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Compiling Indian Bloggers Lists for your clients - a newbie’s guide
By Palin Ningthoujam on Jan 8, 2008 in PR2.0, featured
As corporate India and the Indian PR industry wake up to blogger relations and many are now experimenting inviting bloggers to their corporate events and including them in their outreach programs, it becomes essential to develop a fine target bloggers list. Take it as another form of the media list that we are so used to.
So today if you are handling a tech client, maybe you should know the names of the top ten tech bloggers in India. Likewise if you are handling an automobiles client, you should know who all are writing on bikes or cars. The list goes on with bloggers writing on healthcare, education, economy, current happenings, etc. etc.
So how do we start compiling a list of bloggers? These are some of the good resources that I use and you might find them useful as well.
1. Technorati - Here you will find Indian blogs listed according to their ‘authority’- the standard Technorati way of ranking blogs primarily based on how many blogs link to a particular blog. This may not be the best way to judge a blog to fit a client’s program. I would rank a blog based on how many people read it and who are these people. Also you might not be able to judge a blog’s subject merely by reading the list. You have to get pretty familiar with the blog yourself. Nonetheless, this might be a good start to look at some of the good blogs.
2. India Blogs - This one groups the various blogs in India based on their content subject. The list looks clean, meaning you might find it hard to believe that a spam blog might get featured here. But that’s all. You have no way of telling which is the best blog in a particular category. The criteria for inclusion is not very clear as well. However you can pick up the blogs from here and run them through Technorati to see how much influence they have got in the blogosphere.
3. BlogStreet - BlogStreet groups Indian blogs according to subjects, language, and cities. At first glance, this looks like the perfect resource. But considering the hundreds of similar blog directories floating around the blogosphere, you cannot escape having that lingering doubt about the authenticity of such a directory.
Maybe if you pick up some blogs, run them through all of these directories, and start monitoring them for some time, maybe you can figure out which are the best for your client. Also a point to remember is that you cannot compare a technology blog, read by one and any, and a marketing blog, read by a niche audience, in the same parameters. For instance, while many consider Technorati as the one site having the final say on tech blogs, it can be the Power 150 (this blog is ranked 406th as of today) for marketing blogs. For PR blogs, there are PR Voices (this blog is ranked 22nd as of today) and The PR Friendly Index (this blog is ranked 42nd as of today). Similarly there will be sector specific ratings for other subjects.
However the rankings on these are also based on Technorati, Bloglines, and other services - which many professionals and blog readers might not have heard of. So if a medical blog is read by well-known doctors but not through Technorati or Bloglines, it does not mean the blog is not influential - a point I gathered from a friend. So proceed with care. The final word could be then to use the directories to pick up the blog names. Then use your wise counsel to figure out the blog yourself.
On Jan 8, 2008, Aarcuz said:
Well said, but your analysis is misguiding as all its going to do is, help the so called top bloggers indicated by you earn some more bucks.
You right, this is a new form of media, which is left untapped. But this is social media. It doesn’t make a difference who is writing on the Blog till the time it’s written. Anybody can write on anything and with a couple of tricks up your sleeve one can also ensure visibility for what has been written.
Well to deal with it, you need an expert; firms need to realize the power of the Social media.
What companies don’t understand that people won’t buy a phone after reading a Hindustan Times article but what they would certainly do is, ask Google uncle for details about the phone and post that research – BANG!! “I bought a new phone “will buy it.
This says it all.
Web is lethal, helpful and soon would become critical (Core of any communication strategy).
On Jan 9, 2008, bella said:
Hey Palin,
That’s a good list. How about throwing some light on how to pitch to a blogger in your next post?
Should one do it over phone or in writing? Some time blogger can play awfully wicked. I have come across a blog, I don’t remember the name, where the blogger had made a big time fun of the pitch and put it on his blog off course with outrageous anecdote.
Poor Monica, the girl he had made fun off, she must have stopped pitching to bloggers.
Cheers!
On Jan 9, 2008, BlogAdda said:
It’s nice that the PR industry is recognising bloggers in their outreach programs. And as Aarcuz mentions that web will soon become critical for any communication strategy.
For Indian blogs and bloggers, we have started a website BlogAdda. You can check it out at http://www.blogadda.com. You’ll be able to discover Indian blogs and bloggers on this site. Palin, your feedback will be highly appreciated. Thanks!
On Jan 9, 2008, Palin Ningthoujam said:
Hi Aarcuz, you are right and anybody can write a blog. But from a client servicing point of view, it’s always good to have a refined list of target blogs instead of saying let any of the 40 million blogs write about them. If corporations are investing money in something, that something has to be good. Also, it’s primarily the top blogs that will most likely come up on a Google search. This whole linking business is Google’s brainchild after all.
hello bella, that’s nice subject to write on. Thanks. Many have already written about it. But it will be interesting to write from an Indian perspective as well.
On Jan 9, 2008, Palin Ningthoujam said:
The first thing about Blogadda’s name that one will notice is that it is a copy of Reliance’s Bigadda. Maybe it’s not but that’s how people will perceive it. Why does it matter? Because people think they lack originality. And copies tend to remain in the shadows of the original brand. Look at big brands like Technorati and Delicious and their spinoff sites with similar names…the latter are nowhere to be heard today. But this is just my view.
On Jan 9, 2008, Aarcuz said:
Hey Palin
Well the linking business referred by you is nothing but an algorithm, a metric that crawlers follow on a given day. What it is today might not be tomorrow, the rules of the house change the moment they see a crack. (Ask a Black Hat Expert and you will know)
If big corporations have to invest I suggest they engage an expert who (if good) would not even need the top 10 blogs or any so called top blogs, to achieve goals. He/she would create the corporate some.
See its simple, the corporate on the web don’t need a Times of India or a Business today or whoever —– they can create one, control one in the true sense. I term it as “Blog Flash Network”.
When Larry was working on the ranking business (of which linking business is just a part) he was laying the foundation for those 40 million blogs (+ the other web content holders) to come up. People who lost focus went down; people who dint are your top bloggers (You belong to the focused group).
Today we know that ranking business as Page Ranking.
The point I am making is , companies would never lose focus as they are talking business , therefore I strongly believe they don’t need to create a list and fall pray to a few of them.
Remember its called the social media – you, me, everyone is a part of it.
On Jan 10, 2008, BlogAdda said:
Palin, thanks for your honest feedback. The name might sound similar but the site and the purpose is completely different. Unfortunately, the thinking went on some similar lines, though I agree that ppl might think otherwise.
If we keep the name aside, the site lists Indian blogs and bloggers. I request you to visit http://www.blogadda.com and I’m sure you’ll discover a good read. Palin, Can you include this site as a part of the resource you’ve provided for Indian blogs and bloggers?
Thanks!