Set in stone
Should I worry about Google
The fellow WordPress.com blogger, Weirdo82, complains that Google hasn’t discovered their site yet. I decided to check what my own presence on Google is with the Google Search Console (WordPress.com’s support doc).
Google knows about my site but sends no traffic, based on ~2 days of data. Google’s knowledge of my site is limited to a very small number of indexed pages. Most posts aren’t there.
Why is that and should I care about it?
- Google ranks sites based on an ever-changing algorithm. When Google started, the top factor for ranking was inbound links – if other sites link to you. This, however, has been abused by SEO experts from day one. People would buy countless assets, use them for linking and rank themselves high with some garbage content. So, Google pushed back by adding more and more factors and so far, the battle is ongoing. They are losing it in areas with a high commercial interest but no brands. Finding a human plumber in Bulgaria with Google is no go.
- Blogs are by nature not great at coming up with unique searchable titles. When I blog about how pretty my cup of coffee was, should I realistically expect to be ranked? Probably not.
- Blogs that are great with titles and topics that Google wants to see are generally unreadable by humans. I see the content written for bots all the time – 3-4 pages long so that it is considered quality content by the AI overlords. It would have multiple headers in the middle, each with a list from 1 to 10 or so. When I see that, I wish I had a block button to never see it again.
Google would send me 100s of hits per day to my former blog but all of these were to 10-year-old posts I didn’t care about. I value one comment on my latest post more than a 1000 of these Google clicks. So the answer is no – for a personal blog, Google doesn’t matter. Optimizing for their ever-changing algorithm would make my site worse.
I care about Google, what do I do
Google’s strategy is to make you pay for traffic, this is what made them so big. They farm people’s desire to be found, to sell products, and to grow. So, what else?
- Bring blogrolls back – exchange links or quotations with people. Google doesn’t mention links as SERP factors anymore but they’re likely still using them
- Write frequently – you never know which cringe post will be ranked and will boost your site by 100-200 views per day
- Buy a domain early and register it for a long time
- Get some social media shares, even if it’s just you sharing your own content. It likely counts.
I would keep acting like Google doesn’t exist for the context of this blog. It would be flattering to have more traffic but I still value human interactions (likes & comments) more than random traffic to old posts. These I get primarily from the Reader, Facebook, and Twitter.
Maxi Velingrad
There’s a difficult choice when planning a spa trip to Velingrad. In case you go on a work day, the pool would mostly be empty but the food choices would be limited. The photo above was taken on a Thursday. Same place a day later would be very full of people but the food options would be great.
I’m not sure which is better. I kind of like the empty pool when I’m there but then I get hungry.
Thraxas and the Elvish Isles by Martin Scott
This is the 4th book of the series for the round former battle mage Thraxas and his fierce friend Makri. I reviewed the first one here and then read #2 and #3. Part 4 felt like the best and most balanced of all. It is the best mystery and the one with the least battles. Still zero drama.
Thraxas is invited to an Elven island to help with a murder case. Elves have no crime and no detectives. Murder on their island is a big thing. Asking questions, on the other hand, is not appreciated. On top of it, it looks like people are under some kind of spell, the murderess is inadequate, and the high elves do not drink beer.
From a character development point of view, have a chance to learn about Makri’s Orkish kendoka origins. She will wield some wooden swords this time.
Avenger! By Mark Smith and Jamie Thomson
Back in 1992, I had the chance to read a series of 4 gamebooks called The Way of the Tiger. It was the second-best series after Blood Sword, captivating the young mind’s imagination with both its well-crafted fantasy world, and the feeling of challenge. Little did I know that the original series had 6 books. It required completing the first two for a successful read. The series has a secret kick called “Kwon’s Flail” that is only available in the first chapter. My friends and I didn’t know that, so we searched the 4 books from 1992-3 for any hint on how to find that. It remained a mystery for some years.
The local community figured out the Kwon Flail problem in the Internet age and published books 1 and 2 sometimes over the last decade. I managed to find a copy of book 1 last week and read it this weekend. It was a nice refresher. Got me back to my teenage years.
The book itself is in a magic world where Gods compete with each other and use humans as puppets. The main character is a ninja who follows the good god Kwon. There’s magic, taverns, warriors, monks, a Barbarian, arenas, and whatnot. The authors describe it as Middle Earth with Ninjas. What makes it good is that the choices actually make sense. You need to pay attention while reading it, and take notes, and there’s a strong chance you’ll succeed in the mission with 4-5 failures. It has some hidden gems, not all of which need to be uncovered. The book allows for collecting unnecessary items and fighting dormant enemies.
Overall, 5/5, first true 5/5 for a gamebook this year. I have book 2 on my shelves, waiting for me but do not have the final book 7. It might turn out to be a hard find.
Veselin.blog 