Apr 12 2007

The top 100 Most Popular Australian Blogs

Published by at 11:46 pm under Australia,Australian Blogs,blogging,craigslist

So Craig Harper, without any fanfare (except for a post on Duncan Riley’s blog) has silently added a “Top 100 Australian Bloggers List” (based on Technorati rankings) to the sidebar of his home page.

I’m a big fan of Craig’s motivational blog, he’s a terrific writer and I think that just about any person can click away from Craig’s blog feeling a little more enriched for the experience.

Now I’m a strong advocate of the Aussie Blogosphere, and I’ve actually been collating a list of my own – but I’m glad that Craig’s undertaken to put this on his site and is maintaining to keep it updated weekly.

Craig’s List is based on Technorati rankings.

Basically, Technorati is a blog monitoring source that keeps track of all the blogs that have registered on the site. Registering is relatively easy and free, and if you’re new to blogging, and serious about it, it really is a must as it helps others (and lists like this!) to find your blog.

Technorati also keeps track of links between blogs, and rates blogs according to a few different factors (from what I understand);

  • the number of total links to your blog
  • the number of individual blogs linking to your blog and
  • how many people favourite your blog

So in essence Technorati is a voting system between blogs. And thus a “top 100” list will show you the blogs that other bloggers have voted for.

But what about non-bloggers? What if a site is attractive to those who don’t blog? Additionally, some blogs have global appeal, whilst others have a more regional appeal (ie Australia).

Alexa recently introduced a system of ranking websites within a country by popularity (albeit amongst Alexa toolbar users). One could argue that the nature of some website (ie tech blogs), may lead to a more favourable ranking than others. I can’t dispute this.

But one can also argue that bloggers, per se, are more likely to adopt the toolbar than the general population, so looking at Alexa ratings within a country is no less accurate than ranking blogs by the number of links to a blog from other blogs.

So let’s look at another way of dissecting this top 100 list. Which sites are popular with Australians (read Australian Alexa toolbar users)?

To do this I took Craig’s top 100 list and visited every site noting both the site Alexa ranking, and the ranking within Australia. It made a real difference to the list.

A couple of clarifications. Firstly, some of these sites were, what I term “multiple blogs”. This refers to where more than one blogger was sharing a domain (but excluding wordpress.com blogs and blogspot which are capable of being ranked individually). So too, there are blogs on larger, or popular domains such as abc.net and news.com.au. Giving these blogs the benefit of the doubt, they have maintained their Technorati ranking from Craig’s original list.

I have included 3 blogs that are Australian and belong on the list (based on Technorati rankings) that were not included on Craig’s list.

I have removed 3 blogs – 1. ladieslounge.blogspot.com, as the author has publicly announced she has “quit” the blog, 2. junglejamie.com because the blog is now a splog (parked domain), and 3. Chasemeladies.blogspot.com because I cannot for the life of me identify this is an Australian blog (and indeed seems a tad derogatory towards Aussies).

Also of note – that of 100 bloggers (from the list of 100 blogs) that could be identified by sex (note: some were collaborative blogs – more than one author, some were too hard to count, and others anonymous), 63% were male and 37% were women.

Showing my ineptitude for highly technical stuff, I’m sorry that you’re going to have to view this list as an image rather than a table – it’s just not working for me :(

Top Australian Blogs in Australia

(Please click on image and then click again to zoom in)

Top 100 Aussie Blogs by Australian Audience

DNR = Did Not Rank
n/a = not applicable

Update: The Wrong Advices – Random thoughts of a dot com orphan should also be included on the original list at number 44, and number 13 on the Alexa List.

If any other blogs have been missed, please leave them in the comments below :)

Please note the most recent list can be found at blogpond.com.au/top-100-australian-blogs-index/

34 responses so far

34 Responses to “The top 100 Most Popular Australian Blogs”

  1. # dan1elon 13 Apr 2007 at 4:06 am

    No aussie love for me? :)

    This is a great list though. I’ve been dying to try to find an easy way to connect with other aussie bloggers so I feel like I’ve hit the jackpot here.

  2. # Megon 13 Apr 2007 at 8:12 am

    Hi dan1el

    Well you should be there :) at # 44 on the original (Technorati) list and #13 on the Alexa list!

    As the list has only just been compiled I’m sure there’ll be some fine tuning.

    If anyone else feels they’ve been overlooked – please feel free to leave a comment.

  3. # Luke McCallumon 13 Apr 2007 at 8:28 am

    Looks like I will have to lift my game! I dont even rank! :(

  4. # Megon 13 Apr 2007 at 8:40 am

    Hi Luke

    But with a new bub, you can be excused. How is Sebatstien? Isn’t it time you posted some more pics? :)

  5. # Luke McCallumon 13 Apr 2007 at 9:53 am

    Thanks Meg! Seb is doing great! I can do you one better and send you a whole gallery!

  6. # Megon 13 Apr 2007 at 10:07 am

    Cool – I’m a sucker for baby pics. Will the cluckiness EVER fade :)

  7. # Leighon 13 Apr 2007 at 10:19 am

    What a fab list Meg, thanks! I just love checking out all things Aussie. Will you be keeping it up to date, and possibly a clickable list..don’t want much 😛

    So your list ranking just by Alexa AU alone?

  8. # Megon 13 Apr 2007 at 10:27 am

    Hi Leigh

    Firstly – hat’s off to Craig for doing the original compilation – I’m assuming he’s automated the updates to his list (as it is awfully time consuming).

    I know the list is in a shocking format! I just simply wanted to get it DONE before bed, but I’ll work on prettying it up into a clickable list. As for keeping it up to date it’s a pretty tedious process (as you can understand) – but I’m sure there’s a bright spark out there that could figure a way to automate it. Just way beyond my capabilities :(

    I did grab all the Alexa “global” stats at the same time. They’re all plugged into a spreadsheet – it just made sense for the post to look at the AU market – to highlight what blogs are popular with Aussie readers.

  9. # Leighon 13 Apr 2007 at 10:49 am

    Opps..I did mean to say Meg AND Craig :)

    It would be very nifty if someone could come up with an automated list. Perhaps even a Womens list too.

    My blog technically (but not really) could be in at #3..Wow, so close to Darren I can smell him 😆

  10. # Megon 13 Apr 2007 at 10:58 am

    Ooh yes, 880 on Alexa AU – great stuff :)

  11. # Top 100 Aussie Blogs by Australian Audience (take 2) « Dipping into the Blogpondon 13 Apr 2007 at 1:09 pm

    […] Dipping into the Blogpond Blogging with an Australian Flair « The top 100 Most Popular Australian Blogs […]

  12. # James Farmeron 13 Apr 2007 at 1:43 pm

    There’s always http://edublogs.org – all Australian owned etc :)

  13. # dan1elon 13 Apr 2007 at 2:02 pm

    Cheers Meg. :)

    What program are you using for the list?

    If I can find some time I might try to code something to crawl Technorati. Only problem is they don’t have an easy way to find and navigate Australian blogs. At best I could code something to adjust the rankings day to day but new blogs would have to be added manually.

    Anyway I’ll look into it.

  14. # Megon 13 Apr 2007 at 3:47 pm

    Hi James

    I thought I saw one on the list 😉

  15. # Megon 13 Apr 2007 at 6:04 pm

    Hi dan1el

    Ummm I used Excel!

    Wow if there was any way to automate it that would make updates a lot easier!

    But Craig Harper would be the best one to talk to about how he’s running his list – mine was merely a different angle.

  16. # dan1elon 15 Apr 2007 at 8:07 pm

    It looks like Craig is using a program to crawl Technorati to check the rank for sites on the list but not new sites. I guess he’d be inputing them manually. With the poor navigation Technorati has I don’t think there would be any other way.

    The one thought I had though was to use BlogCatalog’s country index as a way of checking for new blogs. It’s not a perfect solution but it would grow the list quite significantly.

  17. # Megon 15 Apr 2007 at 8:49 pm

    Hi Dan1el!

    I believe it is a manual process :( It is difficult to identify new sites and similarly identify them as Australian. BlogCatalog is great, but I don’t know that it has wide enough appeal – and certainly not among the more “traditional” blogs.

    http://theaustralianindex.com only lists Australian blogs (2471 currently) and also includes a technorati rank for many of the blogs, and the ability to sort by technorati rank as well (although the “unreviewed” ones are displayed first). It’s a pretty good directory. I’m not sure how often they update the technorati rank, but it’s possible that it’s as a new entry is posted on each blog.

    I spent quite some time yesterday actually working out an algorithm to combine both Technorati and Alexa rankings which is pretty exciting. But more on that to come later.

    And yes – it still requires manual input :(

  18. # dan1elon 16 Apr 2007 at 9:34 pm

    The Australian Index is another good find.

    Inputing manually is a pain. I guess people who are serious about blogging and being on a list like this will just have to find you.

    An algorithm joining the two sounds good. Might even boost my ranking. :)

  19. # Megon 16 Apr 2007 at 9:47 pm

    Hi Dan

    Crunching as we speak :)

  20. # Mouaon 17 Apr 2007 at 7:59 pm

    Hi!
    I think that could be interesting to compare this list with the corresponding Technorati rank.
    Moua,

  21. # Gavin Heatonon 18 Apr 2007 at 2:49 pm

    Thanks for including me in your list. Looks like a lot of work!

  22. # Megon 18 Apr 2007 at 2:52 pm

    Hi Gavin

    You’re most welcome. It is a lot of work, but for a good cause.

  23. # Stephen Collinson 18 Apr 2007 at 4:16 pm

    Hey, Meg. By your formula, acidlabs ought to be at #67, the same place it is on Craig’s site.

    Not that I’m looking for traffic or anything; my audience falls pretty tightly into the information architecture and usability plus web applications development space. Posts are largely on topic, so the audience breadth isn’t huge.

  24. # Megon 18 Apr 2007 at 4:35 pm

    Hi Stephen

    You’re absolutely spot on.! I already had you flagged for the next update (don’t know how I missed including it – you’re on the directory and everything).

    Humblest apologies :(

  25. # myleson 19 Apr 2007 at 9:55 am

    what about news.com.au blogs? seems they have a technorati blog rating of 10!!

    http://technorati.com/blogs/http://www.news.com.au

  26. # Megon 19 Apr 2007 at 11:01 am

    Hi Myles

    Ah yes, but that’s for the whole domain – not individual blogs :)

  27. # The Blog Columnist » Top 100 Australian Blogs, The Age and how old media don’t get it … yeton 19 Apr 2007 at 5:33 pm

    […] The top 100 Most Popular Australian Blogs […]

  28. # Michelleon 22 Apr 2007 at 12:27 am

    I think this subject is well worthy of attention and it is great to see a list compiled of Australian bloggers and not focussing on the US bloggers. I didn’t make the list – I am tipped at number 114 – so I will have to work even harder to see if I can move my way up.

  29. # Megon 22 Apr 2007 at 12:32 am

    Hi Michelle

    Thanks for your comment. Guess what! You made the latest update (number 96)! See http://blogpond.wordpress.com/top-100-australian-blogs-index/

  30. # junglejamieon 22 Apr 2007 at 6:59 pm

    Hi Meg

    Hey, why is my site a splog??? I don’t get it… and I feel very left out…

    junglejamie

  31. # Megon 22 Apr 2007 at 7:13 pm

    Hi JungleJamie

    When I recently visited your site (maybe it was down or had be hijacked?) it was showing a parked domain with lots of adsense – no content or anything. I had previously visited your site (catchy title!), but thought the blog must have lapsed. (I have a screenshot that I can send you).

    Your blog is full of wonderful content, and just yesterday I put it back on the list to be checked at the next index update.

    I’m sorry that you feel left out ;( but hope you understand that when I visited, it looked like anything BUT a good quality blog.

  32. # Megon 22 Apr 2007 at 7:15 pm

    Actually, Alexa have a snapshot of the site:

    http://www.alexa.com/data/details/traffic_details?url=junglejamie.com

  33. # junglejamieon 25 Apr 2007 at 10:13 pm

    Hi Meg,

    I found out what the problem was… I had http://www.junglejamie.com set up, but junglejamie.com was going to the GoDaddy parked page. So I’m glad you pointed it out, because now I’ve fixed the problem.

    It is a great list by the way. Kudos to Craig Harper and you for compiling it.

    Jamie

  34. # Megon 25 Apr 2007 at 10:37 pm

    Hi Jamie

    I’m so glad you got it sorted :)