Technorati?

[Undine]

I've seen people mention Technorati all over the place, and I'm just wondering what it is? What's the purpose? How do you use it? Should you use it?

I've looked around the site a bit, logged in, claimed my blog, and all that jazz, but thus far I can't really see any real usability, so I'm hoping you guys can help me figure it out!

Thanks!

[Hilda]

I have no idea what that is but am well interested in knowing (:

[Monica]

I've heard reference to it as well, but I've never been to the site. Don't even know what sort of site it is. Would be interested in hearing the answer!

[Maw Books]

I use Technorati simply as a tool to gauge how popular a blog is in regards to how many other blogs link to it. So for example, a score of 800 is better than a score of 5 because it means that more people are linking to the first blog then the second. Your score also fluctuates as it's only measured w/in a certain time period. So a blog that had 800 a year ago but stopped posting quality articles that nobody linked too then their score will drop.

I check in every once in a while to see who's linking to me. For example, when Darren at ProBlogger linked to me once, I was pretty stocked because he's hugely popular which led me to investigate how many hits I received from his site.

Other companies (publishers, tour companies, authors) will often check Technorati scores to see how active a blogger is and what their reach is. Are other blogs talking/reacting to this blog? Or are they posting content that isn't creating much discussion elsewhere?

That's at least how I see Technorati as being used. Any other thoughts/ideas?

[Anysia]

One issue with Technorati scores is that they only count blogs that are either registered with Technorati or ping Technorati so it's possible links aren't counted/scored from blogs that don't use Technorati. It's a bit of an insular system.

[Amy]

Yes, the workaround for that is to ping blogs you know have linked to you...time consuming, tedious, but if a way to up your authority

[Anysia]

How does pinging blogs help (and how do you do it)? I was under the impression that the other blogs had to ping Technorati in order to be counted.

[Maw Books]

How do you do that?

[Amy]

The site has been so buggy lately that I don't even trust it, but yes it's a way to measure inbound links.

[Undine]

Yea, I noticed the bugs as I tried to use parts, which definitely turned me off, and made me wonder why it's so popular

[Nicola O.]

Yeah... I've claimed my blog, but that's about the extent of what I've done with it.

[Undine]

Thank you all for your explainations. I've claimed my blog, but I don't think I'll be doing anything else with it, unless something drastic changes...

Thank you again!