Top Ten Web Analytics Blogs : September 2006

[There is a updated version of this post: Top Ranked Blogs: April 2007.]

TurtleWelcome to the third edition of the Top Ranked Web Analytics blogs.

The evolution of the ranking system continues with a couple of tweaks to the ranking this time around. The primary determinant of the rank in the list below is still Technorati (click here).

To be considered the blog should primarily be on the topic of Web Analytics (50% or greater number of posts), as judged by a qualitative review (by me) of the last two months of posts.

Important: If you feel your blog has a higher Technorati ranking than 46k and it is not here please email me (blog at kaushik dot net). Especially if you are a non-English blog. Please contact me.

I was amazed at the change in the rankings each month (from June to July to this one). I did not expect so much flux in the rankings. Overall it is so fantastic that the number of blogs on the topic of web analytics continues to increase, as do the rankings of each blog. Viva la web analytics!!! 

Technorati
Rank Blog Sept July First Blog
Post
1 Hitwise Intelligence
by Bill Tancer
1,154 N/A N/A
2 E-Consultancy Internet Marketing Blog
by Ashley Friedlein
3,995 N/A N/A
3 Google Analytics Blog
by Jeff Gills
5,005 N/A 06/01/06
4 Occam's Razor
by Avinash Kaushik
6,591 20,124 05/14/06
5 Web Metrics Guru
by Marshall Sponder
7,126 8,086 02/09/06
6 Web Analytics World
by Manoj Jasra
35,315 N/A 05/18/06
7 Unofficial Google Analytics Blog
by Michael Harrison
36,319 61,923 12/30/05
8 Eric T. Peterson's Analytics Weblog
by Eric Peterson
36,838 91,240 05/01/04
9 Increasing your website's conversion rate
by Robbin Steif
43,761 76,223 10/22/05
10 Inside Web Analytics
by Matt Belkin
46,027 N/A 08/16/05

Some personal observations:

  • Any blog you see with a N/A in the July column was not on the list in July (and now they have the top three spots !).
  • Hitwise inclusion was a tough one because they are not “typical web analytics”, atleast most people don’t think so. In my mind Competitive Analysis is very much a cornerstone of any solid web analytics programs (Business case: click here & Usage: click here).
  • I am glad to see international representation continues with the E-consultancy blog.
  • Standards work. In the first list there was correct critique that not everyone will use, or have claimed a blog on, Technorati. This list proves that if you go out and suggest a standard people will figure out how to get on the standard. (And I thank you all for that.)
  • Competition is really tough in the blogosphere (hence gains of web analytics blogs are even more impressive). In mid-July it would have taken a blogger roughly 190 unique blog links to get a sub-10,000 technorati ranking. As of today a blogger would need approximately 230 unique blog links. Amazing.
  • You would have needed 58 unique blog links to make it to the list above today.

A Personal Best Blogs Ranking:

Here is my personal ranking of the “best” web analytics blogs (using the criteria that they “Eat like a bird, and poop like an elephant”). They get the ORbAK Stamp of Thanks! (and maybe a golden star to put on their blog : )).

    # 1: This Just In – Justin Cutroni
    (I am amazed at how much Justin contributes to the community, soon he will work himself out of a job because rather than hiring him I’ll just use his blog to fix every problem I have!! : )

    # 2: Increasing your website's conversion rate – Robbin Steif
    (The irrepressible Ms. Steif’s blog has a wealth of practical knowledge for any web analytics practitioner. Her honesty is to die for. : ))

    # 3: Commerce 360 Blog – Craig Danuloff
    (Craig shares a very unique real world perspective that I find very refreshing. He is frank, he adds a lot of value and his personality shines through clearly.)  

If you don’t have them on your RSS reader then I highly recommend them.

I’ll repeat the six “reporting tips” that I have collated in the process of doing these rankings: 

  1. Global standards and benchmarks are great because people buy into them more easily
  2. Simplicity always wins over complexity, because what people understand better they are more likely to action
  3. Judgment should be applied with a lot of careful consideration because reasonable people might disagree with someone they don’t know
  4. In any report context is king, provide the right context
  5. Be aware of hidden agendas, your’s and those of others
  6. Be open and up front with your assumptions
  7. Solicit feedback from your report consumers and incorporate relevant feedback in future iterations

So what do you think? How else can the ranking or the criteria be improved? Please share your feedback via comments.

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Comments

  1. 1

    Thanks Avinash! Proud to be on your list and I'll aspire towards the main one. – Craig

  2. 2

    Thank you for this great list!
    While adding some to my Google Reader I noticed that Web Analytics World link appears to led to the Google Analytics blog.
    I believe this link should be http://manojjasra.blogspot.com/

    Again, thanks for compiling this list!
    Theresa

  3. 3

    Theresa: Ahhh the joys of blogging at midnight! : )

    Thanks for pointing out the error, it is fixed now (sorry Manoj).

    -Avinash.

  4. 4

    That's alright, nice to be included in some great company. However there is quite the jump from 6th to 5th

  5. 5

    Glad Avinash's blog had moved up and I think keeping this list is a good thing as it's making Web Analytics more popular. I bet HitWise got the idea to put the tag on it's blog because of Avinash's list.

  6. 6

    I guess my blog probably didn't meet the 50% requirement this time. Congrats to everyone who made the list, there are some great blogs here.

  7. 7

    Hi Avinash,

    Thanks for the kind words and acknowledgement.

    If anyone out there is interested in how to get a #1 ranking from Avinash I'll share my secret KPIs at eMetrics!!! :)~

    Have a great week.

    Justin

  8. 8

    Hey! Do you hate me? Why did you remove me from the list :-)

  9. 9

    Emmanuel: No hate on this blog of any sort! :)

    I had written to you twice (June 22 and July 05) after publication of the first list in June to check with you if you would meet the "rules" for being in the list. You had replied on July 6th that your blog was about online media strategy and marketing and global strategy on audience recruitment. Since you had mentioned that your blog did not cover web analytics around 50% for the next iteration it was not in the pool of blogs considered.

    I'll be more than happy to reconsider your blog. Let us take this off line and discuss.

    We want this list to be the best it can be, that includes all blogs on the topic no matter where they are in the world and no matter what language.

    -Avinash.

  10. 10

    Thanks Avinash, that's right, my blog is not 100% based on tech stuff about web-analytics but more on media strategy and business. Agree with the rules …

  11. 11

    Hi Avinash,

    Since December is ending and you will probably publish in the next month your "Top Ten Web Analytics Blogs" series for the last Q, I thought I might add a comment that just came to my mind.

    Google blog search. I think it is an interesting parameter as to a blog's relevancy. Here is a search for "web analytics" at all times, and here is a search for Q4 (in case you want to measure only the posts published in the period you are studying).

    You might want to add this variable to your complex multivariate model!

    Best wishes…
    Daniel Waisberg

Trackbacks

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