You Can Lurk, But You Can't Hide!

The blogging experts I listened to at the Relevant Conference back in October advised against checking your blog stats daily unless of course your blog is a business.  Then you kind of need to look at stats to analyze what brings people to your blog so you can bring more people to your blog and make money.  If you blog as a ministry or just for fun as a hobby...checking your stats can start a vicious addiction.  It can get pretty demoralizing, too, if the numbers stay small.  The advice I took to heart was that if you're blogging for God, put it in God's hands.  Pray about the blog, about what you write, about who reads it....and trust Him to bring whoever needs to see it to you.  If you never know they were there, it doesn't really matter.

That said, I still check my stats, but not as often and not to see how many people are reading.  I just think it's fun to see where all you people come from and what brought you here.  Do you ever look just for the fun of it?

Just this week I've had visitors from:

Maryland

Iowa

Tennessee

Michigan

Georgia

Oregon

Oklahoma

Nebraska

Texas

Alaska

Alabama

Maine

Ohio

California

Virginia

New York

Arizona

and Illinois.

As well as:

Germany

Dubai

Bangkok

Australia

Netherlands

Stockholm

Wilayah Persekutuan (????)

London

Holland

Moscow

Hanoi

New Zealand

and West Bengal.

And the searches that brought them:

Okay/It's okay  (and really it is, usually)

Bored (Consider yourself lucky...if you're bored then nothing horrible is happening)

Bucket List (Good for you! Life is short, get out there and do something!)

Giraffe Neck (I happen to have a funny picture on the blog related to this.

I found it when I was looking for something else.  Why are you actually searching for giraffe neck?  

You aren't an international smuggler of rare animals are you?)

Banquet Centerpieces (Wow...you were really disappointed when you ended up here, huh?)

Irish Blessings (I don't know about blessings, but I dare you to say "Irish Wristwatch.")

Road Trip America (I must say, America was built for road trips.)

Where have you been?  (Right here.  Why, where have you been?)

Beach Bonfire (I think we could be friends.)

Have a Coke and a smile. (Love to, but I'm cutting back on the Cokes.)

Girls Who Are Gossiping. (Are you looking for dirt or have you been dished on?)

Round-faced preteen girl. (Okay, this one just scares me.)

One little aside.....someone out there in Norman, Oklahoma keeps visiting my blog.  Admit it, it's YOU, isn't it Toby?  I know you're checking up on me.  ROFLMBO!!

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