Coffee heat rising

Cool new blog metrics tool

Have you seen what Andrew at Money Crashers has gotten up to? He’s created an elaborate tool for ranking personal finance blogs. He runs nine metrics through an algorithm to calculate what he believes to be an accurate rank for each of 368 sites.

How does it compare with Wisebread’s Top 100 personal finance blogs? Well, I’m not techie enough to deliver an informed opinion, but that won’t stop me from holding forth anyway. Wisebread, from what I understand, shows site rankings by seven metrics, but bases its rankings on Alexa. By clicking on the appropriate link, you can also view listings by Technorati rank, subscribers, link authority, and compete scores.

Money Crashers’ ranking apparently combines nine metrics to come up with an amalgamated ranking taking all of them into consideration. You can view the ranking by any single metric by clicking on its icon at the top of the columns (at least, I think that’s what it’s doing…but i are a english major, i are not a i.t. guru).

Some of the likely suspects appear at the top of each ranking: Get Rich Slowly and The Simple Dollar, for example, rank among the top five in both tools. Some are radically different; Yakezie, for example, appears as number 8 in Wisebread’s and number 300 in Money Crashers’ listing.

At the moment, Funny ranks 76th at Wisebread and 182nd at Money Crashers. If I’m understanding correctly that one of them ranks solely on the basis of Alexa and the other works a bunch of sources into its ranking, then I’m inclined to suspect that Money Crashers’ figure is probably closer to reality. Alexa measures only visits to your site by people whose browsers have the Alexa toolbar. Until Financial Samurai had the idea of recruiting PF bloggers to use it by way of jacking up their Wisebread rankings, most Alexa subscribers were webmasterish sorts. The Alexa ranking, IMHO, is severely limited by the number and interests of the folks who download and activate the toolbar.

Kinda fun to contemplate the stats, though, isn’t it? And don’t you love that little piggybank in the MoneyCrasher’s badge, over there in the right sidebar??

8 thoughts on “Cool new blog metrics tool”

  1. Consumerism Commentary should NOT be on that list! That site is seriously flawed. He has set up a point system that awards you for visiting the site and once at a certain amount those points can be “cashed in” for gift cards. Uuh, that sounds like trickery or gimmicks just to increase visits to a site. So, in fact people are not visiting the site because this guy is saying something profound or meaningful. They are visiting the because they are being paid to do so. They are visiting the site so that they can get gift cards. That is wrong on so many levels.

    • @ Cam: How is that different from any giveaway? By its definition, a blog giveaway cajoles readers to subscribe and to leave comments by “paying” them with gifts. All blog giveaways are gimmicks to increase visits to the site.

  2. I agree that the Money Crashers ranking is probably more accurate than Wisebread. It is funny because I will have some high traffic days, and my Alexa ranking actually drops because not enough people that read my site have the toolbar.

    However, I like my ranking at Wisebread better… 🙂

  3. @ funny: blogs that I really really really appreciate, that have a strong point of view, and have something meaning full to say do not have giveaways. Very few if any at all. The thoughts and experiences that are being shared are treasures enough. For the people that are really and truly looking to take control of their lives and learn from the money mistake of others the prize is the wonderful post that have true and honest intentions and a lot of heart. The very few blogs that I follow that do every now and then offer some kind of give away many do not participate because it is not about the prize up for grabs. It is about this writer that really has something to say. It is about this writer that has made a lot of money mistakes ( a lot) and has learned from those mistakes. It is about this writer that is brave enough share all of their flubs, gaffes, and blunders with strangers that may giggle, whoop, and chuckle rather than accept and identify with.

    Of the 376 blogs that are being tracked and rated only 10 are of good content and have something intelligent and purposeful to say.

    Many people look at blogging as a “hustle”. In fact many money sites list blogging as a way to make extra money. With 376 + personal finance blogs it is safe to say that a lot will not be of very good quality. Their intentions will not be true and sincere for many of them. Many of these blogs contain falsehoods and inaccuracies. Which is quite dangerous for people that are looking to find trustworthy and straightforward guidance to money problems. Many of these blogs plagiarize other articles. One of the many definitions of hustle is “to be aggressive, esp. in business or other financial dealings” and “to earn one’s living by illicit or unethical means.” You even state in your post that the, “…idea of recruiting PF bloggers to use it by way of jacking up their Wisebread rankings…” Jack up, cajoles, give away, gimmicks, ploys, ruse – these are all red flags for me.

    So, you have a blogger offering points just to visit their site (to increase site hits) with the prize being a gift card. A gift card that was probably earned from taking surveys (another hustle to make extra money). Yet this pf blog is listed among conscientious and legitimate personal finance blogs with writers that do this because it brings them joy, because they could care less about ratings and hits to their site but do it with their hearts open with the hopes that it will help others. That is most foul!

    Money problems are real and the last thing that is needed when you are reading a personal finance blog are Jack ups (which benefit the blogger because that means a higher rating on google which means more money), cajoles, giveaways, gimmicks, and trickery.

    • @ Cam: Writers have to eat, too. For many writers, their blogs are part of their business. Possibly you’ve noticed that to run a business you have to draw customers and you have to keep those customers happy. Not all readers recognize or care about quality writing; other devices also need to be engaged to attract and engage readers. I don’t think that reaching out to these people is “foul” or even particularly out of the ordinary.

      There’s an easy way around this: if you feel bloggers are unethical and distasteful, restrict your reading to literary magazines published by nonprofits and universities. They need your support, and because they’re supported by donations and the taxpayers, they’re free of commercial taint. Relatively.

  4. Thank you for the awesome mention and it’s really cool to hear your analysis of the lists. I think you have a future as a techie because you did quite a good job interpreting things despite the fact you were an english major! 🙂

    Keep up the great work over here!

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