I could have also titled this post “You spent HOW MUCH time looking for that *#*??!$ post?” :)
Blogging over time means that you have a vast catalog of posts under your hat that you can grab out and share with people when they ask you a question. You’ve answered it before in a blog post. Aha! Go get that post and share it with them.
So where do you start looking. Your stats page? Your archives page? (*cough, cough* Dear AR Devs: archives is broken right now *cough, cough*)
If the post is back in time a ways and you’ve been around a while that’s a daunting task of “next page” – “next page” – “next page” – oh forget it!
Take a look at Jeff’s archives in the screen shot. He would be “next paging” all day!
There must be a better way!
There’s a website called Google, perhaps you’ve heard of it. :)
Moreover, we have a Google search box embedded in the top right of every ActiveRain page. What is great about using that box to search is that it narrows down your search results just to the AR website.
You may or may not have noticed and used that before. However, I’m going to give you a few search tips that is going to make your finding “that post” a much more successful endeavor.
Tip #1 – Use your Byline
If Google sees something in quotes, it searches for the literal words exactly in the order you specify (it is not case sensitve, capitals do not matter). Every one of our posts has a byline at the top. Let’s use that as part of our search so it is only going to show us posts we have written. By including one little word “by” we are skipping matches of posts perhaps where we have commented on but were not the author. so we start our search like:
“By Jeff Dowler”
Tip #2 – Use Unique Keywords if Possible to Narrow Your Search
Jeff had written a compilation post a while back about the top summer things to do in Carlsbad. What if he wants to find it again to share it. He is going to need to be more specific in a search than “things to do in Carlsbad” — that list of results from him would be too long! Maybe he could remember something specific and unique in the post like jazz or the waterslide park. That may help narrow down the search, something like
“by Jeff Dowler” things to do Carlsbad waterslide park
Tip #3 – Use the intitle: Parameter if you know it was part of your title
Sometimes you can remember specific words in the title. If you can, this can really help narrow down the search. There is a special parameter that you can use in your search…
intitle:
(Note: it is one word with colon after) Do something like
intitle:top things to do in Carlsbad
So, our complete search then would be something like, starting with the byline
“by Jeff Dowler” intitle:top things to do in Carlsbad
Now Let’s practice a few times so you get it
Lisa messaged me this week asking for the best way to find the anniversary post she wrote last summer. She was having a little trouble finding it since the archives feature of AR is currently broken. Let’s ask Google! There it is! (By the way, you can click on any of the images below to jump to any of the posts that I’m highlighting if you want to read more!)
BLiz hit a Million point milestone and had some great advice for new bloggers from what they have discovered in their journey. Google where is their post?
If you had any doubt about all the work that real estate agents do for their clients, all you need to do is check out Mimi’s post. Google can you find it for me?
And that tech guy, what’s his name… Google where is that post where he talks about the best way to size and embed a youtube video?
And there you have it! With just a little bit of strategy and your good old Google search, you’ll be finding those posts you’ve written no problem at all. Happy sharing!
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