectibles helped launch the blog, for which I am very grateful. I also received support and links from many booksellers, as well as colleagues at both Alibris and Abebooks. Again, a hearty thank you for your kind words and assistance.
I took a hiatus from the blog soon after because I just didn’t have enough time to write good reviews. I was busy at work, heading up the launch of Santa.com. I did, however, have plenty of time to read as I commuted on BART. So I have returned to the blog with a stack of books to review and plans to post on a more regular basis.
So what exactly worked and didn’t work for the Used Books Blog in 2007. Thankfully, search did work! Nearly 50% of traffic came from search engines - primarily Google. The terms that drove the most traffic were:
- Used Books
- Barnes and Nobel
- Kindle Sales
I’m also receiving traffic from a number of odd terms like ‘blow job decal’ and ‘blow job short story’ because of my review of Magical Thinking. Thank you Mr. Burroughs. (A pity sarcasm doesn’t translate as well in writing!)
Referring traffic was good but should be better so add me to your blogroll and we can swap links. I also explored Digg, StumbleUpon, Facebook and numerous other venues to increase the exposure of the blog. I’ve got plenty of ideas, just a shortage of time. Don’t we all these days.
Outside of more referring traffic my goal in 2008 is to produce interesting content and increase comments. So don’t be shy! Leave a comment, whether it’s one sentence, a paragraph or an essay.
Happy New Year and happy reading in 2008!
January 7th, 2008 at 9:55 am
I get about 70% of traffic from people doing a search for Pamela Anderson…I posted ONE image of her over a year ago, but it’s crazy how popular she still is…analytics are interesting. I couldn’t figure out why I got hits from the phrase “coconut scented force field” - yes, you read that right - until I realized I’d posted the lyrics to one of those Bud Light’s Real American Genius songs which had that in there…
January 7th, 2008 at 1:39 pm
What’s amazing about the Pamela Anderson traffic is that there’s SOOO much of her out there. I mean, are people going that far down into results to find blogs with possible ‘new’ images of the buxom blond?
“coconut scented force field”! Love that, and I better cause I might start getting traffic on it now.
Part of my blog is an experiment on how high I can rise for Used Books. Right now, I’m number 37 on Google which isn’t half bad considering the amount of time (small) and tactics (limited) I’ve used thus far. 2008 … I want to crack the top 20.
January 26th, 2008 at 7:46 am
[…] recently disclosed that the misspelling of Barnes and Noble generated a lot of traffic to the blog. We’ll see if Used Boks performs similarly. Now, back […]