Yes, I'm a shallow Guy, but I'm now #46 in Technorati

My thanks to everyone who has linked to and evangelized this blog. As of this week, I'm in the Technorati top 50 with 3,450 links.

(This fabulous graphic is from Hugh Macleod.)

Some people are perplexed (perhaps even dismayed) with my high level of interest (aka, "obsession") in my Technorati ranking. I provide several explanations to choose from:

1. I am a shallow, insecure person whose fragile ego must be externally fed by whatever validation I can find.
2. I'm a goal oriented person. If I were a quarterback, I would keep track of touchdowns. If I were a winger, I would keep track of goals. If I were a shooting guard, I would keep track of three pointers. I'm a blogger (partially), so I keep track of links.
3. Creating a link is a voluntary act. Presumably, the linker believes that the material is worth reading and therefore created the link. By extension, the more useful one's blog becomes, the more people will link to it. The more people link to it, the higher you rise in Technorati. Thus, your Technorati ranking is a measure of your meaningfulness.
4. I just love rankings.

Thanks for all your help!

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Comments

[jim kemp]

I will use your marketing plan. Thanks,

Jim

[Candy Minx]

Candy Minx Does Guy Kawasaki.

Bring it on!

http://gnoticminx.blogspot.com/

[Chrystian Guy]

Hi Guy!
You should offer a link back to linker... your popularity might help others! :-)

Here is mine (!)
blog.cguy.org

I often cite you in it...

[GuyKawasaki]

Bryan,

Love the blog value calculation pointer. I'll let you know when I get an offer. I'll ask for $2 million and settle for $1 million. :-)

Guy

[Jeff]

Love your blog and will also confess to being a lurker! Thanks for the great humor mixed up with insanely great info!

So... how does a peewee blogger transition to a BMOC? (Blogging Man On Campus)

[Bryan Howe]

Hey Guy,

I've been a blog lurker of your for some time. This seems like a good post to add something you might find interesting as someone more interested in not just ranking, but VALUE. Your blog is worth just under $2MM. :-) Check it out http://www.business-opportunities.biz/projects/how-much-is-your-blog-worth/

[GuyKawasaki]

Brian,

Thanks for the invite. I'll try to make this happen sometime!

Guy

[GuyKawasaki]

Pradeep,

RE: Why should you be #1 in Technorati ? You are already #1 in all our hearts which is more important and even if Technorati closes down , we won't.

You're very kind! Thanks for this message.

Guy

[aadil]

I wonder what would happen if all the 3450 people linking to this blog kindly asked for a link back. :S

[dendi]

hi guy, i'm from Indonesia..
i love your blog.. make sure those inspiring writings keep coming....

[john]

3 a) The more people think you can be useful to them the more they will link to you.

Not the reason I linked to you - but there is inevitably an element of that going on as soon as ranking systems appear.

[Audiolathe]

Hey Guy -

Well done on the link log - seems like you are on the verge of Blog Addiction Disorder (BAD) though :) or maybe Link Logging Disorder(LLD), http://www.digitaldigressions.net/blog/2006/04/blog_addiction_.html

not a bad thing per se, because one needs
encouragement to write consistently great blog entries... we (your audience) just hope that the links and our spontaneous showering of compliments your way will be enough to keep you going in the future too!

Big hugs from your fans in England! By the way - are you coming over any time soon?

(another proud owner of a link to your blog :) )

[Pradeep Soundararajan]

Guy,

Why should you be #1 in Technorati ? You are already #1 in all our hearts which is more important and even if Technorati closes down , we wont.

I am turning out to be a good product analyzer just because of you , Isnt that making you prouder than getting yourself on #1 in Technorati ?

Hope you reply :D

[Brian Humphrey]

Mr. Kawasaki:

As some of your most ardent fans, we wanted to say we're honored to have the LAFD on your blog roll.

Please let us know when you will be in Southern California - lunch in the Bunker under City Hall (see our blog) is on us!

With warmest regards,

Brian Humphrey
Firefighter/Specialist
Public Service Officer
Los Angeles Fire Department

[nhira]

Alternate read on # 4. You are passionate about your product -- how would you know if your customers are delighted if you don't know how they rank you?

Congratulations!

-h

[GuyKawasaki]

Chuckk

I'm a Mac guy!

Guy

[chuckk gerwig]

Hello Guy, I see you are using Qumana. I tried Qumana and found that I like Rocketpost even better, http://www.anconia.com/rocketpost/

worth a look :)

[Jim]

According to my del.icio.us bookmarks, you have been "saved by 1240 other people ... on jan 4"

[Aristotle Pagaltzis]

You are an evangelist – a marketer. *Of* *course* you care about your Technorati ranking! :-)

I am a programmer – a cross between an engineer and a writer. *Of* *course* I don’t care one bit abour your Technorati ranking. :-)

[jf]

sorry i left out the link

http://sphere.com

[jf]

Is it not human nature to be loved?
If you are interested in blog rankings and search, look for the launch of sphere.com. Tony Conrad believes blog search is still in google page rank era and that merely counting inbound links may not be the best measure of relevancy (except for you, Guy).
Go to the website & click the Business Week interview by Stephen Baker. A fascinating 28 minutes, if you can spare it.
Congrats Guy.

[Ben Rowe]

Guy,

I don't think that you need to be apologetic at all about this.

One of the highly addictive aspects of blogging is the links, trackbacks, comments and yes, ranking.

Whether or not we admit it, we all get a buzz when someone new links to us. That's part of the fun.

[Jack Yan]

You and I can always play on stereotypes and tell others that numbers and us are “an Asian thing”. On that, you can swap your number of links and ranking around and it’ll more closely resemble my situation … (around 30,000—one extra zero—rank-wise; 69 links)!

[hugh macleod]

Thanks for the mention, Guy =)

Well, whether your stats are in the top 50 or top 50,000, as long as your ranking is on the upward trend, it's a sign that you're doing something right.

Which is why I prefer Technorati rankings over my empirical stats (hits, page views etc). It's measurable against other real, live human beings, and what they're doing. With empirical stat, you have no idea how many of these "visitors" are spambots or googlebots or whatever.

And yeah, methinks A-Listers are just as obsessed with rankings as anyone else... it's just considered bad form to admit it.

PS. As of this morning, I'm in the Techorati 100 [# 89, just one above Gothamist.com. Not quite as high as Guy but then again, I'm not complaining.]

[Chris. F. Masse .COM]

Hello Guy Kawasaki,

Thanks for your blog. I too recommend it to my people.

Now said, your next pursuit should be to get a higher Google PageRank.

Your blog is 7/10. Try to go to 9/10, like BoingBoing.

http://www.prchecker.info/check_page_rank.php
http://blog.guykawasaki.com/
http://www.boingboing.net/

You have my vote.

Good luck.