Lately, I seem to have an obsession hobby with of checking Technorati.
Even though I’ve been blogging for nearly nine months now, I’d never actually taken the time to look closely at the blogs in the Technorati popular list.
Now that I have looked, all I can say is that it’s a good thing that I waited. If I had seen those blogs when I first started blogging nine months ago I might have given up blogging on the spot.
Most of them look slick. They seem to have all hired professional graphic designers. They post multiple times a day. If you look at many of them closely, you’ll see that they are “owned” by networks or are collaborations.
In fact the top 100 are more like daily magazines than what I thought of as a blog when I first started blogging. There’s none of that “homespun” feel like you get here on WritingThoughts.
Another factor that distinguishes the popular blogs is subject matter. You can find blogs about politics, gadgets, gossip, marketing, and sports in the top 100. However, with the exception of Brian Clark’s Copyblogger blog (currently hovering at number 49 on the list) they are not about writing at all.
Okay, so there’s a few of them about blogging, notably Problogger at number 19. But none of them are specifically about writing for writers.
Why is that? Could it be that writers are a fairly small minority in the blogosphere? Perhaps we are all too busy working on our writing projects to read blogs, or at least to link to each other? Or maybe writing is such an intuitive thing that there is really very little need for blogs that support writers.
I wish that we could see more than 100 popular blogs. Could it be that all of the writing blogs are hovering in the second hundred most popular list, or is that just wishful thinking on my part?
What do you think? Could a writing blog ever become popular on Technorati, or is the subject too specialized?
If you want to go the extra mile, you can leave me a note in the comments describing what you think it would take for a writing blog to become generally popular.
(A special thanks to Brian Clark, for giving all of us writerly types hope.)
Contents (c) Copyright 2007, Laura Spencer. All rights reserved
14 responses so far ↓
1 Jeanne Dininni // Sep 26, 2007 at
That’s a tough one, Laura. I suspect that writers are, as you say, a fairly small minority in the blogosphere–at least writers who write about writing, anyway. The subject may very well be a little too specialized to cause enough of a stir on Technorati to move many writing blogs into the top 100. But, that’s no reason not to try!
Jeanne
2 Sharon Hurley Hall // Sep 26, 2007 at
Oooh – I love a challenge. It’s time to start building some links 🙂
3 Brian Clark // Sep 26, 2007 at
I wouldn’t worry too much about Technorati and rankings, especially for something as important as writing. But, talented and creative writers are the people who *should* be creating the posts that attract attention and links. So look at what’s going on at social media news sites and write strategically. And don’t forget a great headline. 🙂
4 Angela // Sep 26, 2007 at
If you LOVE your niche then absolutely stick to it and don’t give up. It’s hard to make it into the top anything when your blog is fairly new compared to some of the other ones. I would suspect that most bloggers feel that they are writers which might be part of the thought process here.. ya know? Don’t give up!! Don’t pay any attention to stats either.
5 Laura // Sep 26, 2007 at
Hi Jeanne, Sharon, Brian, and Angela!
Jeanne – Yeah, I’ve been thinking that it may be too specialized a topic for something like Technorati. After all, gadgets and gossip appeal to a large and diverse section of the general population. Reading about writing appeals to, well, probably only writers.
Sharon – Yep. I need to do more link roundups myself.
Brian – Wow! Thanks for coming by. I definitely will pay attention to your advice. Your blog is an example for all of us.
Angela – Yeah, I’m too focused on the stats. It started innocently enough. I wanted to see what the “good” blogs were like.
6 Robert Hruzek // Sep 26, 2007 at
Laura, I’m with Brian (if only!) – when I stopped looking at Technorati and just focused on writing, my rank climbed steadily from about 45,000 to around it’s current 9,100. Hey, who knew? I suppose you could start doing “active” things to bring your rank up, but if it has to be forced, then doesn’t that make you less authentic? Or does it? Or does it depend…?
7 Laura // Sep 27, 2007 at
Robert,
Thanks for the encouragement. I probably am too focused on stats right now. It’s hard to stop looking at Technorati, though.
🙂
8 Robert Hruzek // Sep 27, 2007 at
Yeah, I did that too for awhile, especially when the rank changes a lot! No need to feel guilty about it; we all do it (whether we admit it or not). Just avoid the obsession, and you’ll be OK. 🙂
9 Matt Keegan // Sep 27, 2007 at
Laura, there is a way to game the stats to inflate your presence with Technorati. I suspect a lot of blogs have employed a fair measure of linking strategies to bring their numbers down.
As far as writers go, I think we are so busy writing for others that blogging takes a backseat. This doesn’t mean that our blogs are being neglected, rather our priorities are elsewhere.
10 Laura // Sep 27, 2007 at
Matt,
You make an excellent point. I don’t see how some of those at the top of Technorati could be doing anything other than blogging. It would just take too much time.
(Of course, they may actually be earning money from their blogging.)
11 Terry Heath // Sep 29, 2007 at
I think it’s another example of the rule about the three most important elements of any website:
1. Content
2. Content
3. Content
I read as many writing blogs as I can, and more often than not, even though written by “writers”, the content is unfocused. Although I enjoy what you call the “informal” feeling of many blogs, that informality is often coupled with a lack of purpose and clarity for the blog.
Thanks for the reminder to focus on content and let the rest if everything take care of itself.
12 Vivienne Quek // Oct 2, 2007 at
Thanks to this post that I login to Technorati to check my ranking. The last I checked was months ago and I was ranked 40,000+. Now, it is 22,292. I was surprised. I don’t really know how I got there.
Though I have been blogging for 6 months, I’m still online un-savvy. I did no SEO, didn’t employ highly searched keywords, didn’t go around leaving signatures to promote my blog. I only concentrate on one thing: blogging on marketing and advertising with lots of passions and honesty.
Honestly, your writing blog and my marketing-advertising blog will only appeal to a niche market. It would not be easy to reach the top 100 Technorati list. It would be nice to be included but I don’t really bother now. Recognition and accolades are accompanied with a heavier responsibility. I felt even more compelled than before to build strong content.
You are doing an awesome job here. Keep it up. 🙂
13 Laura // Oct 2, 2007 at
Hi Terry and Vivienne!
Terry – You’re right about the importance of content. I know that I’ve been guilty of getting a little out of focus myself, from time to time. There are many distractions to tempt a blogger to do so, but in the end the important question to ask is: why is the reader coming here? They are coming for the content, of course.
Hi Vivienne! Thanks so much for the vote of confidence. I love your blog and try to get over there every week. You have a real eye for advertisements. I think your Technorati rank is a reflection of the high level of quality that you maintain.
14 Theda K. // Oct 8, 2007 at
Hi Laura! First, I want to let you know that yours is one of the few in my feed that I read almost daily. I frequently check your job listings too.
As far as writing blogs becoming more popular, I think it’s about connecting with each other. Also, I do think it’s difficult to write about writing all of the time, though some of my more popular blog posts are about writing. I think it’s okay for the content to be somewhat casual too, so that readers get an idea of what it’s like in the life of a real-live writer.
Anyway, keep up the great work. I’ll continue to read your blog. It’s quite helpful (hmmm…that’s probably another way to be popular…we have to offer a service to our readers so they want to keep coming back for more).
Theda K.