Why Are My Page Views So Low?

 When I discovered that my recipe for Jubilee Jumbles Cookies made page one of a Google search I was rather blown away. Page one, are you kidding me?

Then shortly after when I was checking to see where my "hits" were coming from and saw that they were unfortunately coming from automated sites, I was a little disheartened. But in checking the keyword searches I discovered yet another recipe on page one. This one for my black raspberry cake.

 Sometimes when you come up with what you believe is a novel and clever use of left over mashed potatoes, make it, blog about it then discover it was not really an original idea you kind of go, "ah sh**".
Your heart skips a beat when you enter the keywords another person has used to find recipes, to discover that yet again you made page one of Google and all seems right with the world.

Today was another page one discovery for my baked squash rounds.

I am up there with some of the big guys like Allrecipes, the Food Network, Betty Crocker, etcetera. Wow! Or is it wow?
Could this be just a fluke?

Maybe not, as the Pork Chops with Mushroom and Onion Gravy is there as well.
If five of my recipes from my over 800 posts made it to page one then I wonder if there are any others?
And if so, why are my page views on this blog so low?
I started creating this blog in 2010 and have worked steadily at it. Always trying to come up with a new recipe on my own, researching and hopefully most times make the post itself informative and at the very least entertaining.
My photographs are not classy or professional and I'll be the first to admit that. However by doing my homework, listening to other food bloggers and looking at all of the gorgeous food shots out there I've gained some knowledge and have been working to improve them.
But still, my page views are low and they pale in comparison to other bloggers. Some who complain that they have dropped from 8,000 views to 5,000 views. If I could get high hundreds I would be on cloud nine!
I am not a serious this is my job and I need to make money from it blogger. It all started with me being unable to go back to work and I needed this blog to connect with the outside world, keep my mind active and take two of the things I love to do (cooking and writing) to save me from the depths of sadness that I had experienced. Now it would be lovely to receive a bit of compensation here and there, but actually I am fine with recognition. Recognition by people who pin my recipes on Pinterest, those who actually make the recipe and report back to me in a comment and to those people that return daily or a few times a week.
So how will you recognize me? Will you visit often? Will you try a recipe and leave a comment and let me know how it came out?  Oh, if only you will.