Wednesday, November 28, 2012

SEO, yo!

Location: Couch
Listening to: Aladdin ::D

So, I was looking at my stats for this blog (because it amazes me that I continue to get views even though I post erratically at best) and I made a surprising discovery:

The #1 search term that leads people to my blog is "bear party." Or other things about bears having parties. Probably because of my bear party post.

(Also, I just searched that to see for myself what comes up. Good news: my blog post officially makes it on the first page of Google search results. Bad news: the rest of it is porn....)

It's funny how using certain tags can get people to read what you're writing. I never would have expected the fact that I mentioned the words "bear party" to bring people to my blog (although, now I'm kind of concerned about what they were looking for when they found this....)

Do you guys use the label function on your blogs? Do you find that some of your tags bring in more views than others?

For anyone who does use the labels/tags (or who might start using them after reading this), I've got a tip for you! I learned today that SEO (search engine optimization) programs will write you off if you tag too much. You should really only tag things that are mentioned a lot.

Like, if you were writing about a Susan G. Komen breast cancer walk, "cancer" or "breast cancer" are phrases that would probably bring in a lot of hits. But you'd be better off to tag it as the specific breast cancer walk you are talking about. The more specific, the better.

If you use a lot of general terms, or throw in tags you know will bring in a lot of hits just to draw traffic, SEO programs will think you aren't being accurate and they'll pretty much ignore your tags.

Just a tip! I hope you're all doing well and getting excited for the holiday season (or winter, if you don't celebrate any winter holidays).

If you've got a free second, please check out my new book review blog! I'd really appreciate some feedback and followers over there! Let me know what you think!

Monday, November 19, 2012

Irrational Irretation

Location: Work
Listening to: Some pre-football thing on TV

Ok, so, I'm about to let my crazy out. Beware!

We all have little things that irk us. A lot of them don't make much sense to other people. I'm sure everyone can think of at least one thing that they hate, even though they know it's ridiculous to hate it.

For me, that one thing is other people doing my work.

I am a very independent worker. When I'm given responsibilities, I like to do them myself. If I need help, I'll ask for it, but if it's something I can easily get done myself, I want to do it that way. By. My. Self.

This makes group projects and other group-work scenarios kind of a nightmare for me. I turn into kind of a control freak. I'd much rather be doing the entire project (or whatever the case may be) by myself. Usually it's something I could easily crank out on my own, so having to divvy up jobs with people who may or may not do them (or do them to my level of satisfaction) causes me a lot of stress.

But group projects are temporary evils. They only spring up a few times a year and only last for a few weeks. I can tolerate them long enough to ensure I get a good grade on my part of the project. Usually I can compartmentalize enough that I detach myself from whatever my partners are responsible for.

Lately, though, I've been in a situation of being stuck with an overly helpful person who I cannot get rid of. I'm an office assistant for a small business. My office manager used to be this super awesome girl named Jane. She was maybe 6 or 7 years older than me and she was super fun and nice. It was great going to work, because she was so much fun to work with.

But then Jane's husband got a job several hours away and she moved. She was replaced by an older woman named Jo. Jo is very nice as well, but she doesn't let me do my job. I don't have a lot of responsibilities as it is, but she continues to do small tasks for me. Tasks that I have to do every day. And that I've done every day in the year I've worked here. With no help from anyone, because they are so utterly simple that a monkey could do them. I have plenty of time to get all of my closing tasks done and I always do them.

The whole issue started a week or two ago. One of my closing duties is to lock up the money from the cash drawer. In the morning, Jo unlocks it and puts it back. One morning she came in and the money was already out and the drawer was open. When I got into work later that afternoon, she gave me a lecture about how I need to make sure to lock everything, because it would be terrible if something were to get stolen.

Except, I had locked up the money. One of our other co-workers had unlocked it before Jo got in because they needed to use it for something. Jo and I may be the ones responsible for putting away or taking out the money, but everyone we work with knows where it's kept and how to get it if needed.

Since then, she's condescendingly told me she will take care of locking certain file cabinet drawers that have valuable information inside (even though I've locked them without fail for the last year) because she wants to make sure it's her responsibility if something were to get left out or lost. She also always asks me if I want her to back up the computers (one of my nightly duties) before she leaves (several hours before we close).

No matter how many times I tell her she doesn't need to do any of my jobs (as politely and nicely as possible) she always asks.

I know it's a ridiculous thing to get frustrated over, because she's probably just trying to be nice, but it just rubs me the wrong way. It always feels like she's asking me if she can do these things because she doesn't trust me to do them on my own. Even though I've worked here roughly nine months longer than she has.

Alright. Rant over. Are there any weird things that annoy you for no reason? Even though you know it's completely ridiculous that they do? I'd love to hear about it (it'd make me feel like less of a crazy person, for sure).

Also, please check out my new book review blog! I've got several reviews up (one is a review of an advance copy I won a few weeks ago!) and I'd love some feedback!

Monday, November 12, 2012

Celebrate!


Hey everyone!

So, yesterday was my two year anniversary with the boyfriend. I can't believe we've been together so long. It feels like we just met. It also feels like we've known each other forever. How crazy is that?

I feel pretty lucky. I am in love with a guy who loves me and respects me and does whatever he can to make me happy. We make an awesome team and, even though we have our fights, we always get through them and come out stronger than before.

Anyway, I just wanted to share the happiness with you all! I hope you're having an awesome fall and have fun and exciting things on the horizon!

Please take a second to check out my new book review blog (abbiereadsbooks.blogspot.com)! I just started and would really love some feedback and support over there! If you know anyone who likes to read, send them my way!

Thanks so much, friends. :)

Thursday, November 8, 2012

Reality Strikes

Sometimes life leaves you speechless.

Recent events that have happened in close proximity to my life (but that I'm going to refrain from discussing out of sympathy for my boyfriend -- don't worry, we're both fine) have made me realize how precious life is. One day you can feel completely fine, and the next you could be diagnosed with some terrible disease or hit by a car or choke on something.

Pretty much, you never know what is going to happen next or when things are simply going to end.

I spend a lot of time worrying about things I have no control over. I stress out over what other people think of me and what I'm going to do after graduation or where I'm going to be in five years.

Instead of concentrating on the present, I freak out over the future. Which is ridiculous, because I can't control the future. I can't decide if someone is going to like me or not. I can't decide what business is going to hire me. I can try my best to influence these things, but I can't control them.

I also complain a lot. When things aren't going my way or I'm not feeling my best or I just feel cranky, I don't hesitate to spew negativity. I don't take a lot of time to appreciate how wonderful my life actually is. I am blessed to have an amazing boyfriend, a loving family and friends who care about me.

I'm lucky to be going to a great school and learning about a subject I love so that I can go into the field I want to go into after I graduate. I have three jobs, and I may not be rich, but I have enough money to afford the cost of living and still be able to buy little extras every once in a while.

I am talented in many things and smart in many areas and my life isn't terrible at all.

I think a lot of people are like me. We get so caught up in the little things that are going wrong that we fail to see all of the great things that are happening. So I hope you can all take a moment or two to appreciate your lives. Even in terrible times, there are good things.

(Sorry for the random and mildly melodramatic rant. It's been an emotional day or two. Also, thank you for sticking with me these past few years. I really appreciate the feedback I get from you all. It's amazing to know that anyone reads this at all. If you have a chance, please take a look at my new book review blog. I'd love some feedback on my posts there. Thanks HM Weasley for following! http://abbiereadsbooks.blogspot.com)

Sunday, November 4, 2012

New Project!!!

Hello friends!

I just started a new project that I'm pretty excited for. My dream job is to be a book reviewer or a reader at a literary agency. It would be amazing to get paid to read. I can't think of anything better.

So, I started a second blog. Don't worry! I'll still update this one with my life stuff (hopefully I'll find more time to update it semi-frequentlly!!!), but now I'll also be blogging over at http://abbiereadsbooks.blogspot.com

Please, please, please check it out! Especially if you like reading! I've won a few advance copies of books on Goodreads in the last few weeks, so I'm hoping to get some reviews of those up ASAP! I also want to review newer books that come out. I really want to focus on a specific niche (like historical fiction or young adult), but right now I'm just gonna try to get the hang of reviewing before I narrow in on something.

If you have any recommendations for books I should read and review, please let me know! Or if you have any tips or advice for a review blog, I would love to hear it!