Since I started my blog two years ago, I’ve been fascinated by the statistics.

Yes, the view/comment count is quite exciting, and I’ve always liked seeing which countries people have viewed my blog from … but the funniest thing about blog stats, by far, is when you look at your search terms.

In short, ‘search terms’ are what people typed in to some search engine and how they ended up happening across your blog. If search engine privacy policies allow it, we bloggers get to see what people looked up and how they found us! It’s both a helpful feature for bloggers (i.e. knowing what people want to read) and a hilarious pastime for people like me. That’s why I’ve decided to write a post showcasing the many ways people came across my blog in 2018. Get ready to read some of the craziest possible search terms of all time!

---

How People Reached My Blog In 2018

#1: By looking up Hamlet.

Yes, you read that right – my ‘10 Reasons Why I Love Hamlet‘ post is a superstar! This fun, review-style post I wrote in October of 2017 made my 2018 search terms absolutely colorful.

• “do you like hamlet? why?” – I just love how this person used actual question marks in their search! I become completely illiterate when searching for anything online; all punctuation and grammar dies. Anyway, to answer the question, yes! Because it’s an awesome play.
• “why i love hamlet” – I don’t know, why do you?
• “why do you like hamlet” – I shared ten reasons in this post, but you probably already know that.
• “do you think that you are like hamlet” – Actually, yes! I took a quiz labeled ‘Which Shakespeare Character Are You?‘ one time, and I got the Prince of Denmark himself.
• “why do i like hamlet” – … Are you really questioning your personal opinion here?
• “why do you love hamlet” – BECAUSE I DO! I actually read it, instead of looking up why others enjoyed it!
• https://dreamingofguatemala.com/2017/10/24/10-reasons-why-i-love-hamlet/ – Well, at least they ended up at my blog in the end. But wait, did they actually paste a link into the search bar?? That’s ancient!
• “why do we like hamlet” – … Who are you??
• “why you liked the book hamlet” – Historians would argue that Hamlet is a play, but you probably don’t care about that.
• “what did you enjoy from hamlet” – I feel like a massive amount of microphones are being shoved in my face suddenly! I liked the characters, uh … and Yorick … would he be considered a character?
• “reasons to like hamlet” – Because it’s a GREAT PLAY. ‘Nuff said. Go read it!
• “why i like hamlet” – Again, I don’t know who you are …
• “why we love hamlet” – No clue. Leave a comment sometime!

#2: Because people love cake.

Somehow, my vanilla dump cake post made it to the third search result on Google for vanilla dump cakes! I think it’s pretty cool, but none of the people who got to my blog through a search engine let me know how the cake turned out.

• “vanilla dump cake” – Five people got to my blog by looking this up! That’s pretty impressive, considering nearly every other search term I can see from last year was only done once each.
• “dump vanilla cake” – My, young one, what a strange way to type it in. Sounds prehistoric.
• “dump cake vanilla” – *flips desk chair and exits room* *comes back* Y’all are so creative.
• “easiest vanilla dump cake” – Ooh, a lazy person! Nah I’m the exact same way Welcome to the simple bakers clan!

#3: They have no idea what they’re doing.

Ever met someone like that?

• “how do you feel about the end of the story the cop and the anthem“ – … Wait, what?
• “what are your favorite memories from your first year“ – Interesting question! Well, my first year was much too long ago for me to remember in detail, but I suppose being cared for by my parents when I could not in any way fend for myself. That’s a pretty good memory.
• “facts about commericals sharing different languages“ – Can’t help you there. You’re probably sorry you happened upon my blog. Also, thumbs up on your English skills!
  
• “jirah merizz.wordpress.com“ – *arches an eyebrow* You pasted the blog name of my lovely friend, Jirah, into a search bar and found me? I’m surprised you didn’t find her, haha
• “stories about guatemala“ – Yes, gather round, little children. Let me tell you about the time I dreamed I went to Guatemala …
• “faded glory clothing“ – … I’m honestly a bit offended by this one. Just because I wore some Walmart jean shorts once doesn’t mean… *goes off on a little rant*

#4: They like Morgan Harper Nichols’ quotes.

Who knew Jamie Grace’s lovely sister would gain me a wee bit of recognition? I wrote a post for Blogtober with my top 10 favorite quotes of hers, and apparently, random search engine people liked it.

• “morgan harper nichols quotes” – Nine people found me this way, making it my most popular search term of 2018!
• “morgan harper nichols quote” – Just one? I got ten!
• “quotes morgan harper nichols“ – Again with the switched wording! Such creativity!
• “morgan harper nichols quotes in times like these“ – That’s strangely specific … did I even include that quote in my post?
• “morgan harper nichols even while you wait“ – I hope you found what you were looking for.
• “light ran wild within her quote morgan harper nichols” – I actually got this one earlier this month, but I included it anyway. The quote itself sounds a bit hectic.

#5: Because they’re looking for random things I’ve written about.

This one seems the obvious reason to get search terms, but as you’ve seen from the rest of this post, that’s not the case. At least for me.

• “dreamingofguatemala.com/2018/06/06/ my-health-and-fitness-journey-a- june-2018-update/“ – Here’s another person who pastes my link into search bars! Wanna get fit? There’s some inspiration, I suppose …
• “people to admire and why” – I wrote a post for the May blogging challenge in 2017. It really wasn’t much of a post, haha
• “tips for helping with wisdom teeth surgery“ – THIS is the best search term I’ve ever gotten, because that means someone wanted to read tips on wisdom teeth surgery recovery! This blog series was created for this purpose.
• “learn my kodak digital camera“ – I didn’t end up figuring out much about mine, so hopefully, they don’t learn from my example …
• “my health and fitness journey“ – Why would you look up your health and fitness journey? You think other people have written about your fitness experience … whoever you are? Haha, at least they found mine. Get motivated!
• “gender reveal guatemala“ – Now, hold on for a minute! Hold up! I was revealing the gender of my little sister, and Guatemala’s in my blog name, so … I doubt they found what they were looking for …
• “staying orgaznized goal“ – My, what a fine speller you are!
• “desk tour“ – I was actually excited when I got this search term! I mean, desk tour? I love sharing desk tours!
• “bullet journal happy new year“ – Happy New Year to you, too!
• “why i admire tolkien“ – I once wrote a post about The Hobbit, although I must say that I do admire Tolkien, as well.
• “happy new year bullet and a“ – What’s that? Happy new year bullet? Let’s not get feisty, now!
• “thrifted haul“ – Aaah yes, there are other thrifted haulers out there! I hope you enjoyed reading about mine.
• “hisperfecttiming“ – That’s actually three words, and I wrote about that here.
• “bullet journal 2018“ – Wooo! This is a pretty good search term to get.
• “about maggie“ – Well, hello! What Maggie were you searching for there? You found this one!
• “homemade doughnut without holes“ – Really! We have a term for that: DONUT HOLES!
• “reasons to love the great gatsby“ – I enjoyed writing this post, but here I am, fueling random citizens’ Gatsby essays instead of forcing these uncultured individuals to go out and read the novel themselves. *exits in a huff*
• “new testament the lord gives and takes away“ – *soft gasp* How dare you de-capitalize the Lord’s name! Maybe this post I wrote will set you straight.
• “relationships freedom letzing go“ – Letzing go? That sounds Swedish, or something …

#6: They can’t spell Guatemala.

Yeah, no one can spell it.

• “dreamingofquatemal“ – Ooh, QUAT-emal? Sounds exotic haha
• “dreaming of gutalmale bloh“ – You are looking at my all time favorite search term. There’s nothing quite like someone looking for my blog, doesn’t know how to spell ‘Guatemala,’ then spells out their frustration and includes it in the search. *takes a sophisticated sip of tea*
• “dreamingofgutalmlablog“ – Come on, you don’t really think that’s how it’s spelled … do you?
• “dreaming of guatemala“ – Well! *pleased grin* At least there’s SOMEbody who tried to find my blog and successfully did so! That’s some correct English right there!

---

I hope you enjoyed reading my delightful commentary. This was honestly one of the most enjoyable posts I’ve ever written.

What search term was your favorite?

Want to check out your own search terms?
Visit your blog stats (My Sites > Stats), click on ‘Search Terms,’ then click ‘All Time.’
Enjoy!