UPDATE: If you want to connect with 1,000 British Mummy blogs (and some Dads, too) then please visit the new Tots100 website with up-to-date listings and a brand new PR subscription option, so you can search, filter and contact the UK's most popular Mummy bloggers direct.
Welcome to the November Tots100 index of the UK's top 100 parent blogs and bloggers!
This past month has seen a lot of debate around the changes happening to UK parent blogs - and the increase in competitiveness and commercialism in the blogosphere. Some people have suggested that ranking blogs spoils the fun of blogging, or somehow means we're encouraging rampant competition between bloggers.
So, I've thought about it a lot and here's the thing: the Tots 100 index of the UK's top parenting blogs was put together for two reasons. First, to provide one place where people could easily find out about and read new blogs. Second, it helps people to compare how popular their blog is compared to other blogs, over time.
The amount of traffic the index gets, and the number of click-throughs on the blogs included within the index tells me that people love using the index. This is A Good Thing. I also know from the comments I receive that people enjoy seeing their blog grow in popularity over time, and to see how the effort they put in to writing their blog is reflected in the index. Also, lots of people want to join the index. And I happen to think that's also A Good Thing.
I've seen a couple of other indexes of parent blogs in recent months and I'll say this - The Tots100 index of UK parent blogs is the ONLY index I've seen that is based 100% on objective statistics and which is updated regularly to show the changing popularity of the UK's top parent blogs. Anyone can be included in the index if they write great content that people want to read and share - and I'm really proud of that. This index isn't part of any single community or network, and it wasn't created to sell a product or service to PR agencies.
Life is competitive, and I happen to think competition is no bad thing - until you start to take it too seriously. Writing a blog just to score links and subscribers and rank highly in an index doesn't work, though - I've watched blogs do it, and I can guarantee you, it doesn't work. The index is smarter than that.
More importantly, writing a blog just to score points on an index must be really dull. The blogs that really score highly in the index are those that are lively, thriving, interactive blogs written by bloggers who have thrown themselves headlong into the Mummy blogging community and feel passionately about what they do.
I love watching these blogs and their position in the index each month, seeing new blogs growing their audience and influence, and building relationships with other bloggers. I'm always a bit excited when a blog I love lands in the index for the first time. It's great fun - and I like to think the index helps great blogs to find readers, and readers to find great blogs.
If you don't like it - inclusion in the index is 100% voluntary. Leave a comment asking not to be included, and you won't be. Simple as that. Reading the index? Even more voluntary. But if you take the index for what it is, I think you'll like it, I really do.
Rant over, here's this month's index!
This is the first chance I’ve had to get online since this was first posted, so excuse the late clarification. Blogger’s privilege.
This month, Technorati stopped publishing Technorati Reactions, one of the figures we used to use to rank blogs in the index. Reactions was one of three metrics in the index (along with Yahoo Inlinks and Google Blogsearch) that tended to favour older blogs – because if you’ve been around longer, you naturally tend to have more links pointing to your blog.
Without Reactions, we’re now in a position where there are two metrics that tend to favour older blogs, and five metrics that treat all blogs equally by just looking at recent links, traffic and activity. That small change has made a big difference this month – so you see some blogs moving quite a long way UP the table, and others moving quite a long way DOWN the table.
Some will obviously be miffed by this, and particularly those bloggers that benefited most from the previous metrics. But this adjustment couldn’t be avoided and I’ve done my best to explain why I think it’s actually fairer, and a good thing in that it makes it a little easier for newer blogs to get on the index – and making it a little easier has made a BIG difference, which I think is fantastic. And more interesting, after all.
As regards any other comments, I refer you to my previous remark: “Competition is no bad thing – until you start to take it too seriously”.
Of course, don't forget to get your blog badges by clicking on the link here.
If you’re not listed this month and you haven’t yet submitted your blog to Who’s the Mummy, please leave a comment on THIS post with your blog name and blog URL, and I’ll add you to the mix next time.
Right, let’s go!
The Top100 British Parent Blogs and Bloggers:
JUST MISSED OUT THIS MONTH: Cafe Bebe and Arabella Miller were both within 5 points of the top 100. Well done!
