45n5 Top 100 Make Money Online Blogs

Posted on September 9, 2007 by Nate Whitehill

Mark from 45n5 posted a list of the top 100 “make money online” blogs. Mark calculated the top 100 blogs based on Google PageRank, Technorati Rank, and Alexa Rank. Currently the list is only comprised of 73 blogs, but Mark has managed to include most of the more well known blogs centered around making money online.

45n5 Top 100 Make Money Online Blogs

I was surprised to see I am at #8 on the list. While I am happy about that, unfortunately, the Technorati ranking system is one of the most inaccurate ways of measuring a blog’s popularity due to link trains, a practice I refuse to further participate in.

Link trains were quite popular a few months back and thankfully they are not so prevalent any more. Why? Well, because Google does not take those links into account. If 1,309 unique blogs were really linking to me (like my Technorati ranking shows), my link count in Google would be that many, but in reality, Google shows there are only 395 pointing to my blog.

Another reason link trains are such garbage is that Technorati only counts links within the previous 6 months. In the midst of a popular link train, you may receive 100 or more new links in a week. Six months after that, your ranking will drop by that many or more.

Anyway, I am sort of rambling, but congratulations to Mark for putting together a cool ranking system. Taking Alexa rank and Google PageRank into account adds to the credibility of the list. I just wish there was a better ranking system than Technorati. You can see Mark’s full list here.
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  • http://www.disassociated.com/ John Lampard

    What’s unfortunate about Technorati is the way it can be manipulated so easily, otherwise I find it quite useful. I too refuse to participate in link trains… my technorati ranking may not be very good but at least it’s fairly accurate :)

  • http://webhosting.infospotters.com/web-hosting-blog/ Max Adams

    Congratulations on the #8 Spot. Well deserved. :)

  • http://www.knupnet.com knupNET

    Congrats Nate on your top 10 spot. Great job!

  • http://blogsformoney.com/ Blogs for Money

    Bah – he missed me out. I’m supposed to be just above John Chow =D

  • http://www.stocktradingtogo.com Blain Reinkensmeyer

    I agree, this should be tweaked a bit, perhaps bring in personal opinion like judging into the mix.

  • http://www.siteguide.us Vijay

    I would have rated quality above technorati and alexa ratings and I would have certainly received a different list above.. But well, I definitely agree with ProBlogger as no. 1

  • http://www.blogcontentprovider.com/blog/2007/09/09/top-100-make-money-blogs/ Allen Taylor

    Congratulations on making the list!

  • Chad

    I can’t believe that John Chow is ranked above Dosh Dosh. The content on Dosh is 1000 times better than the restaurant reviews posted by Chow.

  • http://www.blogcontentprovider.com/blog/2007/09/09/top-100-make-money-blogs/ Allen Taylor

    Well, Chad, your observation may be correct but it’s rather subjective. The ranking is based on PR, Technorati Rank, and Alexa ranking. Still somewhat subjective, I know, but less subjective that someone’s (anyone’s) opinion about who has the best content. We could all take a poll about whose blog has the best content and we’d all rank them differently based on that criteria. Even adding that as a part of the ranking and keeping the three that were used, we’d likely find that the top 73 on the list would include bloggers that have no Alexa ranking, a lower PR than 3, and maybe no Technorati Rank at all. Maybe one person thought the content was good on XYZ Blog that just started yesterday, but would that be enough to rank it in the top 100? This begs the question then, what are adequate criteria judging blogs when creating such a ranking?

  • http://www.45n5.com 45n5

    Thanks Nate for the mention and congrats. Same to you with your recent high profile blog designs and hype you’ve received from it. It was well deserved and fun to watch.

    As for the ranking; it’s basic right now, just something to get the list started, begin the evolution, get something “out there” to get feedback on. I will certainly be improving it as time goes on. Gotta start somewhere.

    Thanks again for the mention.

    …..mark

  • http://www.fatmanunleashed.com/ Israel

    i read somewhere that technorati will be undergoing some changes in order to combat the link trains and such that goes on.

    congrats on making top 10.

  • http://www.richminx.com/2007/09/sunday-link-express/ Sunday Link Express | Rich Minx

    [...] on their Technorati, Alexa and Google rankings. I’m currently at #45 on the list. However, as Nate Whitehill rightly points out, the Technorati ranking is skewed by link trains which I’ve participated [...]

  • http://weburbanist.com Urbanist

    I’m no expert to be sure, but it is my understanding that doing a Google search for link:sitename.com doesn’t bring up nearly all of the pages that are linking into a particular domain – it is a sampling of them, not sure why or what percent. Someone please correct me if I am wrong!

  • http://netbusinessblog.com Dee Barizo

    You’re right, Urbanist. Google’s link command is awful. Most search marketers seem to use Yahoo’s instead.

  • http://netbusinessblog.com Dee Barizo

    Congrats on hitting the top 10!

  • http://www.davidairey.com/ David Airey

    Your #8 spot is fully deserved, Nate. Keep it up buddy.

    I agree with your sentiments on Technorati, but wonder what other metrics we could use for such a list. Of course daily / monthly visits would be great, but there’s so much more work involved.

  • http://www.rianbrooklyn.com Rian Brooklyn

    #8, well done Nate!

    With the help of your teams blog designing skills, (And some good content of course) I hope to join the “Top 10 Ranks” in the near future.

    Hopefully we’ll be able to coordinate soon a time to chat.
    Domo.
    – Rian

  • http://www.redesignthis.net Jan

    Congrats for the top ten! ;) That’s nice because you have a really good content!

  • http://www.ianfernando.com/2007/interview-its-a-load-of-bullcrap-says-mark-wielgus/ Iantrepreneur

    congrats I too ended up on there top 50 – so I am glad I made it on there

  • http://www.warriorblog.net WarriorBlog

    Luckily, my blog also got on the list :-) even though I only been blogging for a month!

    This is the 6th times I have read a post that mentioned this thing! Hope I get some traffic from the list!

  • http://myblogcontest.com/ MyBlogContest

    Nice! Nate you are in #8.

  • http://www.contestbeat.com Contest Beat

    FYI the list was just updated and you are still top 10!

  • http://www.bloggingthemovie.com Blogging The Movie

    Hey Nate,

    Just want to congratulate you on your success so far. I just wrote a post about you.

    Enjoy.

  • http://www.createbusinessgrowth.com Christine OKelly

    Congratulations Nate! This is incredible news!!!!

  • http://www.epursuit.net/blog/ pbradish

    Excellent analysis. I’m glad to hear that link trains are (hopefully) going away for good – they started to feel like chain letters in my RSS Reader after awhile…

  • http://bpmonaco.com/2007/09/10/top-100-make-money-online-blogs/   Top 100 “Make Money Online” Blogs by BpMonaco

    [...] back, but didn’t post it at first. That was until I saw that one of my favorite bloggers, Nate Whitehill, is number 8! Congrats [...]

  • http://www.lifeiscolourful.com/ Life is Colourful – Making 2 cents per minute

    Congratulations Nate! I am almost there too .. Should be in Top 100 soon. Mark included my blog in there.

  • http://www.twentysteps.com/top-100-make-money-online-blogs/ Top 100 Make Money Online Blogs

    [...] well known Internet marketing and blogging sites including ProBlogger, Andy Beard, eMoms at Home, Nate Whitehill and John Chow* and regardless of whether you think it’s a prime example of linkbait or not, [...]

  • http://studentloansaid.com Mike

    I think it would be more accurate to rank these by revenue earned. Congrats on getting so high on the list though thats awesome

  • http://www.blogcontentprovider.com/blog/2007/09/09/top-100-make-money-blogs/ Allen Taylor

    Good idea Mike. Then we can ask them all how much they make and, of course, they’ll all be totally honest because make money online bloggers are all 100% honest and no one would ever lie to impress their subscribers who want to make money just like them. There’d be no incentive for exaggeration, would there?

  • http://www.nyike.com Zach

    wow great job nate! Watch out for technorati finding out how to stop the link trains

  • http://needlessproductions.com Ryan

    I have heard a little about this, but I don’t understand what they are going to do to stop it. I think link trains are silly anyways. They never generate any worthwhile traffic or anything targeted.

  • http://mp3players2.com Tom

    read somewhere that technorati will be undergoing some changes in order to combat the link trains and such that goes on.

    congrats on making top 10.

  • http://www.charleslau.com Charles Lau

    congrats… I almost joined the link train in my first month of blogging… I felt bad rejecting the train coming to me. But anyway, hearing what you’ve said, that’s good news that I did the right thing!

  • http://www.cashsherpa.com Daniel

    I like ShoeMoney personally. I read the blog daily. He always has something interesting to say, posts are short, and he balances personal and business posts perfectly. Like the posts on LOST, time is all we have post, and today’s ShoeMoney rum and shirt post. Great work!