Fair warning to anyone out there who might be stalking me, I’ve been using a site traffic monitor ever since I put up this blog. I do this so that I can track how many people visit my site every day and what kind of posts are attracting attention, as well as whether or not the things I write are piquing your interest in me as a writer (i.e, if you read a post and then read on my “about the author” link, then the “book info” link, then the “buy the book” link).
Over the last few months, as my posts have tapered off (I’ve been more focused on other projects, and have noticed that even at my most productive, my marketing efforts did not lead to significant results), so have, understandably, my site’s traffic numbers.
Aside from people coming onto my site right after I post a new entry, would you like to know what’s driving the most amount of people to my site? I’ve been keeping track. And the answer, overwhelmingly, is these three words: “sex scene excerpt.” This screenshot tells the story.
This is a “keyword analysis” which indicates the search terms that people use to find my site. You’ll notice, first of all, that there aren’t that many visitors. And secondly, you’ll see that pretty much everyone who is directed to my site via search engine is finding me because they are looking for sex, and I once posted an excerpt from a sex scene in Somewhere Over the Sun. A few others have found me because I have a Calvin and Hobbes tattoo, a couple because I keep an extensive library of literary quotations, and four people were actually looking for me.
The lesson is obvious, kids. It’s one that marketers have been aware of for years, pretty much since marketing began. It is a cliche lesson, but only because it’s so true that people keep saying it over and over again. And here’s the evidence. Sex sells.
