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Corante has been listed as the #4 blog network according to Blog Network List. Here are the details behind the ranking. I have a lot to say about methodology they use, but my point here is to show how two dozen existing metrics can be utilized to provide a well-rounded ranking tool.
I previously wrote a call to action for a consumer-centric dating site ranking system that measured more than traffic ranking from sources such as Alexa.
Keynote Systems is on the right track, and could be a reference point for such a ranking list, but much more information is needed to get a full 360 degree view of how a site performs overall.
In a previous life, I tracked all of the datacenters around the world. Once you knew who was in each datacenter, you could to some degree begin to make assumptions based on how much new bandwidth or rackspace they were ordering. Often, Yahoo would expand their presence in an Exodus datacenter, and shortly after would announce a new product or service. This sort of analysis led to some important insights for my team and clients, especially when other data were layered on top to enrich the overall scenario.
There are many different ways to go about designing a meaningful ranking system. To begin, do dating sites participate by providing user data or do we rely on external information? Either way, the data would need to be freely available. No hidden panels or special software. Hitwise and Comscore should participate, and search engine PageRank and the like would need to be added into the mix.
I have low hopes that dating sites would agree to provide a certain baseline of information on a regular basis unless a strong case was made that sharing the information would clearly benefit them.
Overall, I don’t think it would be very difficult to implement a ranking system, the hard part would be getting dating sites to agree on the measure-points and handing over the data. Easier to design a ranking system that relied on external data. In the middle, there is the option of a special Biz Rate-style pop-up window that’s displayed on member’s home pages.
If you could create such an index, what data would you use to feed the ranking algorithm?
[tags: ranking]
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
Can you provide any reason of why it would benefit dating sites to participate in something like this?
meir
Hitwise is the only site that can track stuff somewhat accurately although spamming trips them up. They have ISP’s send them nightly logs of all activity that occured in the previous day. According to hitwise true.com’s average session time is around 7 minutes per user per day, Plentyoffish is the highest of the major dating sites at 17 minutes a user.
A true ranking system that will probably never be made would rank on.
1. Profit per free signup
2. user minutes per session.
3. Total unique daily logins
4. total daily logins including repeats.
Basically if your site is in the top 10 you can only gain. When a user signs up to your site they don’t know if your ranked number 1 or 50 and don’t really care.
Wondering about your opinion: is there any room for another dating site?
My plan is to take lookingforlove.com to another level. At present it is a dating resource. Your opinion counts.
Thanks.
Janet
http://www.lookingforlove.com