Who are the top bloggers?

Now that the full list of top bloggers is displayed it's interesting to see who is ranked where.

This table has the top 12 highest ranked bloggers, based on the number of views during the past 60 days.

Blogger	# Posts	# Views	Avg
Loomis	14	7581	560
Kurtgodden	11	6905	628
Kenytiger	13	6787	522
Qtsii	14	4700	335
Batgirl	8	4079	510
Cgs	11	3414	310
Benws	8	2279	287
Zibbit	4	1576	394
Chessiq	6	1418	236
WTHarvey	3	1269	423
LikesForests	3	1180	393
SonofPearl	3	963	321

But the number of views is only one indication of one's ranking in the chess.com blogosplhere and the average number of views may be a better indication of popularity. On that basis, kurtgodden leads clearly with an average 628 views—a remarkable achievement. Right behind him come Loomis (560) kenytiger (522) and Batgirl (510) with everybody else surging along, just behind.

In all there are 27 names on the current top bloggers' list with the lowest ranked being thinkdifferent (1 post, 167 views) and SpringHasSpring (1 post, 77 views).

Is there an advantage in being a top blogger? Definitely! Top bloggers have their posts listed on the chess.com home page, thus giving their posts more exposure, which in itself consolidates their position in the top blogger list.

I confess that I've been trying unsuccessfully to get there and, without that home page exposure, have had to rely on the sheer volume of posts on my blog. In all I've written 45 posts and 36 of those have been in the 60-day top blogger qualifying period.

Those 36 posts have had 2669 views averaging 74 each. Not an enormous number, but it's a start. Based on the total number of views that's enough to break into the top eight but based on the the average number per post I'm still back in the boonies.

So, unashamedly, this is a promo for Dozy's blog in the hope that I'll one day be able to climb those dizzy heights to the Top Bloggers' (or even Trusted Bloggers') list.

These are the important things in blogging:

1) Write a blog that YOU like. After all, it's yours and you're spending your time on it. I'm sure that batgirl and kurtgodden enjoy what they write about more than they enjoy getting a lot of views.

2) Write quality blog entries. This is more important than quantity. Unfortunately, there is no formula for quality blog writing. This is why I haven't blogged much recently, I don't have much quality in my blogging lately.

3) Be unique. Anybody can look up a famous game and dump it, along with some annotation, on their blog (though, isn't dumping published annotation a copyright violation?).

I didn't realize I was a top blogger. I guess I better post something interesting. :)

Dozy, I have always thought your blog deserved home page recognition. You have some of the best posts on chess.com in my opinion. I don't even know how mine get there. Maybe we can just ask Erik...

QUOTE Loomis: Write a blog that YOU like. After all, it's yours and you're spending your time on it.

All good advice, Loomis, and in this one you echo the words of C.S.Lewis (he wrote the Narnia series as well as a host of other fiction/non fiction/theology.  He once said that he only wrote what he enjoyed writing and was pleased that other people actually liked them too.

That being said, I've never met a writer who didn't want his work to be read (the exception being teenaged diarists) and the more readers the better.  Is that egotistical?  Of course, but if we didn't value our own opinions we wouldn't venture to publish them.

Your advice is good, and I thank you for taking the trouble.  Whether my posts have quality is something I'm not in a position to judge  (I try but accept that quality will always be in the eye of the reader).  As for "unique" I guess I qualify ... on most posts, anyway.  I've got a weird way of looking at life.

QUOTE qtsii: I have always thought your blog deserved home page recognition.

Thanks, qtsii, but there's a bit of bootstrapping involved before that can happen (and which I managed to cut short with this thread (thanks to Erik!).  I haven't blogged before (though I've written a fair number of articles for a chess club web site) and am thoroughly enjoying the experience.

what about me? I have two blogs with a total of like 270 views!

Keep posting Dozy. I will allow myself one moment of selfishness and give you one single reason, I enjoy reading it.

Does anyone want to join the 'former top bloggers club'

Where we drink beer and talk about the old glory days =)

Dozy,

I'm guessing you'll continue rising up on the list.  I've been reading your blogs, and I think they're pretty good.  And I agree both with Loomis and yourself:  I first write my blogs for myself, but I also love being read by others.

I would like to write instructional pieces, but I'm not good enough.  So I write on things that I find fascinating or that I want to learn more about myself.  I spend several hours researching and then writing some of them.

I find that writing is one of the 2 most effective ways of learning.  Teaching is the other.

But then I admit that I jealously watch to see if anyone is paying attention to them.  Many of my "high read" blogs surprise me, and likewise for my "low read" blogs.  I have concluded that I cannot predict what others will like.

Kurt, from what I can telll, the number of reads a particular entry gets depends only on how much time there is a link on the front page and how prominent the link is. I suppose a snappy title can make a small difference.

Zenchess> Where we drink beer and talk about the old glory days =)

lol. I still read every one of your entries. I was born in the same year as you... we are not even 30 yet so I hope our 'glory days' are not behind but ahead. ;)

Another element may go unnoticed as  why the top 12 blogger recieve so many views.

That is they are tracked by other members.

I personally have 7 out of the 12 listed track.

Which are Loomis, kurtgodden, kenytiger, batgirl, chessiq, likesforest,

and sonofpearl. I'm surprise that BillWall is not mention

QUOTE: kurtgodden:

I'm guessing you'll continue rising up on the list. Thanks KG—that's appreciated. Mind, I don't think it matters where we stand on the list—the point was to get on it somewhere for the front-page exposure. You and Loomis are well entrenched in those top two spots and for very good reasons. We all enjoy what you post.

I would like to write instructional pieces, but I'm not good enough. I'll drink to that! My rating on chess.com sits around the 1800 mark (+/-) but my Australian OTB rating (closely equivalent to FIDE) is usually around 1600—so I have no illusions about my chess erudition. That doesn't mean I know nothing, it's just an admission that my knowledge is patchy, so I prefer to entertain rather than instruct.

QUOTE: loomis

From what I can tell, the number of reads a particular entry gets depends only on how much time there is a link on the front page and how prominent the link is. I suppose a snappy title can make a small difference. The front page comment sounds right, Loomis but i think the jury is still out on the snappy title verdict. One of the things I've noticed is that if I don't mention chess (or an obvious chess term) in the title, and/or if I don't relate to chess in the first couple of sentences (the ones that get previewed on the blog list), then that post isn't going to have much mileage.

QUOTE: zenchess

Where we drink beer and talk about the old glory days =)

That reminds me of my time with the local volunteer Bush Fire Brigade. Everything was great while we had work to do but once the peak fire period was past (they're cyclic and you often get several years of minimal risk) the training nights deteriorated into “beer and old glory days”. But likesforests is spot on! Even at my age I'm hoping all the glory days are not all in the past.

QUOTE: matzleeach

I'm surprised that BillWall is not mentioned. Me too! The reason is probably that he posts in the Forums rather than his blog. Bill's posts are so popular (mostly >1000 hits each) and his knowledge so vast, that he's in a class of his own. Batgirl is another inspirational writer. She posts prolifically in various places and it's all interesting. (I'm a little in awe of her.)

Something positive that seems to be emerging from this thread is the amount of information about how to write a successful chess blog from people who have actually done it. I know I've learned a few things, so thank you all for contributing.

Wonder which are the top-10 threads by # of views - can't see a way to find out ... someone ask erik for feature-request? I am feelin to lethargic at present to do so ...

Have you considered DENVERHIGH as an option?

Did you see my comment?

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