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WritersNotes.Net: Helping Writers Follow Their Dreams Through Information, Inspiration, and Encouragement!
Blogging to Please Our Technorati Taskmaster: Is It Worth It?
Lately, I've noticed an interesting phenomenon with Technorati authority and ranking: If you don't happen to be getting enough backlinks to your blog quickly enough--or if the Technorati search bot just doesn't happen to be finding them for some reason--the more often you update, the faster your blog authority and ranking decrease! Isn't that strange? Wouldn't you expect your authority and ranking to increase the more often you update? I would--and it certainly used to--before I hit the 50 K mark, that is. (But, more on that later.) My authority has dropped, of late, from a high of 135 to its present 127--and my ranking has taken a similar dive--despite the fact that I've been updating more frequently than ever.
Well, apparently frequent updates aren't enough to keep the Technorati taskmaster happy. Along with those updates, you need a steady influx of new links to appease the powers that be at the Big T! The funny thing is that I've been visiting quite a few blogs and leaving a lot of comments lately, but most aren't found by the Technorati search bot and those that are, don't seem to count for much, if anything!
I've come to the (perhaps obvious) conclusion that comment links don't carry as much "authority" (or "link juice") as links that are organically integrated into blog posts. This makes sense, of course, since having your link written into a blog post is much more a vote of confidence from the blogger than is the fact that you decided to leave a comment on someone's blog along with the link that's always included. However, you would expect these comment links to count for something, since they are listed among our Technorati Blog Reactions (aka backlinks to our blogs). And you would also expect Technorati to find more of them.
Disillusioned With Technorati: The 50 K Hurdle
I must admit, though, that I'm becoming more than a little disillusioned with Technorati these days. My ranking has lost its luster! My blog authority has left me flat! Twice I have broken the Technorati 50,000 ranking, and when this post goes live, I'll no doubt end up above 50 K once again. I'm seriously considering removing the Technorati authority widget from my blog, because it's so depressing--not to mention embarrassing--to watch my authority steadily declining rather than improving each time I update!
Up to--or rather down to the 50 K point in my Technorati ranking, things went quite smoothly. Whenever I updated, both my authority and my ranking improved. But something happened at about the 50 K point (which I didn't even realize was happening until I'd gotten as low as 43 K + and didn't update for about five days: my ranking shot up (which isn't good) to over 54 K in a single day, requiring me to break 50 K all over again--a slow and painstaking process! (During that period, the same busy-ness that had caused me not to update for five days had also kept me from visiting and leaving many comments on other blogs, so of course my backlink growth-rate stagnated, as well, which contributed to the problem.)
Irony: When Blog Traffic Belies Technorati's Valuation
All this is very ironic, because, during this period, my blog's traffic had been steadily growing--and still is. Though by no means huge, it's basically doubled over the past several months. But, I suppose it only goes to show that no algorithm is perfect. It's virtually impossible to create an algorithm that addresses all components of a blog's value--or at least, no one's doing it.
Alexa addresses the issue of traffic--but only among the users of its own toolbar, which couldn't be much of a reflection of overall blog traffic from all sources and which thus makes the value of Alexa ranking questionable, in my view. Alexa, of course, totally ignores backlinks and frequency of updates, which isn't a problem in itself, but becomes more important because its traffic stats are already skewed by the fact that only one segment of the reading public is involved in compiling them.
As far as I know, Technorati ignores traffic altogether, focusing on backlinks and frequency of updates--though often not even handling these in ways that seem fair or equitable. For example, each time we update, we still (presumably) have the same number of backlinks that we had before updating, and these backlinks had a certain value before we updated. Why do they now lose some of that value simply because we now have one more post on our blogs? Shouldn't our latest post simply add value to our already-existing links since we haven't actually lost any links and have gained a post? That, in my view, would be equitable.
Which Is It, Technorati? Is It Good to Update Often or Isn't It?
Personally, I tend to question the value of a blog ranking service that makes a blogger afraid to update for fear of losing hard-won ranking--thereby effectively providing a disincentive to update frequently. Is it better to update frequently or not? If so, Technorati needs to reassess its algorithm to stop penalizing bloggers who update frequently without amassing huge numbers of backlinks at the same time.
Reassessment: Are Blog Ranking Services Really Relevant?
Many are reevaluating Google in the wake of the current PR fiasco whereby bloggers have had their PR lowered--to as little as 0 (or no PR) in many cases--for so-called link-selling, causing a widespread questioning of the relevance of Google. In the same way, this writer is beginning to reassess the relevance of Technorati. While there's little doubt that many will continue evaluating bloggers based both on Google PR and Technorati ranking--and many by Alexa ranking, as well--which will certainly impact quite a few areas of blogging; I seriously wonder what any of these ranking methods can really mean when they reflect little more than the bias of the particular service whose ranking we happen to be checking.
What Do You Think? Should We Care About Technorati or Other Rankings?
Is Technorati relevant? What about Google? And Alexa? What do you think? If our Technorati ranking or authority drop, should we care? Should we be concerned if Google decides to "steal"--or has already "stolen"--our hard-earned page rank? (I know it's theirs to give and take away, since they gave it in the first place; but we did, after all, work hard for it.) Should we care that our Alexa ranking is based only on one segment of traffic to our sites?
If you have any insight or comments on any of these ranking services, we'd be very interested to hear your thoughts. If you have more to say on the issue than can be conveniently addressed in a comment and would rather write a post about it on your blog, please let us know in a comment and leave us a link to your post. We'd love to read it!
Looking forward to hearing your views,
Jeanne
This is not a sponsored post.
Did you enjoy this post? Have anything to add to the Technorati, Alexa, or Google conversation? We welcome your feedback!
Google Cleans House: Makes Unprecedented PR Cuts
Much has been written lately about the recent dramatic decrease in the Google page rank of a number of blogs--many of which are quite influential members of the blogosphere which have long enjoyed high PR. There's been a great deal of speculation as to why these blogs have fallen out of favor--or at least have been somewhat devalued--in the estimation of Google; and many believe that they are being penalized for so-called link-selling.
The Heart of the Issue: Is Google Right to Lower Blog PR for Sponsored Posts?
The question of whether Google has in fact lowered the PR of these blogs because of paid posting, and if so, what should be done about it is an incredibly intriguing one; and, were it not so critical to the success of the affected bloggers, it would be a fascinating intellectual exercise to ponder and speculate about the issue. But, I personally would much rather get to the heart of the matter. As I see it, the point isn't whether or not we bloggers need to stop writing sponsored content containing links to the sponsors' websites or begin hiding the fact that we do write such content in order to protect ourselves from the wrath of Google (as many are advising us to do), but whether or not Google is right in the first place to lower a blog's PR for writing sponsored content (if this is indeed the reason for the recent PR penalties).
The Real Question: Does Sponsored Content Equal Link-Selling?
The real question is, "Does sponsored content constitute link-selling?" I would submit to you that it doesn't. Writing ad copy--and being paid to do so--has always been a legitimate and respected way for a writer to earn income; and today it's no different, despite the fact that links have now become a natural part of that ad copy. With the advent of the internet and the resultant necessity for the modern business to develop a web presence, company websites have simply become the norm. It naturally follows, then, that any ad copy written today--whether online or off, whether posted to a website or a blog--would contain a link to the company's website. That's a given. It goes without saying--or at least it should.
My View: Irrelevant, Disembodied Links vs. Relevant Content-Rich Posts That Include Links
In my view, link-selling would be offering to post disembodied links to a website or blog--links which have nothing to do with their surrounding content--at a price-per-link. I do not consider carefully-placed links, which are seamlessly integrated into the body of a well-written review, opinion, or even outright advertisement about a company, website, product, or service, to be paid links. But, of course, that's just my view.
What do you think?
Eagerly awaiting your thoughts,
Jeanne
Note: I should add here that the views expressed above represent my opinion where blogs which have a main purpose other than advertising are concerned. These views do not extend to blogs which have been created for the sole purpose of earning money through advertising, but only to blogs which contain a significant amount of other helpful, quality content which is merely supplemented by sponsored posts.
This is not a sponsored post.
Did this post strike a chord with you? Have anything to add? Please feel free to comment!
Do You Suffer from Feed-Reader Overload?
I'm wondering how many of my readers subscribe to RSS feeds and how well that actually works out for you (i.e., are you able to keep up with your feed reading or does the number of posts waiting to be read simply keep building and building until you wonder whether some terrible computer disaster might be imminent due to feed-reader overload)?
Personally, I find that the busier I get--and I've been quite busy of late--the less time I have to read my feeds (which I do feel bad about, because the blogs whose feeds I've subscribed to have lots of fantastic info that I definitely want to keep up with). Unfortunately, it appears that, with feed readers, as with anything else, good intentions aren't enough. As I watch the number of posts in my reader climb at an alarming rate, I begin to feel overwhelmed and wonder why I ever got myself into this position in the first place.
Reading Feeds vs. Visiting Blogs
What ever happened to the good "old-fashioned" practice of simply visiting the blogs we like to read--which we must ultimately do anyway should we decide we'd like to read, respond to, or leave our own original comments. Perhaps I'm less tech savvy than I should be; or perhaps it's simply that once you let the posts in your feed reader build up, you tend to procrastinate further because the job of reading, sorting, or even scanning just seems too formidable to tackle; or, it could just be that you should never sign up for RSS feeds in the first place unless you're prepared to keep up with your feed reading on a more-or-less daily basis.
One of the reasons I originally decided to try RSS feeds was to keep track of all the blogs I wanted to read regularly--rather than using bookmarks, because frankly I've got too many of those, too. I thought it would be easier to have these blogs all in one place--and in one way, it is. But, I must admit that I often find myself not even wanting to go to my feed reader, because there's so much there waiting to be read that I hardly know where to begin!
RSS Feed Management: There's Got to Be a Trick to It!
RSS feed management is proving to be a difficult proposition--at least to this feed reader. Perhaps there are some tricks/techniques I'm unaware of. (Let me reword that: No doubt there are some tricks/techniques I'm unaware of.) Nevertheless, the more full my writing schedule becomes, the less time I have for reading/commenting on other blogs--though I truly want to find an efficient way to fit this into my schedule because building and maintaining good relationships with other bloggers is very important to me. Theoretically, at least, a feed reader should make it easier for me to keep up on the latest happenings at my favorite blogs.
Perhaps I simply need to begin thinking of my feed reader as my servant rather than my master. It's there for my convenience--to make life easier for me--and not to command my loyalty or make me feel guilty every time I neglect to do its "bidding".
What experiences have you had with your feed reader? Have you mastered RSS feed management? Have any tricks or techniques that might make feed management easier for the rest of us? Any words of encouragement or commiseration with those of us who are drowning in RSS feed content?
Awaiting your feedback,
Jeanne
While browsing the Web today, I happened across a discussion on MetaFilter.Com which questioned the legitimacy of Orble.Com as a blog hosting site. (Why not pop in over there and have a look?)
I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to set the record straight. However, when I attempted to sign up in order to leave my comments on that particular thread, I was informed that, due to the costs involved in keeping up the site, there would be a $5 fee to join.
Now, I am by no means cheap. In fact, most people who know me would say I'm quite the opposite. But, somehow it just didn't seem right to be required to pay for the privilege of simply leaving a comment. I therefore decided to send a message to the administrators of the site, via their "Contact Us" link, instead. In it, I addressed some of the specific points brought up in the discussion (originally posted sometime in March).
I thought it only fair to put in a good word for Orble. After all, I've had a great experience blogging at Orble.Com, and its gotten even better since they've given me my own domain (almost a week ago). I have no idea what will come of it. Perhaps they'll simply ignore me, since I didn't pay the signup fee. Perhaps they'll respond. This is something that only time will tell. But I do know one thing: They'd have a lot more trouble ignoring all of us--don't ya think?
'Nuff said!
Jeanne
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