Google trends and more trends

Mary Ellen Bates is a superb librarian, and Bates Info Tip has transferred her skills of classifying information to the internet.  I received this from her and am using the tools provided by Google below.

Google has been doing some interesting things with its analyses of what people are while they are on the web. Google Trends, which was rolled out in 2006, lets you see how frequently words or phrases were search for in Google, over time. You can even compare the relative frequency of two different words or phrases. I was curious about how people referred to the H1N1 flu, and when the shift occurred from calling it “swine flu”. I typed in the two phrases, swine flu and H1N1, separated by a comma. [“swine flu”, h1n1] According to the search results, it wasn’t until October that most people shifted over to referring to the flu strain as H1N1. I can also see search trends in specific countries and in specific cities and states or provinces.

Google’s latest analysis tool is Google Trends for Websites. You provide one or more URLs; for each web site, Google displays the number of daily unique visitors, the countries or states/provinces they came from, other web sites that they have also visited, and terms they have also searched for. Just as Google Domestic Trends went beyond search queries to compare financial trends to its information, Google Trends for Websites extends its reach and analyzes information on web traffic from a number of outside sources.

Google Trends for Websites only works for fairly high-traffic sites, but can be a useful tool for seeing the relative popularity of web sites, and for getting ideas on alternative search queries on a topic.
Companies can use this as a quick way to see how their web traffic compares to those of its competitors, as well as to see what search words were being used to find them. See, for example, the difference in traffic by geographic location and over time for NBC, CBS and ABC.

Use this tool well to help you increase your keywords to direct traffic to you web site.  Also good information to use to see what your competition is doing.

Dude, your clothes!

"Dude, Your PJ's are on the bathroom floor," I remind my husband as he has one foot out the door.

 "What clothes?" he says, frustrated at being stopped 2 seconds away from a clean getaway. "What am I supposed to do with them," he asks.

"Geez I don't know." I reply calmly,  "How about roasting them for dinner?"

Hubby laughs and begrudgingly picks up his clothes and stuffs them onto the shelf.  At least they are off the floor.  I walk into the kitchen and now am aware why he gave in so quickly.  The sink is full of dishes from last night!  AHHHHHH!!!!!!!

A few months ago, I sat the family down and let them know that they needed to step up and participate in the running of the  house.  Laundry, setting the table, making dinner, cleaning up, etc. were tasks that everyone could do.  I cannot (and really don't want) to do it all!

I  created a grid of tasks and days of the week.  Each family member stepped up and signed up for jobs they wanted to do.  We would move them around every so many weeks so as not to get bored.  Hubby signed up for doing the dishes and  D#2 was to get herself up and ready for school by herself.

D#2 was rousted from her bed the next morning by an alarm clock we had set in her room. She walked to the kitchen and sat down, "Mom, I didn't think we were starting this morning!"  And she promptly fell asleep at the table.

Her sister woke her up and says, "Hurry up.  And make your own breakfast and lunch.  I've been doing it since I was ten and you are 13.  So get with it!"

D#2 started slowly, but made her own breakfast and lunch and wandered off to get dressed. 

Ahhh peer pressure.  I forgot to put that on the gird.