Thankful Thursday - Blogging Impact

I really love blogging.  I really love reading blogs especially when I'm able to connect with folks who have lived a similar experience with me or who have been through something I'm going through. It's nice to know someone is there and understands especially regarding topics that people aren't comfortable or able to speak about publicly (without the anonymity of the web). 

Even more so maybe I love that I'm able to write down our journey to share with others.  Three super cools things I enjoy about that:

• I can find others who have already been there who can commiserate, encourage, and give advice
• I can share my story for others who are now going through something we went through in the past who can find solace in where we are now (in other words, I can encourage them!)
• I can help folks who have not and/or will not go through things that we've been through to be sensitive to the situations people face - a little more compassion in the world wouldn't hurt.

Recently my blog hit a huge spike.  I'm talking 10X normal readership kind of spike.  It lasted for a couple weeks and over the weekend dropped off.  I'm guessing that's because I didn't blog much and people were bored with my content.  Or they were busy.

Either way I was and am very curious what led folks to visit so much more.  So blogger has this stats feature where I can dig into the information a little bit more.  Of course I have one blog-friend who sends the majority of folks my way.  I can also see where in the world they are hitting me from and what operating system they are using.  I can dissect it all and though I won't put too much stock in the accuracy of the information, it's kind of fun to know what's coming my way.

One of the pieces included in the stats section describes the top google searches that led to my blog.  There are some consistent ones ("toddler sleep" or some version related to this post is very common).  On occasion when I see something new or a different theme pop-up I google it myself, just to see what's out there.

One day last week the search "What does God think about foster parents?" came up.  So I googled.  That day, this post was the 4th or 5th hit on Google and the first blog (not an adoption website or magazine article).  When I went to write this blog I couldn't find my blog through that search - it's interesting those things change daily! 

Another search I found interesting was "Foster parent antidote" related to this post.  I'm so proud of myself...I'm #1 on that search!  I know it's strange and somewhat commical, but I'm doing a little happy dance about that...my blog is #1 on something.  I will say that I'm interested in what sparked that search to begin with.  I don't know who searched that or why, but those three words together are quite interesting.  My post was about how foster parenting was the antidote to arrogance (or could be), so I'm not sure if what the reader was looking for was related or not.

Then there are the handful of folks who actually google my blog address.  Again, I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not, but someone(s) out there know my blog address!

I'm so honored that I get to share our story and it's many twists and turns.  I hope that as folks find my blog they are intrigued, informed, and entertained no matter their orignal intention of the google search.  Thanks for keeping up with our journey everyone!