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You’re reading one of the best sites on the planet

In case you needed some third party verification, I offer you the following press release from Konector (see paragraph 6 for our mention):

The Top Independent Blogs and Bloggers in the Gadget category

ReadWriteWeb, MakeUseOf and FoneArea in India have been named as the three of the most influential independent gadget blogs. This is according to Konector’s latest report, the Top Independent Gadget Blogs and Bloggers. The report is designed for marketing, advertising and PR professionals who are looking for the most influential blogs to promote their brands online.

Using blogs for brand promotion is extremely powerful. The total combined audience for the top 140 Independent Gadget blogs is over 40 million visitors a month. “That is a huge number, and what’s more these are decided views” says senior Konector analyst, Brett Norval. “The majority of people accessing these sites have made an active decision to view the page. Not curiosity, not advertising, just genuine interest in the content. Technology companies can get their brands in front of those targeted consumers from day one, they can then monitor the conversations on a regular basis, gather all the feedback and measure the success of the campaign.”

Although the number of visitors is important, it is not the only requirement to make it in to the Konector list. “When ranking the blogs we focus on three main criteria – reach, frequency and interaction,” says Kingsley Maunder, a director at Konector. “We therefore use our proprietary Online Impact Factor to measure how many people visit a blog, how often they visit that blog, the time spent on the blog and how active they are once they get there.”

So what separates the top Gadget blogs from the others?

Many of the leading gadget blogs focus on a particular topic. These topics can range from USB devices, to VOIP, to photography. However the most popular theme covered by the top bloggers is mobile. “Mobile phone blogs like Daily Mobile, Pocketables, MobileWhack.com and Concept Phones attract a large readership base,” says Maunder. “This is most likely due to pervasiveness of mobile devices, and the confusion created by the sheer volume of mobile brands and services consumers can choose from.”

Sites like MSearchGroove, Mobile Industry Review and Wireless and Mobile News, which cover the latest news, analysis and events from the mobile industry, are also very popular. MSearchGroove is a top 50 gadget blog and is the source of analysis and commentary on mobile search, mobile advertising and social media. Consequently MSearchGroove mainly targets industry executives, many of whom are themselves influencers and continue to spread the word.

“Focusing on a particular target market is a very successful strategy,” says Norval. “FoneArea has done particularly well to capture the huge Indian market and is consequently one of the top three gadget blogs. The same can be said for targeting demographics. The most popular blogs for the 18-35 year old market include CrunchGear, UnwiredView.com and Daily Mobile – while Mobile Industry Review, PreCentral, and BGR have a greater impact on the 35-50-age-group.”

Another factor that differentiates the leading blogs from the rest is that the top bloggers use all possible means to promote their sites. “The majority of bloggers use Twitter, while some, like Scobleizer, Tracy and Matt’s Blog, Techielobang and Tech65.org also use Facebook and YouTube,” says Maunder. “The huge advantage of this is that technology companies can also work with bloggers to promote their products on popular social networks, significantly increasing brand awareness.”

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