Search Terms

Posted on by under Blogging, Blogging tips

I’m confused. Confused about the “info” I get from my stats here on WordPress. I wonder if anyone can explain this to me. When I check out the stats, just to get an idea about where my views come from, I usually don’t get much info out of the Search Terms (as usually it says “unknown”). I think it’s awesome to see which search engines were used but does it really matter if it was Google Search and from which country?

I get that it’s interesting to see which country looks you up, but then that should be visible in “Countries”, right? And now to my initial question: How can it be, that a search term can be “unknown”? I mean, obviously someone types something and finds my blog. So how come it’s unknown?

Anyway… not that it matters. I was just wondering why certain (and truly weird) search terms show up and others are unknown.

26 thoughts on “Search Terms”

  1. I could be wrong, but I think it depends on which search engine they are using. Tor, for instance will omit the search terms, hiding them from the sites they land on. As a result they come across as “unknown.”

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  3. I don’t know about other search engines, but a WordPress support doc I once read said that Google protects its users by not revealing the search terms to blog stats. It’s a privacy issue, and not all Google search engines (as in, from different countries) use that policy. The other search engines that have cropped up in my stats are much more revealing, but then, Google is so popular that it doesn’t really matter. Your lack of search terms in your stats is solely a result of Google’s popularity. Well done, Google.

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  6. That sounds a little weird indeed. I barely check the search engins. As you say, it doesn’t really matter (except for those who wantsto improve their engagement). But by now I never saw “unkonwn” showing up.

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  8. I’ve given up trying to work it all out…. it says I’ve had, say 85 views, then the breakdown by country only adds up to 80. I have no idea what most of the left hand data is all about. Still, as long as people continue to visit, view and comment on my posts, then I shall continue too. I’m enjoying the blog experience. 🙂

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