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Top 100 Blogs have an Average Age of 33.8 months

Posted By Darren Rowse 17th of October 2006 Pro Blogging News 0 Comments

“How do I get in the Technorati Top 100?”

A new blogger asked me this question last week and my first suggestion to them was that most blogs in the top 100 had been active for quite a long time. My answer was off the top of my head and I’ve been pondering whether it was an accurate statement ever since I made it.

So this afternoon I was taking a look through Technorati’s Top 100 blogs to see what lessons I could learn from ‘top blogs’ I decided to see if I was right.

I spent a couple of hours surfing each blog in the list and searching through their archives to see how many months each blog had been at it for.

What I found was that those blogs that I was able to get a figure on had an average length (mean) of blogging of 33.8 months.

The median figure was 28 months (ie half the blogs have been going for longer than 28 months and half shorter than 28 months.

At a glance I guess my statement was right – however it’s worth keeping in mind that 16 of the 78 blogs have been going 12 months or less (the most prominent (Tech Crunch at #8) has only been going 6 months – correction – TechCrunch has been going for 18 or so months – after a couple of hours of analysing the figures I started seeing double and their archives section only goes back as far as May for some reason).

So what can we learn from these numbers? I’d be interested to hear what others get from them – ultimately they don’t prove anything (there are both old and new blogs in the list – just like there are millions of old and new blogs not in the list).

What do I take away from it?

  1. It reminds me to be patient and to take a long term approach to my blogging
  2. It inspires me with the reminder that some blogs do rise quickly through the ranks

Following is a graph that plots the blogs length of blogging with the most highly ranked sites on the left and the lower ranked sites on the right).

200610162303

Following is a spread of all 78 blogs from longest to shortest length.

200610162258

Disclaimers

  • I was not able to find a figure for each of the 100 blogs. For some this was due to me not being able to speak the language of some of the blogs (I did get the information for some non english blogs) and for others it was because there was no way of finding the archives (something that surprised me) and for a few it was because they were not actually blogs (why is Harvard University’s site in the top 100 blogs?). In total I found a figure for 78 blogs.
  • By no means would I encourage readers to take this as scientific research. I only took a few hours to put it together.
  • Some of the blogs that I included used to be on other domains – I did include the archives from these domains where I could find them (for example Robert Scoble’s blog).
About Darren Rowse
Darren Rowse is the founder and editor of ProBlogger Blog Tips and Digital Photography School. Learn more about him here and connect with him on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.
Comments
  1. Excellent post and guidance, Darren. Indeed the most important lesson is patience, but I bet you found out a lot of other things along the way. It’s been a long time since I took a tour of the top 100. I recommend everyone do so … especially for those just starting out, you’ll get answers to so many of those questions and get ideas for honing and defining your own niche in ways that other’s advice just can’t tell you. I had a photography coach years ago … remember film? … whose assignment for all new students was, “Go shoot 1,000 exposures and then come back and we’ll talk.” Sort of like visiting 100+ blogs, perhaps?

  2. I have been collecting stats on my site for almost a year (started Dec 05) and have been putting off “analyzing” them – mostly due to the slight disappointment that there has not been nearly as much growth as I had hoped.

    My idea of patience was 12 months – maybe I need to extend my timeline :-)

    Thanks

  3. I’ve never thought of looking at the top 100, thanks.

    Something to do in my spare time. :) It will be interesting, I know.

    Patience is good, always, I guess.

    Thanks.

  4. Nitpicker says: 10/17/2006 at 1:26 am

    Techcrunch started June 11, 2005. So, it’s not old, but not as young as you say. Here is the birthday post: http://www.techcrunch.com/2006/06/12/techcrunch-turns-one-year-old/

  5. Thank you for that information. I’ve often wondered how long it will be before a blog will gain momentum. We live in a want-it-now world (at least in the US) and patience is a lost virtue, along with hard work.

  6. I was looking at that list last week too…dreaming about seeing my name in lights.

    One thing from reading your post is that it would be kind of neat if us bloggers put our inception date somewhere prominantly on the site.

    A “Blogging Since Feb. 2005” would be fun to see.

  7. Nice article, but TechCrunch has been around a lot longer than 6 months – the farthest back I could find was June of 2005, and a comment in that post said ‘congratulations on 5 months’

    http://www.techcrunch.com/2005/06/11/technorati-new-improved/

  8. I’m still not sure I understand the actual value of a good Technorati ranking.

    Personally, I think a site that has lots of links (even if many of them are over 6 months old) has much more authority than a new site with less links — but all of them recent. Can’t see I understand the rationale behind the algorithm.

  9. Makes sense to me…

    It seems like it’s almost a first-to-market kind of thing. How can a new blog get more links than one that already has a few thousand???

    Anyone in the blogging game right now has big leap on someone starting up in say 2009!

    – Bryan

  10. Makes sense to me…

    It seems like it’s almost a first-to-market kind of thing. How can a new blog get more links than one that already has a few thousand???

    Anyone in the blogging game right now has big leap on someone starting up in say 2009!

    – Bryan

  11. great research. as mentioned, it’s always a good reminder to not abandon a new blog after a few months since no one is visiting. i suppose it’s sort of like the first hour of a party when no one has arrived yet. But give it a little while longer and edge up to that critical mass… then again i suppose if your blog is boring, people won’t stay long at the party. (reminds me of my youth actually)

  12. Thanks for putting things into a time-perspective. And for helping me find a a bunch of new blogs I´ve missed.

  13. […] Necesito envejecer “blogueando” para estar en el Technorati Top 100? La respuesta es no. Darren Rowse, de Problogger se tomó la molestia de investigar de entre los blogs de esta lista “privilegiada” y resultó que el promedio de existencia de los bloggers de ahi era de 33.8 meses. […]

  14. Chris says: 10/17/2006 at 4:13 am

    Thanks for looking at how long the top blogs have been published. This shows that blogs, as in anything else, takes time to incubate to become successful and profitable.

  15. I got this shuddering feeling that I lost my archive list when I changed templates last month. Whew. I was wrong.

    There are so many details to learn when you start a blog. I hope that by the time I hit the top 100 I have a better grip on it all. 3 years might be just the right amount of time.

    (giggle)

  16. Interesting stats, Darren. It’s a bit of a mystery to me as to why TechCrunch is so insanely popular, being that the site’s so very, very simple w/ a rather boring design/layout.

  17. I think when newbies start a blog (me being a relative newbie) we think that everyone should be reading our blog. What I didn’t realise is the amount of time it takes to build up a readership and to build up some ‘word of mouth’ popularity.

  18. Tech Crunch is over a year old — it was started mid 2005 if I recall correctly.

  19. […] An interesting post on ProBlogger about the average age for blogs in the Technorati Top 100 is 33.8 months (roughly 2 1/2 years).  An interesting point for those looking for commonality among consistantly popular blogs. […]

  20. Its very true what you have said in the past that blogging success requires a long term view. Like most things in life hard work, perservance and persistence seem to be the keys to success. Oh and a bit of passion for what you are writing about is vital otherwise there is little incentive to keep up the consistency required.

  21. […] Die Frage “Wie komme ich in die diversen Ranking-Listen” dürfte wohl viele Blogger bewegen – zumindest zu Anfang. Insofern ist es durchaus interessant, was Darren Rowse über das Alter der Top 100 Blogs bei Technorati (technorati.com) zusammengetragen hat. Er hat bei 78 Blogs das Alter ermittelt (siehe auch https://problogger.com): What I found was that those blogs that I was able to get a figure on had an average length (mean) of blogging of 33.8 months. […]

  22. Great site, thanks for that analysis. That is something I have wondered about, thanks for pointing out a “long term view.”
    I have been blogging for over a year and my own readership has steadily increased.

  23. Good post…

    Looking at the top 100 blogs gives me “hope” that my blog can still be successful.

    I’m a relatively new blogger and like Bryan said, your post makes perfect sense. Older blogs rightly have the upper hand – readers will stay loyal to loyal bloggers.

    Grayson De Ritis – I disagree with your views on Technorati, its simplicity and layout is what makes it stand out from the crowd, similar to YouTube and Flickr, Technorati has filled a much needed niche in the market.

  24. Top 100 Blogs have an Average Age of 33.8 months…

    Darren from problogger.net doing some statistics about the top 100 blogs…

  25. I totally agree that when comes to blogging, you got to look at the long term. I remember when I first started, it was so hard to build traffic to your website (there’s billions websites on the internet) and it just so hard to get notice.

    You look at other sites and you see their readership is in the thousands. It’s indeed amazing but yea, you’ll get there if you enjoy what you’r doing and keep on doing it I believe.

  26. I thought the median value was the most occurring value and that the mean would have half the users either side?

  27. Time starved as I am to do ANYTHING, I hope to check out the top 100 at some point.

    Good to get some perspective though. I’d be interested in finding out time frames on how long your ‘typical’ blogger keeps blogging for until they run out of ‘puff’/inspiration/money/time/life. That way, I can keep hacking away and say to myself once I reach a mean “ha! well, I’ve stuck at it longer than most’. That would be an achievement in itself.

  28. […] How do I get to Technorati top 100? I got this from the Problogger.net post. He said that he analyzed that Technorati top 100 blogs, and the average time that these blogs have been around is 33.8 MONTHS! […]

  29. Rt: Mode is the most frequent value, mean is the average (sum of all numbers divided by the number of numbers), and median is the middle value where the 1/2 data points falls to the left and 1/2 falls to the right.

  30. My blog has been running for 4 years! Even before I knew that the tool called Moveable Type that I started it with was a “blogging” tool. I learned the term after I was using it for quite some time. I have since switched to WordPress, and loving it.

    But, I still don’t have half as many readers as I would like.

    Anyway, time alone won’t make you a star!

  31. […] Darren over at problogger has written today about the top 100 blogs at technorati, and the fact that they have an average age of 33.8 months. A closer analysis of this list shows that out of the top thirty, fifteen are about tech/blogging/software. […]

  32. […] Smart Bitches Who Love Trashy Novels (oh, that name makes my knees weak) rounds up the Dooce-Kensington commentary, and opines that the day in which you could make a liveable income off of your blog is long gone. But how can it be long gone, when it never arrived in the first place? Besides, as Darren Rowse pointed out recently, the average top-100 blog has been in operation for close to 3 years. This ain’t no get-rich-quick scheme. I think Smart Bitch Sarah does have a point, though. Personally, I see online writers cobbling their incomes together from a variety of blogging and freelance gigs, and not from a single monolithic source. But who knows? We’re still at the tip of online publishing, not at its end. […]

  33. I can see the value in being ‘older’; you have much more content, and all of your ‘starter posts’ are hidden away in the archives, My site is only a few months old and I dont expect it to get huge or at the top of the list, but I plan on keeping it alive, as with anything, the more practice you have in it the better it will be. So in a year, hopefully, my posts will be much better in terms of writing style and topic.

    I wouldnt want to jump to the top right away, I have always been one that has to slowly creep into the pool, not the one that can just dive right in.

  34. Very interesting post – thanks for that. My guess about Harvard being in the top 100 is that the university hosts student and faculty blogs. Of course, that’s actually a lot of people’s individual blogs rather than one, so shouldn’t really count…

  35. I’ve been dirty secret confessional style mlogging (mom blogging) for about five or six weeks now. I know my blog is in its infancy, but I’ve found that getting hooked up with others’ blog rolls and ring surfs has garnered me a little audience action, both unique visits and returning. I’m up to about 50 unique visits per day, with only about 10 repeat readers each day. That’s a very broad average and hardly worth tracking yet. I feel encouraged, though. Having your blog reviewed and/or commented on by other prominent bloggers along the same topic as your blog doesn’t hurt either. Most fun few weeks of my journalism life. There’s a rush with publishing your own work. Unfortunately, the flip side to that is being a one-woman editing show. I have plenty of grammatical and other errors on my blog to prove it. Problogger was one of the first blog sites I discovered when researching whether or not to start a blog. My husband wanted me to get back in touch with my inner journalist so I could pitch in at least $300 to $400 per month to the family (anti)budget via blog ad revenue. Are those days gone? Seriously. I’d be interested in what everyone out there has to say about trying to make some dough off of blogging.

  36. […] On a less serious note, I had a hard time finding a category for this blog. I was like, OMG, what am I going to categorise this blog? *blush, blush* So in the end, I put it under Business because I seriously have no other place that I belongs. Then, after I entered my blog’s name as Make Money, I blushed again because there are so many Make Money blogs already registered. In order to be different and to indicate that I am a total noob, I changed it to Make Money for SAHMS (stay-at-home-moms). Phew….it is not easy to be in the lowest of the food chains. Never mind, I will stick to it and hope to overcome this lack of esteem problem someday….. Read this post by Christ Garret with quotes from Darren to boost up that motivation to make our blogs grow in significance. […]

  37. […] This post and this post make me feel ever-so-hopeful that my words will get out there, and that my blogging will eventually reach a wider audience. I just have to be consistent, making sure to provide quality and unique information, and just stick with it. […]

  38. You correctly identify one factor in Blog success. I daresay most of those blogs also worked diligently to increase traffic as well. it takes more than patience.

    The difference between dreams and goals is goals have action associated with them.

  39. […] Top 100 Blogs have an Average Age of 33.8 months “What I found was that those blogs that I was able to get a figure on had an average length (mean) of blogging of 33.8 months.” (tags: blogging technorati traffic) […]

  40. I’ve started about 3 weeks ago and I’m picking up about 200 unique visitors per week. I’ve added many links to various directories. It takes a lot of time and patience. I’m doing my own submissions because I wasn’t too sure about those “manual (hand) link submitters.”

    Roy

  41. […] Hace unos días en ProBlogger se preguntaban cuánto tiempo se necesita para entrar en el top de las bitácoras más populares. Su respuesta fue que la edad media de las bitácoras en el top 100 de Technorati era de 33,8 meses, o lo que es lo mismo, cerca de 3 años. […]

  42. Thanks for your hard work and for reminding us to stick with it.

  43. […] It’s going to take a year to get substantial traffic. Most blogs fail and go idle within 2 months. The top 100 blogs average age is 33 months old. It’s a marathon not a sprint. Some links: Micro Persuasion: The Long Tail, the Long Term and Your Blog Top 100 Blogs have an Average Age of 33.8 months __________________ Henry @ Binary Dollar – Personal Finance For Dummies. RSS Article Teasers: How To Stop Accumulating Debt 3 Reasons to Pay You Student Loans Slowly […]

  44. […] Now, I can’t comment much on the real-estate business, but I can tell you that this is 100% true for just about anything. If you’re a blogger, writing for an hour a day will pay off greatly in 90 days. The average age for top blogs at Technorati is almost 3 years. I’m sure there are other examples too. […]

  45. […] I read an article saying that the average life of the 100 top blogs was 33 months. That’s a long time to keep writing for your blog.  There are a few exceptions where blogs become very popular in shorter periods but the main message is perserverance and patience. […]

  46. This is a hugely interesting post. It proves what I’ve always suspected – you have to be in blogging for the long haul to reap any rewards (assuming satisfaction isn’t reward enough). Too many bloggers fall by the wayside within the first few months and stand no chance.

    I’m willing to be that most of those blogs have at least 5 or 6 posts per week about a subject that is timeless – too many bloggers choose a limited subject area and flag when they can’t find new content.

  47. […] Codyx: do you really think that i try to keep up that stock market blog ev Evan: why dont ya? Codyx: no traffic, not a good niche Evan: its a great niche, traffic takes time Codyx: i dont agree Codyx: there are thousands of quaility blogs out there about the same thing Codyx: it would take huge amounts of effort, full-time job amounts, in order to produce a site that will get popular in that topic Evan: https://problogger.com/top-100-blogs-have-an-average-age-of-338-months/ Evan: i disagree it just take quality content and a little self promotion Evan: pick stocks that are good, bad, sort of thing, relate to the masses Codyx: i dont have the ability to do that yet Evan: why not? Codyx: i dont know shit about the stock market compared to the professionals Codyx: im still a rookie Evan: thats not what its about Evan: you posted a lot on amazon in that message board thread Evan: that could easily be a post Codyx: not about amazon stock Evan: it was about how the stock was and wasnt affected by the news Codyx: talking to some idiot college kid who is probably stoned and mad that he is getting stomped on by the big guys isnt exactly wall street stuff Evan: doesnt have to be Evan: you arent going after the wall street trader market, go after joe blow home trader Codyx: no interest in going after him, the little guy trader out there is almost always wrong, there is an actual theory out there that says do the opposite of the house wives to make money Codyx: i dont have an interest in dumbing stuff down Evan: who cares if they are wrong Evan: they are the ones who are using the internet to find info Evan: they are the ones who will click on your ads and sign up through affiliate programs Evan: u dont have to dumb stuff down people want to understand it and think they are smart Codyx: true Evan: the whole thing about blogging is understanding who your target is Evan: i read your stuff b/c i know dick about the stock market and hope to pickup stuff Evan: not b/c your cute Codyx: i guess your right Codyx: i just wasnt targeting joe blow […]

  48. […] Je me suis posé cette question ce matin : Depuis quand sont en ligne le top du top des blogues? Je ne m’attendais évidement pas à quelques mois. Avec un peu de recherche, j’ai trouvé cette réponse intéressante: 33.8 mois en moyenne. Ce qui donne 2 ans et 3 quarts. Près de 3 ans donc. […]

  49. I was checking out the top 100 today and noted that a Japanese blog is number 1 and a blog entirely in Persian rates in the top 20 above the official Google blog. I think Technorati could have a breakdown of stats to tclarify the top blogs in your niche.
    bec-www.audiobookgiftshop.com

  50. […] Hooray. Unlike zefrank, it’s not ending. 12 months is still below average compared to the 33.8 month average lifespan of the Top 100 blogs. Of course, stats like this are still unreliable indicators – remember that we’re only just […]

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