Webmaster tools - is it accurate?

I have been puzzling over the data in webmaster tools and I'm now wondering if the data makes any sense. Here's the case that has me doubting its basic accuracy.

There are a lot of searches on my site's name which is a term that I created. There are dozens of searches on variations of the site name. Here are a few for example from the top ten terms for my site listed in Webmaster tools.

The site is SpellingCity.com. There are searches for:

spellingcity
spelling city
spelling city.com
www.spellingcity.com
etc etc etc

Here's an actual piece of data from Google Webmaster Tools with monthly data regarding the key phrase search query: ""www.spellingcity.com""

Impressions 140,000
Visits 22,000
Click thru rate. 16%
Average position. 3.2

Questions.

1. As far as I can tell, my site is always first on google when you search on "www.spellingcity.com". I'm also 2nd -5th (with different pages from the website). Why would they think that on average I'm around 3rd?  Are they averaging all the different pages on my website or just averaging the first time that my website appears for this search?

If people typed my actual URL into the search box, aren't they looking for my site? I mean if someone actually searched on "www.spellingcity.com", I would assume that they are trying to get to my site but are using the search bar instead of the address bar. I assume that they use the searchbox instead of address box is a sort of lazyman's way to not having to typed it accurately or completely.

Here's the questions: Where are the other 84% clicking through to?  Did they change their mind and not come to my site?  Why? Google has pages from my site as the first five results so I would just assume people would come to my site. Are they saying that 84% didn't go to the first instance of my site?

 There is of course the paid search possibility.There are some people placing paid ads next to this search.  For instance:

Spelling City Games - Get Spelling City Games | ask.com

Search for Spelling City Games 
www.ask.com

Spelling City Games 

Search for Spelling City Games
Find out more on Yahoo!



My conclusion: the data is just way wrong or I'm totally misinterpreting it. Or maybe ASK and Yahoo have unlimited budgets to snatch my users on the way into my site.  


Any ideas?


John, aka the Confused Mayor of  SpellingCity.com

www.yahoo.com

Are they really getting 84% of the clicks of people who put my site's URL into the search box?  THAT's ANNOYING.  But frankly, I just don't believe it.   It just makes no sense to me.

SEO Directories, Honey Pots, & Google - Are they smarter than the local cops?

I was jsut on a well-trafficked directory where scads of people are talking about how important it is to get listed in directories for seo purposes.  It makes no sense to me since directories, created for seo purposes, are probably of NO value. Here's how I think think about.

Wouldn't Google monitor the lists of directories created for SEO purposes and demote the value of their links to zero. Or, if they are asking people to buy links for seo purposes, to actually have them count negative?

Put yourself in the shoes of Google, why wouldn't you maintain a list of directories that only exist for seo purposes and NOT consider those links?

 Better yet, create you own directory for seo purposes, keep track of who submits to them, then consider those sites as potentially spammy sites. Your local cops create these honeypots by leaving purses in parked cars with videotapes to catch would-be thieves.  Isn't google at least that smart?

Blogging and social media

When I first started to blog, blogging was the hot social media. The old ones were yahoo groups and forums.  Today, the discussion of relationships between social media and blogs could be endlessly long. My point for today is just a simple one about the ease of integrating social media in blogs.

First, adding "gadgets" to blogs has gotten really easy. This blog is done with Blogger, it's just as easy with WordPress: Click Design and you'll get to click to pick a new gadget.  

By default, you are in the Basics menu.  The social media icons are not today considered basic.

I clicked on Featured and found some more commercial gadgets such as the the Amazon deals. Scroll down and you find two social media selections.  

One, the one that i picked for this blog, is a share icon for Facebook and a Tweet This for Twitter.

   There was also an "add this" for doing a larger number and trackable implementation of social media.  Layal readers will know that I'm a big Add This fan although I think their stats are underwhelming.

That's todays show folks. If I had a blog about blogging I might quote or paraphrase this post there.


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