Technorati rank means nothing
GrokDotCom recently:
suggested to fellow bloggers that, if rank meant everything…
. . . every blogger who’s had even one link documented by Technorati could rejoice more than they already are after being accidentally ranked #1 today — thanks to a glitch.If rank meant everything, you wouldn’t have to create fresh, original content.
If rank meant everything, blogs wouldn’t be worth reading.
Everyone would be baiting links (like I am).
Like money, when rank means everything, it means nothing.
Do blog readers really care about rank?
Would content by any other number smell as sweet?
And recently, he asked again while discussing the Techmeme Leaderboard… so I would to “share my thoughts” as he asked.
While I can understand that really, rank in ALL cases is something that can be inflated and distorted and manipulated. Wherever there is a system, someone will find a way to get around it enhance their own results.
Take for example My Blog and SEOmoz.org. I have 23 fans, they have 28. Clearly my blog is much much less popular than the other one. But my I have lots more fans because generally I am the fan of all my fans. And SEOmoz.org has only 2.5x the amount of links in Technorati as my friend Mike. (Now, Mike, I am not denying your awesomeness because I am sure you are reading this with the linkback.) But it still surprised me. I mean, they have teams of bloggers and it is an SEO blog. You would think that they would have crazy good Technorati rank, right?
I guess, at first at least, I was going to try to prove that rank mattered, but I guess I showed it does not. SEOmoz.org is making mad cash and they are a very popular site. But their Technorati rank is not that impressive considering. Because Technorati rank does not matter. I have almost as many fans, and Mike will probably match them in Technorati links in a few more months, and I don’t think either of us will get a paid content section anytime soon.
And about the Techmeme leaderboard. No comment. I don’t even want to talk about it or think about it. I am just going to pretend it’s not there until it goes away.
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Posted: October 4th, 2007.
Comments: 17
Comments
Comment from Mike
Time: October 4, 2007, 11:18 pm
Oh don’t count me out just yet. I will find a way to make meeellions one day…or not. I really haven’t even been trying to. Perhaps if I did, I could :)
Comment from Danielle
Time: October 5, 2007, 12:59 am
I was worried that me singling you out would offend you… glad it did not. Because I think you are a great blogger and artist and all, and I have no doubt that you will match and beat them in links. It’s just goes to show that Technorati rank is only important to the person that has it really. It’s cool to have a good rank, and it makes you feel good that people link to you…. unless… are you planning to open a paid VIP section to your blog? SEOmoz is a very very high traffic blog and apparently they have “a million links”… and they could have 0 authority in Technorati and still maintain the same success. It can’t help you unless you are looking to do paid reviews that use this as a meter for the quality of your blog.
I think you should aim for Top 100. I think you can make it happen. :)
Comment from Mike
Time: October 5, 2007, 9:35 am
Hehe…Nah, you didn’t offend me :P I’ve never really found the number all that important which is why I always like to joke that I may have one of the highest ranked non-profitable blogs on the planet :P All those links will be great for the pagerank update (if it ever occurs) though. Then I will have one more high ranking by which to measure my non-profitableness :D
Comment from Danielle
Time: October 5, 2007, 4:29 pm
Well, you may not be rich with monies, but you are rich in friends, Mike! ;) Here’s to non-profitableness!
Comment from Aaron Cook
Time: October 5, 2007, 11:25 pm
I don’t pay attention to Technorati rank at all, especially knowing how it can be inflated and gamed. All I really use Technorati for is the vanity feed in order to keep an eye on which sites/blogs link to me so I can thank them for it accordingly.
And while a high Technorati rank is nice, I suppose, there’s no real direct correlation between it and the amount of revenue a blog generates or will generate. So paying too much attention to it, or spending too much time trying to increase it, is a costly exercise.
@Mike: One day the money will come, my friend. One day it will come. :)
Shine on,
Aaron
Comment from Chase
Time: October 6, 2007, 6:00 am
I wouldn’t necessarily say that “Technorati rank means nothing”, but it definitely doesn’t mean as much as all those people who stat up at night obsessing about it think it does.
Technorati rank is one of the easiest rank systems to exploit. I proved that by getting a blog with almost no incoming links and about 15 visitors a day up to about 350,000 and 18 authority, just by posting comments.
If you spent an hour a day posting comments on Technorati blogs, you would get a good rank eventually. I think, though, that posting your own comments can only get you so far, and because of the sheer number of blogs on technorati, rank only pays if you’re in the top cut.
Eventually if you want that top Technorati rank you just have to make a good blog and forget about your rank. At the end of the day I believe that if your blogging goal is an artificial number then you should have a look at why you’re doing it in the first place.
Comment from Danielle
Time: October 6, 2007, 12:58 pm
Don’t get me wrong… I want a good Technorati rank too, just like everybody else! :)
It just shows that you do not need to have a good Technorati rank to be a successful blogger… so even if you don’t but you are still getting traffic and comments, then you are doing things right!
Comment from Brown Baron
Time: October 6, 2007, 1:51 pm
Those stats are pretty surprising. It does prove your point though. The rank isn’t really important, it looks good though.
Mike - I thought you were already making meeeellions??
Comment from Danielle
Time: October 6, 2007, 4:59 pm
Yah! I am not saying Mike and I don’t deserve big huge blogging kudos, but I was like WTF (excuse my potty mouth) with the SEOmoz Technorati stats.
Comment from Mike
Time: October 6, 2007, 7:21 pm
SEOmoz just needs a little schmooze to help their ranking ;)
Comment from Danielle
Time: October 7, 2007, 2:22 pm
There is nothing the schmooze can’t fix! ;) The schmooze is unstoppable, a force of nature. Mwahahaha!
Comment from Blogging Ethics-Bobby Revell
Time: October 13, 2007, 4:51 am
I took my technorati from 0-600 in less than 4 months and gained 173 fans. The rank that is the least important of all ranks in my opinion is how much money a blog makes.
Lets take John Chow for instance. His tag line is:
“I make money by talking about how much money I make”
His blog sucks and I don’t read tripe.
I could start a money blog and do well but money means nothing to me.
Google page rank = how greedy you are.
Thus google page rank is an embarrassment.
If John Chow or for that matter, Darren Rowse linked to me, I would redirect it away from my site. I don’t read problogger either. His info is the same stuff over & over. Been there, done that.
I link only to blogs who have authors I like who answer my comments. After leaving hundreds of comments on A-list blogs and never getting a single reply, I quit.
I may start a cash blog later once I get through training my readers on how we can destroy the top bloggers by not reading them.
I follow no one. To be a top cash blogger you MUST have the following attributes:
1.Extreme greed
2.never reply to comments
3.depend on contests and flashy page headers exhibiting your greed and lusy for money
4.Ignore the community and use the many sheep by milking them of cash
5.get as many people as you can to link to you but do not return the link
6.make people earn your friendship
I read 31 books on seo the past 3 months. I know all I need to know. I am here to destroy google who is the most unethical corporation on earth.
BTW, I can’t fave my fans on technorati because you can only fave 200 blogs.
Problogger should give out 1000 links per week to PR 0 sites each month.
When I reach my PR 5 level that’s what I will do. All money I make will be to feed and clothe starving and abused children.
Thanks Danielle! You probably think I’m insane:)
Comment from Danielle
Time: October 13, 2007, 10:09 am
No not insane at all - I hope that I someday have very high PR/high ranking blog so that when I do my Sunday Reviews I can really send some traffic.
And I wish I had John Chow’s blog because then my Blogging for Breast Cancer would have been more successful. Ah C’est la vie!
Comment from Linda R. Moore
Time: October 19, 2007, 11:52 pm
I still get a kick out of the linkbacks I get from that particular snippet you quoted, though. ;)
How did you enjoy the book, in the end?
Comment from Linda R. Moore
Time: October 19, 2007, 11:53 pm
*grin* just noticed your hallowe’en banner: cute!
Comment from Danielle
Time: October 20, 2007, 12:08 am
I loved it!!! I have been meaning to write the review too. I actually finished it last week when I was feeling under the weather. I just bundled myself up and read.
Yeah, this was great little idea by GrokDotCom… I enjoyed that too! I still get a kick out of Technorati… I am human after all. ;)
Comment from Linda R. Moore
Time: October 20, 2007, 11:32 pm
Feel free to take it easy on the review: I’m still not quite back on my feet though homelessness should finally end next week as we just put a deposit on our RV. There will be new blogs and other excitements to explore. :)
Btw, sorry I haven’t been commenting, even before the move: your feed vanished from my feed reader and I have now added it back. :)
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