Sorry about that whole Mario Lopez porn thing.

Sorry about that whole Mario Lopez porn thing.

One of my favorite things about having a blog is the site traffic tool. With little or no effort I can instantly tell what kind of keywords or phrases people are using to find my site. Some of them are obvious: Prodigal, Jon, prodigaljon.com, etc. But some of them are less obvious, such as “Mario Lopez Porn.”

Apparently, a few weeks ago I used the word porn in a post I did about Mario Lopez. Now, if you type that phrase into google, my site is one of the ones that come up. Granted, I’m listed as the 30^th option or so, but I’m still there. And a few days ago, someone searched for that phrase and came to my site. How disappointing is that? You google expecting to find some hot Latin Saved By the Bell nudity and get a mildly interesting site about God instead.

The more I dug around in the site tool, the more I was surprised to see the kinds of phrases google was associating with my site. Here is a list of a few phrases that google believes reflect what I am all about, that is if you type these, they will return a link to my site:

healing wives of sex addicts

time to heal from an affair

i had sex with a stranger

massage parlor sin

how to throw up and get it over with

i think my mailman in stealing my mail

crack addict lies

throwing a party while parents out of town

i just want to punch people in the face

and my personal favorite:

deer underwear

I think it’s funny when TiVo recommends some shows based on other shows you’ve watched. For instance, if you watch “Heroes,” it will automatically tape “Lost” for you as a recommendation. It’s a subtle way to get an admittedly superficial reflection of how the world sees you. But what does my list of keywords say about my site or more importantly me?

I think it says I deal with some gross topics. I think it says brokenness is expressed with openness. I think it says I’m trying to be transparent, even when the cost of that transparency is a little ugly. I actually kind of like that list. I would be much more concerned if google thought my site was “judgmental,” or “holier than thou,” or “legalistic.” Those aren’t words that I want people to read in my posts or hear when I speak.

It also makes me wonder though, if people were going to google you, what words would they use? Would they type in: “loves the Lord,” or maybe “heart of a servant” or “honest?” Or would they type in “self promoting,” or maybe “always trying to convert me without getting to know me?” or “fake, hypocrite, gossiper?”

It’s a weird exercise, but it’s one I encourage you to try. Take 60 seconds today and write down five words or phrases people could google to find you. Post them in a comment or email them to me at jon@prodigaljon.com

I promise, if nothing else, it will cause you to pause and think about who you are in a way you might not have before.