Blog Tipz

Technorati is a service that was once the main way that people stayed updated with popular blogs. It also served as a method for people to rank and judge the popularity of blogs, although RSS and Twitter, along with a number of other factors, led to the demise of a once-popular site. They may still have a decent number of visitors, but nowhere near the same level as in the past – just 6 million worldwide visitors monthly.

Trying to stay with the reputation that it helped build in the past, the site launched a Twitter directory and ranking system similar to its initial service. Although the service may take some time to get to the same level of popularity as some of the other directories of “tweets,” it can still work as it is rather functional at this point, providing insight to the popular trends on Twitter and services for bloggers who may be interested in using the service (perhaps down the road). As you may already have guessed, the two sites are rather interchangeable, with the Top 100 list on Technorati making up the Top 100 Blogs on this new site.

The Layout and Main Features

You’ll find that the site provides a well-laid out interface, with a few main links at the top of the page. Although the site currently focuses on the Top 100 blogs, you’ll still be able to get a link into the feed should any of these sites link to your site through their Twitter account. The Top 100 blogs, including Huffington Post, TechCrunch, Engadget, and  Mashable are listed along the left side of the page. This links to their profile on the site, with a link to their main page, a thumbnail, their authority, and latest Tweets, Links, and People (the authors of the site).

Contained within the main page, an updated list of the latest tweets from those listed on the site are included, making it easy to see what is currently being linked to and written from the top people using Twitter. On a listing of people by authority, you will find the latest tweets by all the people in their directory.

Across the top of the site, below the header, you will find convenient links to the Top Links, Top Blogs, and Latest Pictures that people may be posting on their blogs and Twitter.

Trending Twittertags (hashtags) and Technorati Tags are placed and can be found below the ad in the sidebar, as well as featured profiles and top links.

From the site, you will find that it is easy to follow, reply, and retweet the posts that are found on the site, which is to be expected, but still done in an elegant manner, at least for a third-party site.

A search box is available for people who may be interested in further sorting and browsing through recent tweets, but it isn’t much different than the search box found on the Twitter site in terms of how you can find a tweet and never see it again. There isn’t paged navigation, but the same “more tweets” feature that is found on the main Twitter site.

You can follow the service on Twitter @twittoratinews, which includes newly-trending tags and links.

Behind the Service

Technorati went into the service because they essentially wanted a stake in Twitter and Facebook, seeing their impact in the blogosphere. Sawhorse Media, which produced sites like Muck Rack and Venture Maven, both Twitter specialized Twitter directories, was involved in the creation of the new site.

What the Future Holds

Right now, it is certainly too early to say where the site will go in the future. The official blog post states that they will be moving over the profiles of their “old” site to the new Twitter site, but all this may be too little, too late. Technorati has needed improvements to separate itself from the hundreds of other directories that have followed in its path, and only a few minor enhancements have come.

Bloggers can take advantage of the core Twitter followers if they really want to promote their blog, and with the new site, there may just be another reason for people to “game” Twitter and promote scam links and services through Twitter.