Ten Technorati Hacks

If there's any one site I use more than others (with the exception of Gmail), it's Technorati. This site is a fantastic window into the psyche of the more digitally inclined. Here, in another in my series of hack postings, are 10 ways I get more mileage from T'rati.

1) Subscribe to Tag Feeds
Need something to blog about? Cat got your tongue? Don't worry, Mama Technorati can take care of you. Simply find some Technorati tags you care about, subscribe to their RSS feeds and stick them in a Firefox menu. You'll be full of ideas in no time. Every Technorati tag has its own feed.

2) Use Technorati to Search Individual Blogs
Are there certain blogs you visit more than others because they are great connectors or simply because they propagate great ideas? I know I do. The great thing is you can use Technorati to search individual blogs. Click on the search tab and then enter the blog URL you want to search. For example, here's what a search for Microsoft on Robert Scoble's blog would generate.

3) It's All in the Watchlist
Technorati lets you set up as many watchlists as you would like. These are basically persistent searches. Simply register on the site, construct your search and then click on the “Add to Watchlist” button. Each Watchlist also generates an RSS feed.

4) Integrate Technorati Into Your Browser
You can dramatically speed up your Technorati-ing (is that a word?) by adding downloading some Firefox search plug-ins. For example, Firefox users should click here to add Technorati to your Firefox search box. Or click here to add way to search Technorati tags.

Don't stop with just search plug-ins. Be sure to add a few Technorati bookmarklets.

5) Put Technorati in Your OS
If you love Technorati so much that you can't stand not getting closer to it, the good news is that you can. Mac OS X users can download this Technorati Dashboard widget. Windows lovers, you achieve the same by downloading Konfabulator and then picking up this widget. Or, try this Goowy widget.

6) Ping Technorati
Everytime you update your blog, tell Uncle Technorati that you want to show him something. He'll spider your blog right away. You can do this here or by using a pinging service (definition) like Pingoat. I use ecto, a cros-plaform blogging tool, to ping Technorati every time I post and integrate Technorati tags.

7) Take Technorati to Go
Believe it or not, I spend a fair amount of time away from my 'puter. That doesn't stop me from taking T'rati with me. I use their mobile service on my Treo. It works on any browser-capable phone. Just bookmark m.technorati.com on your celly, Nelly.

8) Put Technorati Backlinks Right Into Your Blog
OK, this one's geeky. It's even beyond my TypePad skills. However, some folks put Technorati backlinks into every blog post they write. Here's some instructions on how to do this pretty much for every platform.

9) Put Technorati Into Your RSS Aggregator
Who here lives in the Kingdom of Greg? In other words, who here uses NetNewsWire or FeedDemon. I do, on occasion. Good news. You can stick some nice Technorati tools right into your reader. For example, Niall Kennedy has a way to check Technorati backlinks with NetNewswire. Not to be outdone, Nick Bradbury has done the same with FeedDemon. If you're a Sage fan, the basic RSS reader template has backlinks built in.

10) Conduct a Real-time Focus Group
I am interested in what people are pointing to and discussing. It's a good window into the minds' eye of the consumer. There's no better way to do this, perhaps than to see what people are saying when they link to corproate Web sites. For example, a search for links to Dell.com, generates this search. Be sure to sort by authority as well as by date. Journalists, this trick works equally well for you. It can help you track companies and products. PR pros, this is a must if you are working on any brand that is discussed.

Technorati Tags: Dashboard, ecto, Firefox, Hacks, Konfabulator, Goowy, Technorati

Comments

[Amit Agarwal]

Steve,

One thing which I absolutely love about Technorati is Blog Finder. That's the best way to find popular blogs on any subject.

Amit

[Paul Stamatiou]

Great Article! I was wondering if you knew how to use the Technorati API to get some code that shows one's Technorati rank on their site. I've been messing with it for a long time but nothing's working. I even tried the duckSoup Technorati API for PHP with no luck.

[MC]

Thanks for an informative post. Just started blogging a while ago and discovering lots of stuff. These tips are great. One question. A lot of the searches in Technorati comes up with bogus spam blogs. How do I tweak it so that I don't have to waste my time finding that it's a splog? Thanks.

[Kevin Lim]

Paul: Perhaps you could use Technorati's "How much my blog is worth" as a measure of the rank on individual blogs.

[Robert Andrews]

What is that expanding OS X menu in the topleft?

[sterling]

'Mama technorati?' Exactly how much do they pay you to carry that much water for Momma, Steve? "This site is a fantastic window into the psyche of the more digitally inclined." Me thinks I am inclined to believe you have a vested interest in this reporting.

[Steve Rubel]

Robert, it's from Firefox. It's a folder of RSS feeds that I keep on my bookmarks toolbar.

Sterling, I do not represent Technorati. At one time we worked for PubSub, but we have no affiliation with T'rati. Go ask 'em.

[Martin]

Thanks for the tips Steve,

I was only using about 20% of the capabilities of Technorati before.

[Paul Stamatiou]

Kevin: I've used that. ;-) However, its fall back is that the code isn't dynamic or anything.. if your rank increases the code that site gives you won't change the value. You have to do it manually. I am interested in deciphering the technorati API for this feature, just rank, as my blog is rapidly growing in popularity and I want to track it easily. Around 3,000 last I checked.

[Ed Byrne]

I subsribed to a few tags all right, but the number of posts coming down each day was just overwhelming.

So I culled it to about 4 technorati and del.icio.us tages and auto-filed them in the RSS readers 'Watchlist' folder. Still too much ... with all the other feeds I read.

So while subbing tags is great to get post ideas, it just takes too much time trying those 'diamonds in the rough'

[Uri L.]

GOlden tips. Thanks!

[Brad]

I hope we are not putting too much stock in individual sites such as Technorati. Are we giving these sites too much credit? I have to wonder, how many people sit around surfing it? I don't. (I admit, I may be missing the boat) I really don't know anyone that does!

[NickySantoro360]

good look on the OSX widget. I am pretty much going to use every tip in this list. Thanks!

BTW, if you type in "Technorati" in google you come up on page 1, link #3. Nice!

-Santoro
monopolion

[Richard]

Naturally, I found this blog post via Technorati. Congrats on being listed on their Help / How To's page. I've been playing around with Technorati and recently created a hack called TagMan. If you have a minute, please take a look (see url for this comment) and let me know what you think. Thanks.

[Quick Online Tips]

Perhaps you could also try these 5 Tips to Better Technorati Indexing

[Mark]

Steve this post is an excellent read and full of info.

thanks!

ps. the 5 tips to better indexing idea is good too :)

[Jimmy]

Mac sucks. This is more of a portal of info. Make some step by step stuff instead of a generalities list.

[Cord Blood]

Thanks for posting this Steve. I really appreciate your site. I'll be back!

[Diviner]

Hi.

Thank you very much. but when I put some technorati tags in my blog, I cant find then in technorati web site.

why?
http://diviner.blogspot.com/

[Dave]

Thank you for the information!

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[dog obedience mentor]

Thank you very much for this great post .
I am going to test them on my own blog.

[viridari]

"Everytime you update your blog, tell Uncle Technorati that you want to show him something. He'll spider your blog right away."

Immediately? More like days in many cases.