website statistics are a wonderful thing

[rusty_halo]

I only slept 2 hours last night (was up late and early preparing for that presenation), so by all means I should be asleep right now. Yet instead I am awake at 3:20 AM, poring over my site's web server statistics.

For example, you can probably guess that the most popular pairing page on my site is Spike/Buffy, but did you know that the second most popular pairing page is Spike/Dawn? (and btw what is wrong with you people?) Or that the most popular rating on my site is NC-17? (Gee, what a surprise). The most popular time period is "Future AU," which I hadn't expected.

I find the referring links to be endlessly interesting. People link to my site from nearly every imaginable place. For example, bunches of people in Germany and in the Ukraine(?) are carrying on discussions about some of my essays, which they've selected from, translated into their languages, and posted on their boards. I try to get the gist of their conversation by looking at the links and words I recognize. Very interesting. People also link from pages that they don't expect me to ever see, so sometimes I find interesting gossip about my site (heh) or discover unexpected places. It's really quite fascinating.

And finally, some of the more unusual search terms:

moose sneaking up on person
spanish cussing
ben's a gay sod
butt morphs
horrible fanfic
who plays spike on the wb show angel?
tell me how to levitate a pencil
why do i feel horny when i see naked men
what do black flies eat except dead things
buffy and spike are pregnant with a baby fanfiction
baywatch boobs
give me that funk that sweet lyrics
if you was william what sort of things would he be doing to gain control of england%3f
all free games to play on line that has tits
buffy pregnant with angels baby fanfiction
text foreplay games
i've been trying to get down to the heart of the matter
bath scrubbie angel
why does it feel so nice when i orgasm%3f
insatiable horndog spike
canon and round
hot dog spike warmer
highlander screencaps
wooden stake suppliers
men sex and babies spike xander
smoking slut she was drunk
vietnamese symbol tattoo
inhaled it rubbing smoke
cherynobl end of the world
feed scooby spike

Comments

[sparkledark.livejournal.com]

Oh my GOD. Those search terms are hilarious. For some reason hot dog Spike warmer is confusing me most of all.

[circe-tigana.livejournal.com]

I was wondering about that too! Except in the Spander fic I'm writing I just used hotdogs as none too subtle subtext! Maybe someone else has too :)

[ahedonia.livejournal.com]

"moose sneaking up on person". THAT is totally my favorite. LOL.

[rashaka.livejournal.com]

question: "descant descending" isn't spoilery is it? Someone who's only seen up to episode 15 expressed worry that it might be if she read it.

[rusty_halo.livejournal.com]

Nope, not spoilery as far as I'm aware. I believe macha is spoiler free. You may want to email her to be entirely certain, but I'm pretty sure.

So funny

[tiashome.livejournal.com]

insatiable horndog spike? Of course :->
baywatch boobs? They'd be truly disappointed watching this show ...

[harmonyfb.livejournal.com]

did you know that the second most popular pairing page is Spike/Dawn? (and btw what is wrong with you people?)

::snicker::

So how do you find out what search terms led to your page? I'm just curious. Is there like a special program you run, or did you set up the website with a code that gathers them?

[rusty_halo.livejournal.com]

The search terms are recorded in the server logs with all the other information. I use a program called Analog (which is free and is the most commonly used stats program). It analyzes the logs and gives a list of all the search terms, ranked by which are most common. I think most stats programs will do this, though.

Future AU

[circe-tigana.livejournal.com]

Do you mean, branching off from episodes and taking a different spin, or actual "ten years in the future" stuff like Harmony's "Backward Glances" or ASJ's apocalypse in Australia one? (whose name I forget -- sorry!)

Re: Future AU

[rusty_halo.livejournal.com]

Future AU is anything that takes place in the future from when it was written and assumes that AU events have occured between the story and the series. "Backward Glances" or "The Last Summer" both fit there. Usually I also try to list them under the episode from which they branch off; for example, Anna S's "Season Noir" is under "Post-Gone" and "Future AU." "Backward Glances" is "Post-Get it Done" and "Future AU." "The Last Summer" is "Post-Restless" and "Future AU."

OTOH, if a story starts in canon, brances off from an episode, and then takes the characters to different places, I won't list that as AU; I'll just list it as "Post-[episode name]."

My classification often sucks, so if you encounter anything funny let me know and I'll try to fix it.

Re: Future AU

[circe-tigana.livejournal.com]

Ah. I understand now.

Just wanted to add that tonight after seeing Something Blue for the first time I went to AAS to find some post-Something Blue fic and was astounded that I could search for fic by episode. You are a goddess, Laura, and I just wanted you to know that.

Re: Future AU

[rusty_halo.livejournal.com]

LOL, thanks. :) I'm glad you found it helpful.

[ex-devilpigl935.livejournal.com]

For example, you can probably guess that the most popular pairing page on my site is Spike/Buffy, but did you know that the second most popular pairing page is Spike/Dawn? (and btw what is wrong with you people?)

(Hangs head in shame) I admit it. I'm one of them. I'm a sucker for Spike/Dawn. Not when she's, like, sixteen. But I'm a huge fan of their friendship and as for something more...? I'm all about the unconditional love. That being said -- I don't really seek it out because it makes me feel like the 'Buffy' fandom's equivalent of Pete Townshend.

insatiable horndog spike

I know this one! It's from Barb C.'s 'Necessary Evils'. It's the scene where Buffy and Spike are in the L.A. hotel, and Spike offers her the drawer, and....what? Why are you looking at me like that?

[rusty_halo.livejournal.com]

I adore Spike/Dawn friendship fic. I don't mind relationship fic either, as long as Dawn is over 18. When she's younger, it squicks me badly. But I don't have a problem with people who like it; it's fiction, not real life, and I trust people to be able to distinguish between the two.

I think I used to have a hot dog spike warmer

[shadowlass.livejournal.com]

God, that whole list is hilarious.

Re: the hot dog spike warmer...when I was a child, my family owned an odd appliance I've never seen elsewhere--a futuristic, Jetson-y looking thing that cooked hot dogs. You fitted them into it by impaling both ends of the hot dogs on, yes, small spikes. The end product wasn't very appealing--my brother and I always referred to them as "electrocuted" hot dogs.