As per my promise of going through these stats on a regular basis, I have decided to check up on South Africa’s Top Blogs every month. As you will notice, I have included the myScoop and Afrigator ranks in the data and the table is sorted by the Alexa traffic rank.
| Rank | Blog | Alexa Rank (ZA) | myScoop Rank | Afrigator Rank |
| 1 | imod.co.za | 280 | 1 | 2 |
| 2 | 2oceansvibe.com | 287 | N/A | 3 |
| 3 | keo.co.za | 373 | N/A | N/A |
| 4 | webaddict.co.za | 392 | N/A | 4 |
| 5 | watkykjy.co.za | 411 | N/A | 9 |
| 6 | thoughtleader.co.za | 438 | N/A | 1 |
| 7 | moralfibre.co.za | 447 | N/A | 13 |
| 8 | capetowndailyphoto.com | 568 | N/A | 11 |
| 9 | 10and5.com | 591 | N/A | 21 |
| 10 | lazygamer.co.za | 1378 | N/A | 15 |
For the rest of the data, download the CSV file.
I think you have done nicely with this Myscoop offering. Initially I thought maybe it was just going to become lost in the blogosphere but I think you’ve started something nice here.
Congrats.
Thanks Marc, I appreciate that!
It’s interesting to see how these ranking differ according to the aggregator, e.g: thoughtleader being 1 on Afrigator and 6th on Alexa. Hopefully the 9 blogs listed here that are not on myScoop will sign up soon and we’ll be able to make a better comparison.
Otherwise great work there – eveyone loves a good list š
I do understand however that Afrigator use a different formula to calculate their rank such as how many visitors and how many other blogs link back to that particular blog, so I can understand why their stats would be different. myScoop takes a simple, yet effective approach and ranks it according to unique visitors received. After all, it’s all about how many people visit and read your blog at the end of the day.
Hi Nick-Like your site.Pls could you tell me where you would rank our blog on site http://www.hometolife.co.za. It gets 1000 UNIQUES a day.We have now started sister directory http://www.youtolife.co.za But only started blogging this year.
Look forward to your reply.And do appreciate it so š I am hoping both my blogs rank in your top 10 soon!
Warmest regards,
Catherine
I totally agree that unique visits should be the major factor that determines rank. As you say, popularity and rank should depend on readership. The problem with calculating oneās rank (or at least a part of it) according to blogroll links, is, firstly, that not all blogs (or websites linking in) are registered with Afrigator. Therefore these links wouldnāt count. Secondly, people tend to link to popular blogs (i.e. ones that already have a high ranking) often in order to increase their own rank / traffic.
Itās a case of the elite (AND the not so elite)Ā serving the elite. This is a generalisation, but most bloggers tend to only add popular blogs to their blogrolls. The unfortunate result is that the ātopā blogs (according to rank) stay at the top, and one very rarely sees a change in the top 20 for example. This seems to be the case with Afrigatorās ranking system.
It would be nice to see a gradual change in the ranks from time to time and let readers (or the number thereof) determine which blogs are popular based purely on readership. To me that seems far more democratic than bringing blogroll links into the picture.
Just my 2 cents.
I agree with your 2 cents 100%
Nick, i just stumbled on Myscoop. It looks pretty neat. One question: Is this a purely South African “aggregator” or is it as open as Afrigator is?
I have noticed some wild gymnastics on Afrigator in the last fortnight – blogs ranked around 3000 for blog rolls shooting up to 12000 and beyond “overnight” š Mine moved from the mid 20s in the Ghana section to i think the mid 90s.
Good luck with MyScoop; competition should keep everyone on their toes.
Nii
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Hi Nii, thanks for the comments and to answer your question, myScoop is unfortunately (in this case) currently available for South Africans only due to a number of reasons.
Stats can be manipulated. IT is interesting to note that my blog, which has a higher SA Alexa Rating and a higher reachĀ that most blogs listed, but has a very bad Afrigator score. Then Again I have a much better overall alexa ranking than most listed, but my ZA ranking is less. So really its a matter of opinion.
At this moment in tme we do not have a reliable blog rating system. Just as Afrigators ranking is flawed, so it Alexa’s Ranking flawed.
So what are the really top blogs. Well we might never know, as each ranking system applies different variables andĀ different algoriths to them.
The key to stats is that stats are generally personal. Not meant for wide acceptance. I would creats stats to see how I rate with the variables I think are good. This might be biased as it could give me a good score.
Rankings change as peoples perception changes, with their likes and dislikes.
Also when grouping blogs for rankings one ahs to compare apples with apples, IS it fair to compare a group blog, with multiple authors to a blog that is not open to a group of different bloggers.
Because of this, stats can be very deceiving.
But in general, nice post. THere are dfinatly some blogs which I would have expected to be there. Others I was surprised
Robert
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Interesting post.
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I agree that rankings are not an exact science and most probably are flawed. The extent to which they are I believe differs enormously. Alexa can be āgamedā easily; afrigator is excellent as an aggregator that one can go to get a snapshot of blogs in lots of different African countries. It is unique in that regards.
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However, I have very little regard for its ārankingā system. An aggregator that still ranks blogs (that have not been updated since mid 2008) in the top ten of a country section cannot be taken seriously.
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Technoratti I believe has the closet we perhaps have to amore objective and less flawed ārankerā.