It pays to have a Long Tail

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) Keywords and Long Tails

Or: why are some post more poplar than others? 

January 2011

These dank days of mid winter offer few opportunities for time afloat and with Belle still recuperating, there is little scope for indulging in my usual wintertime canal fix courtesy of the abandoned routes of the Birmingham Canal Navigations (BCN).

But I am not alone in my frustration. I see that my fellow bloggers are busy casting around for material and Easter with it's warmer weather is still a long, long way away. Halfie has been scrutinising his blog statistics and working out which words in his titles attracted the most hits, even if many of the visits last for a mere zero seconds! I see that Jim of Starcross suggests a possible title of "Sex-change soap-star in mercy dash to royal corgi " which should bring in visitors by the truckload. An interesting thought.

All this electronic introspection got me thinking and digging into the science, or should I call it the black art, of Search Engine Optimisation.  Well, one has to do something to pass the time on long dark evenings!

An inspection of the Captain Ahab stats reveals my Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows film review from 1st December 2010 as enduring popular, as is my much older post on Painting Narrowboats. So, a well searched title can create a big hitting post but perhaps the most surprising discovery is that the bulk of visitors lie in the Long Tail. Captain, I hear you cry, what in the name of all that is holy is a long tail?

Well, a bit of research has informed me that the long tail is the length of the list of words and combinations of words which have attracted hits when ranked in order popularity. In my case there seems to be strength in depth, with Captain Ahab attracting a steady stream of searchers regardless of how often I do new posts. It's sort of like having a steady demand for my back catalogue.

A bit more research into the landing pages suggest that the "reference library" effect is driven by the photography on which my blog is based. You see, whilst much of my waterways based writing has appeals to a very narrow audience, the rise of the Google image search function is the source of much traffic. I don't mind this, I love photography and if my images give pleasure to others that's fine with me. Perhaps the greatest buzz is when local Canal Societies contact me asking permission to lift them for publication in their own magazines or websites.

So maybe  it's not so much the regularity of posting which influences the hits, but more the variety of grouped keywords spread across the whole blog which delivers sustained popularity.

So allowing for all of the above, how many people do I thing follow the blog on a regular basis? Well, my best guess is no more than 50, but it's quality not quality which counts when it comes to friends. You know who you are!

So there you have it. A frank admission that Captain Ahab is endowed with a particularly impressive and well photographed Long Tail......... ; - )

We won, we won, we won!

Jeff is on his way to Bournemouth

30th Jan 2011

After 18 months of agitating, trauma and ultimately litigation, Jeff has been awarded a place at the college of his choice in Bournemouth. Sound the church bells and put up the bunting, the world is good in Chateau Ahab today.

Jeff has been persistently ignored by our Local Authority since Sept 2009, who steadfastly refused to acknowledge their legal obligation to provide him with an education no matter how much we hassled and chased them. In the end we had to take the mater to a High Court Judge just to get them to acknowledge their responsibility and even then they did the bare minimum to grant us our legal right of appeal - which look a further six month. They never had any intention of making provision for him and it seems that they figured that if they ignored the problem long enough Jeff would get older, and the problem would just go away. 

I have to say that I can't speak lowly enough of Birmingham Council. The public outcry against them is utterly justified and the shambles which passes for a the public service in the UK's second city is deplorable. It's time to scrap the whole crumbling edifice and start again.

But enough of my rant against our Local Authority, today is a truly great day. After 18 months and God knows how many £10's of thousands of pounds sanity prevailed at Jeff's Educational Tribunal and he is embarking on the next chapter of his life. That smile hasn't left his face all day!

This is truly good news for Jeff but it does leave me without my ever available crew member for those "dodgy" trips which Belle is not so keen on. Hey ho - he will be back in the holidays.

But of course Jeff's departure offers a whole world of opportunity for Belle and myself. For the first time in 16 years we will have term times for ourselves, and that means the luxury of leisurely boating trips with just the two of us. Heaven!

Tussles and arguments remain between us and the Local Authority but the big hurdle has been crossed. Thanks to all of you that offers concern and support. Its been a tough couple of years but the end is in sight. Phew!

127 Hours - film review

127 Hours

Film review

January 2011

Jeff and I seem to be into something of a run of films where the bulk of the action takes place in one location. First there was the lift in Devil, then the coffin in Buried and now its a bloke trapped in a canyon by a boulder.

127 Hours

I have been told that there are only about a dozen basic stories in the whole world, and each book / film reworks one of then in a new context. If so, what theme does 127 Hours follow? Answer: the common man faces a natural adversity and triumphs.

The plot line is simplicity itself really. A devil may care twenty something with a passion  for canyoning in Utah is introduced tearing across the desert on his mountain bike and then leaping down ravines with reckless abandon. All this comes to a shuddering halt when he slips down a big fissure and dislodges a boulder with proceeds to fall and trap his arm.

From the outset you know that this is a true story "about a bloke who cuts his own arm off", so how can they possibly make an absorbing film where the only character spends 90% of the time on his own with just a boulder for company?

I admit that I was sceptical but I shouldn't have been. You see, this film was directed by Danny Boyle who excels in turning unusual topics into compelling viewing. Think Trainspotting, Shallow Grave, 28 Days Later and Slumdog Millionaire, to name but a few. The bloke is a cinematic genius who's ability to tell a tale pulls which draws an audience rather than overpaid Hollywood stars.

The four days spent attached to the boulder are a clever mix of third party footage, "self shot" video and delirium induced flashbacks which fleshes out the character. In the end, with food and water gone, he resorts to the drastic option of a self amputation, all in glorious technicolour. One moment he is in a semi conscious dream scene with Dido singing at her ethereal best and the next it's jarring acid rock as he plunges a blunt knife into his own arm ending with crescendo achieved as he cuts through his main nerves. I don't know if it's all anatomically correct, but its certainly gripping stuff. Even worse was when he had to break each bone in his arm, an action which had the audience groaning and clutching at their own appendages!

In true "real life" style, the hero escapes and survives to tell the tale, but only by the skin of his teeth. What's more, he emerges a better man and the film concludes with a single message to the audience :

If you go into the wilderness alone, at least leave a note saying where you are going.


Its a surprise winner in the Ahab chart - well worth a look if you are not too squeamish.

What's a hammerfor?

Captian Ahab takes a dip

January 2011

There's an old joke that goes "what's a hamerfor? - for banging in nails with of course!".

My pinhead hammer got me into a world of trouble at the weekend. I had been busy finishing the fitting of the new cooker in Wand'ring Bark and had packed up my tools ready to leave. They were all in my big toolbox which I hauled out of the well deck but as I tugged it under the cratch cover by favourite pinhead hammer spun into the canal next to the bows of the boat.

That's where I should have left it but the water was quite shallow and I could see it sitting on the bottom with the hickory handle floating straight up by the base plate. H'mm I thought, I could reach down and get that.

I stripped off all my upper clothes and laid down on the jetty and reached down through a thin layer of ice into the gin clear water below. The depth was deceptive but I was so close to the handle. I shifted my position and reached down again - just reaching it this time with the tips of my rapidly numbing fingers. Having got it I lifted it to my mouth and swung myself back up again, or at least that is what I intended to do. But instead of my torso rising my legs went up into the sky and my head went down into the ice. I hovered there, see sawing up and down but all the time slipping oh so slowly off the jetty.

Time to panic. One minute I was fine and the next I was sliding head first into an ice filled marina - help! This hanging in the balance experience felt like ages, but it was probably only a few seconds. One thing was sure - the £6 hammer wasn't worth it so I opened my mouth and let it drop back into the water. Whilst one arm was on the jetty the other was unsupported and there was only the smooth bows of the boat on the other. I scrabbled vainly for a grip on the rubbing strakes but to no avail. Finally, with my torso gaining a downward momentum I grabbed the little projection which supports the bow fender and levered myself up just before my icy fingers lost their grip.

In the event I emerged with nothing worse than a cold arm, scratched fingers and bruised ribs - and a certain loss of personal pride. So all is well that ends well.

But it made me think about how difficult situations rush up on us when we least expect them. How we can unwittingly place ourselves at risk when a moments prior reflection would have told us to step back. It reminded me of a retired lady on the Thames who was preparing to enter the water near a reservoir inflow to save her dog. Luckily, we came along and hauled it out with a boat hook from the safety of the stern cockpit, thus saving the day and quite probably the lady's life.

One minute we are fine and the next we are at real risk of death. It makes you think how fragile our grasp on life really is. More on that subject in a few days when I review the film 127 Hours.

The Next Three Days - film review

The Next Three Days 

Film Review

January 2011

An unusual and compelling thriller starring Russell Crowe.

At its core its an "common man thrown into uncommon circumstances" film.

Russell Crowe is a teacher, husband and father whose wife is falsely imprisoned for murdering her boss. His wife doesn't fare well in prison, becoming suicidal when all hope of an appeal is lost. Its at this point he realises drastic action is needed - to break his wife out of a high security prison and then escape into obscurity for ever.

So how does a school teacher go about this task? How would you? I won't spoil the story by explaining what happened but there are many twists and turns and it's not always clear if its all a grand plan or if he is winging it and making it up as he goes along.

The film is as believable as it is gripping, dragging you into an intricate plot with special effects kept to a minimum. Possibly the funniest line is a discussion between policemen who, having discovered that he is driving a Prius ask "what sort of criminal mastermind drives a Prius? One with a social conscience I suppose!"

In the end good triumphs over evil and the guy gets the gal, which is just the way it should be.

This is a surprise find and well worth a watch.