Alhamdulillah!
Probably one of the more comprehensive and well-rounded rankings by Invesp (and that’s just not because we are #1). The rankings are not popular yet, but have the potential :)
Blog Rank uses over 20 different factors to rank the blogs in any category. Some of the factors include:RSS membership, incoming links, Compete Alexa,and Technorati ranking, and social sites popularity
The ranking seems more well-rounded because it is actually using logic in what makes a site popular. Just because a 1000 people link to one article on your blog won’t put you on tops (as Technorati would). Neither would having tons of pages indexed by Google put you ahead. For instance, there are many sites out there that just aggregate posts, so they could have twenty posts a day and have huge indexing. Or there are sites there that just share links or news blips with a a short comment or two, usually leading to tons of hits.
If you consider what really highlights loyalty and popularity, subscriptions come to mind right away. Subscription is a voluntary act and that weight is counted heavily in this ranking. This is why after Allah, we have to thank the readers for this recognition, because truly this is a reader-based system.
The factors of course are not all given the same weight. Factors which can be manipulated such as, incoming links and pages indexed by Google or Yahoo, have less weight compared to factors such as, pages per visit or RSS membership. Additionally, each blog receives different weight for the above factors depending on the category it is listed in, because it is measured against all the blogs in that particular category. For example, if a blog is listed under two categories: social media and blogging, it will most likely receive different points for RSS membership, Digg first page stories, Compete Ranking, etc in these two different categories.
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Of course, the ranking still has serious flaws. One is the problem with the RSS count, which continues to pose an accuracy-related problem. It is more to do with the site ensuring that their RSS count is done right. I suspect that is why Tariq Nelson or Yusuf Smith’s site is not listed higher. There are other sites that have ongoing and weighty content that probably missed out being higher for similar reasons.
Also, the ranking seems to have some wrong data. For instance, MM’s technorati ranking is shown 170,000. Well, we are closer to 50,000. Interestingly, this is another indication of Technorati’s near useless approach to rankings. A year ago we had an authority of nearly 200 and a ranking of under 20,000. Now, we have more visits and more readership, yet Technorati would have you believe that we are less popular.
If you really think about it though, few blogs out there have been able to sustain relative quality day-in, day-out for very long. Trust us, we at MM know. That is why we continue to add writers in order to keep production going. Voluntary output is never easy. Sustainable voluntary effort is even harder. Thus, I applaud the single-writer blogs (e.g. MR, Organica) for sustaining the blogging over long periods of time.
Coming to the specifics of what put MM on top in the “ultimate rankings”:
- RSS readership: Almost twice as high as #2 and three times higher than #3. Credit: YOU, the readers.
- Monthly unique visitors: Though we are shown almost twice as high as #2, frankly, google analytics tell us a different picture with over 30,000 “absolutely unique visitors” per month. These are visitors, not hits, the latter of which are over 5k/day walhamdulilah. Credit: YOU, the readers again.
- Indexes: We are placed lower on Yahoo! and Google indexing. Looking at the top sites in these categories, one can see that this particular ranking depends on the number of posts and type of topics. So, if you had ten 1-liner posts, you’d get 10 indexed pages. Getting a maximum number of posts was and will never be our goal inshallah. Though we are considering tweeting back to our site on news items, rather than send readers all over the internet.
- Pages/visit: This is an important indication that we are lower on (need-to-improve). This can be done by better cross-linking of post topics. So, a good set of related-posts links would help readers navigate topics and get a better handle on the issue.
- Google PR: Since I really digg google, I suspect some thought went into their page ranking. More mysterious than useful.
- Alexa: As useless as Technorati imho. It depends on how many people install the Alexa tracker. So, if we get a solid hundred people sign up for Alexa and make them visit MM every day, Alexa’s sampling would zoom us into the very top. The point is that Alexa is relying on statistical sampling. But one of the fundamental requirements of reliable statistical sampling is a relatively large set of independent samples. Voluntary signups for Alexa make it far from independent.
- Compete rank: Didn’t hear about this until these Invesp rankings.
- Social sites: Finally, I like this one as well, as it is provides an indication of solid, desirable-to-disseminate content and reader loyalty– ultimately popularity of content.
In closing, such recognition is a source of encouragement and gratification for all of the writers on MM and I hope for all of our readers— there is a reason that you are here and reading these very words. We truly consider this as being a team effort because blogs without readers would be akin to the empty fancy buildings in Dubai… futile. And ultimately, our hope is that this team effort leads to the transfer of knowledge (both ways)– knowledge that is imparted and received only for our betterment in the service of Allah.
May Allah forgive us for our shortcomings and bless all of our readers and writers, and continue to help us make this the #1 blog on Islam on the entire www!
Ameen
#Culture1 month ago
Muslim Matters supporter
October 6, 2009 at 1:31 AM
May Allah make Muslim Matters the best blog overall. Ameen!
Mehedi
October 6, 2009 at 6:24 AM
Masha’Allah, thats great to see… it’s not often you find Muslims being concerned about Google PR, Alexa ranking, SEO etc… Majority of the Muslims are still unaware of social bookmarking let alone RSS feeds.
Liyana
October 6, 2009 at 6:55 AM
Yeay!!! :D
Masha’Allah…
Amatullah
October 6, 2009 at 8:30 AM
Alhamdulillahil lathi bi ni’matihi tatimus-saalihaat, may Allah accept it from us!
mummyjaan
October 8, 2009 at 7:23 AM
Translation of the first part of the sentence, sis Amatullah? please :)?
Siraaj Muhammad
October 6, 2009 at 10:34 AM
May Allah forgive us our shortcomings, accept from us any khayr that is spread as a result of our writings, and keep us respectful of the burden of our responsibility.
Jazakallaah khayr to our readership as well for helping make us #1 – without your support (after Allah), we wouldn’t be where we are :D Keep reading and offering your thoughts and opinions!
Siraaj
Yasir Qadhi
October 6, 2009 at 10:40 AM
Alhamdulillah, we thank Allah for all His blessings upon us.
Being number #1 is always the most difficult – there’s only one way to go if you move from here! May Allah help us to ever-increase our quality and usefulness to the Ummah, Ameen!
Yasir
MR
October 6, 2009 at 11:43 AM
So true! Especially in sports!
MR
October 6, 2009 at 10:50 AM
http://www.invesp.com/blog-rank/Islam
I’m right behind you guys! :-D
And I’m just one person!
MR
October 6, 2009 at 11:33 AM
http://www.invesp.com/blog-rank/Islam
#2
:-D
MR
October 6, 2009 at 11:33 AM
Who’s #2?
:-D
Sadaf Farooqi
October 6, 2009 at 11:46 AM
Baarak Allahu feekum ajma’een.
Congratulations! May Allah accept everyone’s work, including the readers’. Its the readers who actually bring any blog to such a rank, or any rank, for that matter.
And it is very humbling to know that Allah chose me to be part of this joint effort to promote Islam on the web.
Alhamdulillah.
amad
October 6, 2009 at 12:44 PM
A request to all readers, pls add us in your RSS…
If you are on Facebook, become a fan…
If you tweet, follow us
If you are non-technical, just email the link to posts that you like and you think others will benefit.
Finally, if you have a local magazine, newsletter, etc., feel free to reproduce our articles (just make sure you include the link to MM).
this is the way that you help us, and we help you… learn MM, live MM (to borrow Texas Dawah’s slogan)
MR
October 6, 2009 at 12:50 PM
Add me as well:
RSS: http://feeds2.feedburner.com/mujahideenryder
Abu Rumaisa
October 6, 2009 at 2:59 PM
is there a website whr we can see #2,3 , etc?
MR
October 6, 2009 at 5:22 PM
yeah this http://www.invesp.com/blog-rank/Islam
ihafidh
October 6, 2009 at 4:23 PM
Mabrouk MM!
Keep up the good work.
You always have interesting posts and it’s no wonder you’re number one.
Pingback: Aziz and others on this blog may already… « Talk Islam
B
October 6, 2009 at 9:38 PM
Given that the #2, and #3 place are personal blogs. I don’t see how MM can even be placed in the same genre.
I think it would have been accomplishment if its #1 religious blog, but not so much an “Islam” blog since there aren’t that much out there anyway.
…among the blind the one-eyed is a king
Pingback: Aziz and others on this blog may already… | Marriage Blog
Amatullah
October 7, 2009 at 6:31 AM
BarakAllahu Lakum all!
mummyjaan
October 8, 2009 at 7:26 AM
Good work! Keep it up!
You really have put up some very good articles and posts in the past – several of which I have bookmarked and turn to for reference.
wRong!
October 9, 2009 at 11:04 AM
hello! this nifaaq bolg (muslimmatters) isn’t an islamic blog to begin with! so how can it be ranked #1?
amad
October 9, 2009 at 4:50 PM
Rong,
you are exactly right that the bolg isn’t islamic.
but the blog is.
and next time these dumb-wits are doing rankings, we will be sure to request that they take shaykh rong’s fatwa on islamic constitution inshallah.
-your mureed
Kul
October 11, 2009 at 11:44 PM
May Allah make MM the best blog in spreading Islam. Amen
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RHD
February 11, 2010 at 8:11 AM
Salamu alaikum warahmatulahi wabarakatuhu,
MashaAllah! Great Blog! May Allah crown your efforts with His blessings and Mercy. Aameen.
Likewise, I would like to introduce you to a Quranic Initiative which I hope will be of benefit to your readers. The Blog started barely a month ago and participants have taken on the challenge of reading the Quran at the pace of 2 pages a day, 6 days a week. We are using Muhammad Asad and Yusuf Ali commentaries. This is a wonderful initiative and we are already gaining so much.
Please join the effort and share the Blog.
JazaAkallahu khyran!
http://www.iqrathechallenge.blogspot.com/
JazaAkallahu Khyran!