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How to become a Famous Blogger

Madeleine — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 20:31:00 +0000

As MandM have recently been flagellated with the following non-sequitur [no link as the accusers righteously distance themselves from seeking readership from any source not purist enough to already follow their blogs for blogging solely for joy in their niche category and as we would hate to offend by increasing either's Technorati ranking (is mentioning that both have Technorati accounts an accusation of hypocrisy?) we respectfully do not link to them here]. The non-sequitur alleged against us is,

[1] If you appear to pay attention to how your blog ranks, its readership and other stats; then
[2] You are blogging with the wrong motives.

The conclusion does not follow from the premises. The missing premise is that if you pay attention to something then this is your primary motive. It is like saying that because you pay attention to how much you are being paid, your only motivation to work is to get paid and then in a bizarre attempt to avoid materialism allow your family to starve with no income.

We realised, as we wallowed in our “shame” and “self-indulgence” for expressing stokedness at being the number 1 New Zealand Christian Blog in HalfDone’s rankings for March 09, that our only option was to embrace the dilemma and confess our sins; yes we have a tracking counter *sob* and a Technorati account and not only do we publish the top 10 NZ Christian blog rankings in which we consistently feature somewhat prominently but when we feature at the top of a New Zealand blog ranking report it does give us a brief, momentary surge of accomplishment [I know, I know, penitence, penitence for such wanton emotions - our accusers pay no attention whatsoever to their readership and we should follow their pietistic example].

As such, we feel obligated to share our strategy, it is the least we can do to make up for our indiscretions. In Well I’ll Be Blogrolled! Dr Doug Geivett provides sage instruction as to how to obtain your 15 minutes in the chart published below. We adhere to this religiously (and we spend many hours each week researching and writing our blogs when we could be getting on with our lives but I am sure that has nothing whatsoever to do with our ranking “success” and speaks only to our motives). /sarcasm>

I will leave it to our readers to work out which route we have taken.

Christian Blog Rankings Feb 09 – HalfDone

Madeleine — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 09:22:00 +0000

Here are the top 10 NZ Christian blogs based on HalfDone’s NZ blog stats for February; these stats are used in the calculations for the MandM top 10 NZ Christian Blog rankings for February 09:

NZ Conservative 10
Something Should Go Here, Maybe Later (HalfDone) 12
MandM 26
Keeping Stock 28
Samuel Dennis 30
The Briefing Room 35
Being Frank 40
Kiwi Polemicist 51
Put up Thy Sword 55
Say Hello to my Little Friend (Beretta Blog) 68

Top 10 Half Done. name of blog Half Done rank

Of Note:

The top 12 made the top 100!
The gaps are closing and each month more Christian blogs are emerging and climbing the rankings (don’t forget to make sure you are being ranked by Tumeke as well as HalfDone)
Welcome to the top 10 Being Frank!

Other Christian blogs making the top 200 NZ blogs on Public Discourse but outside the top 10:

Contra Celsum 74
Christian News 97
The Humanitarian Chronicle 101
Gavin Knight 105
Semper Vita 118
Blessed Economist 129
Section 59 Blog 162
Courage to tremble 168
NZ Debate 171
Stu’s a-Musings (Definitive) 184
The Voice of Reason NZ N/A

Note: This list only includes Christian blogs that are openly identified as Christian blogs on HalfDone’s and Tumeke’s rankings. If you think your blog should be on the MandM top 10 NZ Christian Blogs rankings get on Tumeke’s rankings and ask Tim to ensure your blog description includes something identifiably Christian. More here.

Once Tumeke’s February stats are out we will compare and average the two sets of results and publish the MandM top 10 NZ Christian Blog rankings for February 09.

Consider linking to the NZ Christian Blog rankings to help people find quality Christian blogs.

MandM in the Challenge

Matt — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 07:53:00 +0000

Madeleine’s top ranking of the top 10 Christian blogs has been picked up by the Challenge Weekly, a conservative, evangelical newspaper. She was interviewed for it before she went into surgery, the following is an extract from the article which was published on Dec 8, 2008.

In the NZ Blogosphere

by John McNeil

His ability to exploit internet-based social networking is widely credited with being a major reason behind Barack Obama’s success in the US presidential race.

Web logs or blogs are an integral part of that networking process, and some of the more successful New Zealand bloggers – such as David Farrar and Russell Brown – are now becoming media personalities in their own right.

Internet users are increasingly turning to blogs as an information outlet additional to traditional sources such as newspapers and television.

With the number of New Zealand bloggers estimated to be in the thousands, how are Christians measuring up?

Tim Selwyn, from Tumeke Blog, measures the most popular type of blogs, those that engage in public debate, and each month issues a New Zealand ranking. Using his figures, long-time Christian bloggers Matthew and Madeleine Flannagan have discovered that writers bringing a Christian viewpoint are achieving an encouraging response.

They say the top 10 Christian blogs fall within the 150 most read blogs. The most popular of these is New Zealand Conservative, compiled by a group of Catholic writers. The Flannagan’s own – MandM – has risen to fourth position among Christian writers, and 50th overall.

“We are getting close to 3,000 unique visitors per month. We put the rise in visitors down to our commitment to quality, considered posts from a philosophical perspective that are relevant to a broad range of people, Christian and non-Christian alike,” Mrs. Flannagan said.

Most of them enjoy respect from non-Christian blogs, however, she said, writers have to be strong enough to take the knocks as well. “At the moment I’m putting up with an online voting poll about who is the sexiest blogger. I have been named as one of the finalists, and people are writing in with some fairly lewd comments. There is nothing I can do about it.”

“Christians sticking their necks out publicly on issues like abortion and homosexuality also come in for some abuse and threats that the secular blogs affirming these issues do not.”

Mrs Flannagan said she was passionate about blogging as she found it an excellent way to get the Christian viewpoint across and to smash the false assumption that Christians had nothing of interest to offer in the public square. …

The New Zealand Christian Blog Rankings

Madeleine — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 22:27:00 +0000

In September I extrapolated from Tim Selwyn’s Tumeke Blog rankings, and published the top 10 New Zealand Christian blogs on public discourse. The post where I did this proved surprisingly popular and as other bloggers have since requested that I do this every month, I have decided that I will.

At the moment I rank the top 10 as these fall in the top 150 of all NZ blogs on public discourse but if more Christian blogs climb the public lists then I will expand my list accordingly.

I think it is only fair that I explain how I identify a Christian Blog as some blogs that are run by Christians did not make my list. It is simple. To be a Christian Blog you must self-identify that your blog contributes to the public blogosphere from an overtly Christian perspective and this must be recorded on Tumeke’s stats. In other words, and because I don’t have the time to replicate what Tim Selwyn does, you can’t have it both ways, you cannot appear on Tumeke’s stats as seemingly secular or “neutral” and then quietly pop up on mine as Christian; a Christian, by definition, does not hide their faith.

That’s not to say there is anything wrong with a Christian running a blog on public discourse who chooses to not make their blog a Christian blog. If someone does not wish to overtly identify their blog as a Christian blog it does not make them any less a Christian as everything they write will naturally be coloured from their faith anyway and ultimately it is their choice as to what format their blog takes and how they pitch it to the blogosphere.

Likewise, it is my choice as to which ones I will rank and it is easier and seems to me more fitting to rank the overtly Christian blogs.

How to Make the Rankings
To rank the top 10 Christian blogs I wait for the monthly blog rankings to come out, usually towards the end of the following month, then I run a search for terms such as ‘Christian’, ‘Christianity’, ‘Theology’, ‘Faith’. Any blogs that come up with those terms then get listed in the order that Tumeke ranks them.

As such, if you wish your blog to feature in the top NZ Christian Blog Rankings do not contact me, rather observe the following as to make my rankings you have to be on Tim’s Tumeke rankings, if you think your blog meets the criteria, e.g. is NZ related and focussed on public discourse, then:

Check to see if your blog currently features in Tumeke’s stats.
If it does not, or if it is not described correctly, then contact Tim Selwyn and provide the following information:

Blog Title and Blog Address
Very short description as to what your blog is about (less than 8 words)
The name of each blogger
The general ideological position of each blogger e.g. right, left, centre
The specific ideological position or political affiliation or religion of each blogger
Check your site is listed with Alexa, if it is not, take 5 minutes and register it – click the link and type your blog address into “lookup website” then add your site info. You don’t have to download the toolbar or place a widget on your site though doing this will help your stats rise. (Tim’s formula uses your Alexa ranking)

Is your site is listed with Technorati? If it is not, take 5 minutes to register and claim it – click the link, create an account, add and claim your blog. You do not have to do anything else though adding a widget will help your stats to rise. (Tim’s formula uses your Technorati incoming links)

If you make the Top NZ Christian Blog list put one of these buttons on your site pointing to this link:

Put a good free stat counter on your blog, set it to both not count your visits and to count uniques and email Tim your stats for the relevant month he is working on. (This step is not vital, but if you don’t do this, Tim will rely on Alexa’s unique count for your blog or he will assign you a guestimate and this may not be accurate.)

Make sure you link to MandM (ok well, links to MandM are not part of Tim’s formula but think how cool your blog will be!)

Now, climbing the rankings is another story entirely and while the net is full of ways to aid this the best way to climb the rankings is to make sure your content is interesting.