Technorati: Business Blogging Tools for You

Yesterday I consulted with a couple of clients who wanted to get more out of their blogging experience. During our meeting I showed them the ins and outs of both WordPress and TypePad to make sure they knew how to use them.

We talked about newsreaders, such as Bloglines and NetNewsWire, how to create email feeds for blog visitors who didn't understand RSS feeds, and blog search engines like Technorati.

One of my clients asked me, "how do we get the most out of Technorati?"

Wow, I thought. What a great question. That's definitely worth a few posts.

To that end, I decided to create a series of posts about getting the most out of Technorati from the blogger's perspective.

What is Technorati?
Technorati is a blog search engine. It searches the blogosphere and returns results based on relevancy and immediacy.

How do I use Technorati?
Whether you're a blogger or not, you can visit Technorati's home page and enter a search, click on a "top search," find a blog on a specific topic, or check out some "hot tags," among other things. (More on tagging later.)

Even if you're not a blogger and have no intention of becoming one, you can still benefit from Technorati. You can use it to receive up-to-the-moment information on breaking news stories, find out the latest buzz in your industry, or even find out what people are thinking and saying about you (assuming you're a big enough fish to generate some gossip.)

How do I use Technorati as a blogger?
The first thing you want to do is to sign up for a free account.

Why would I want to sign up for a Technorati account?
Well, according to Technorati,

As a Technorati member, you'll get to add your photo, claim your blog (and trick it out with Technorati tools), create a profile page, and get a super cool Watchlist where you'll be the first to know what's up with the subjects you care about. And membership is free!

Although take it from me, adding your photo to your Technorati account can be a real bitch.

Really.

OK, that's enough for now. Go sign up for your Technorati account and play around a bit. In future posts we'll discuss how (and why) to claim your blog, how to add your photo, how to find like-minded bloggers, how to track your success, and how to set up watchlists, among other things.

I'll even tell you how (and why) some bloggers add "tags" to the bottom of their posts.

Rich Brooks
Business Blogger

Tags: Technorati | Blogging | Business Blogging | Blog Marketing