So you have claimed your personal blog and now you wonder whom to compare yourself to (where am I better?), to see how well you are doing.
Here are some ideas. You may follow these suggestions. As well, if you have some ideas that helped you but you cannot find them in the list below, please share them with us and leave a comment. Here are five rules that matter:
1) apples against apples
If you write a travel blog it makes sense to compare yourself to another travel blog.
2) gorilla against gorilla
So if your blog has a huge following, why not compare yourself to another gorilla?
Even if your blog is small, you may compare yourself to one gorilla type of blog that you like very much. This will get you a feel about how well you measure up compared to the guys and gals in the big leagues. So go ahead and trace that gorilla-type blog
3) compare yourself against the most appropriate set of competitors
Some people blog under their own domain which I recommend as the best way to build one’s own brand.
Others may have their blog at a host, whereby their URL may look like similar to this:
http://blog.ebookers.ch/author/wmueller/
It might be interesting to compare oneself to other blogs under this domain, such as:
http://blog.ebookers.ch/author/aroberts/
It might even make sense to compare yourself to the overall blog of this blogger host, such as:
http://blog.ebookers.ch/
Nonetheless, it is helpful to compare yourself also to blogs addressing the same topic that you do that are, however, hosted under their own domain.
4) rule of 10
It is probably a good idea to compare one’s blog with a set of about ten blogs.
This set of 10 blogs that you track and compare with might include a gorilla or two, a colleague or friend and so forth. As well, one or two blogs that you admire could be included in this set of 10 blogs. In fact, these two blogs may cover a different subject than what you write about. Nevertheless, because you like them – maybe even subscribe to their posts – it could be a good idea to track and compare your blog with these. Learn how they measure up compare to your own blog.
At the beginning, comparing oneself to a set of 10 blogs might suffice. Thereafter, you may want to track more blogs enabling you to get a more accurate picture of where you stand in the blogosphere.
5) it took more than 1 day to build Rome or Paris
It takes time. Don’t try to come to any conclusions within 30 days. In fact, it will take at least four months before you can see some trends that might indicate that your blog is improving in the rankings.
Look at the graphics produced at My.ComMetrics.com, ask for a report or just compare yourself and watch the trends.
Rome was not built over night, neither will your blog be a two week project. So take the time, post regularly, provide people with beef and watch how your numbers improve using My.ComMetrics.com to benchmark yourself – easy does it.
The FT ComMetrics Blog Index ranks FT Global 500 and Fortune 500 companies’ corporate blogs.Please subscribe now so you can claim your personal and/or corporate blog AND trace those that you want to compare yourself to.
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