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What Are Blog Metrics?

Blog metrics are a way to measure the success (or at least the popularity) of a blog. In this article I will introduce you to several of the sites that are most popular for determining a blog’s success: Google PageRank, Technorati, Digg, and Alexa. Whether you put any stock into them is your call. (wink)

What is Google PageRank?
From Google:

PageRank is the measure of the importance of a page based on the incoming links from other pages. In simple terms, each link to a page on your site from another site adds to your site’s PageRank. Not all links are equal: Google works hard to improve the user experience by identifying spam links and other practices that negatively impact search results. The best types of links are those that are given based on the quality of your content.

In other words, it’s about the incoming links. However, if Aunt Laurie is linking to you it’s nice but it doesn’t count as much as it would if ProBlogger were linking to you.

Are you curious about your own Google PageRank? You can find your own PageRank without installing the toolbar. The higher the number, the more popular the site.

Discover the essentials of how to start a successful blog by reading this article on how to create a blog that people will actually read.

What is Technorati?
From Technorati:

The leading blog search engine, Technorati.com indexes millions of blog posts in real time and surfaces them in seconds. . .Technorati.com tracks not only the authority and influence of blogs, but also the most comprehensive and current index of who and what is most popular in the Blogosphere.

Pajama Mommy explains how she improved her Technorati ranking in Want PR? Technorati? Visitors?

Michelle at Scribbit lets you in on The Biggest Technorati Tip in the World.

Allen Weiss questions the definition of ‘authority’ in The Meaning of Numbers: Does an ‘Authority Index Equal Authority?.

What is Digg?
From Digg:

Digg is a place for people to discover and share content from anywhere on the web. From the biggest online destinations to the most obscure blog, Digg surfaces the best stuff as voted on by our users. You won’t find editors at Digg — we’re here to provide a place where people can collectively determine the value of content and we’re changing the way people consume information online.

ProBlogger questions whether StumbleUpon Sends More Traffic Than Digg. (I can help you get started using StumbleUpon!)

What is Alexa?
From Wikipedia:

Alexa Internet, Inc. is a California-based subsidiary company of Amazon.com that is best known for operating a website that provides information on web traffic to other websites. . .Alexa ranks sites based on tracking information of users of its Alexa Toolbar for Internet Explorer and from integrated sidebars in Mozilla and Netscape.

Mark8t.com offers some insight on how Alexa works in Alexa Ranking: Does It Matter?

(This article is cross-posted at BlogHer.com.)

7 thoughts on “What Are Blog Metrics?”

  1. Pingback: Best Link Building Practices « Newspaper

  2. Had to stop by and tell you how much I love your blog. You always have great information to share and I appreciate that.

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