I’ve had a few people ask me lately if there was some kind of list of blogs with the biggest RSS subscriber lists with Feedburner counters. Today Stan sent me a Top 40 list that he’d compiled on the topic.
I’m not really one to go into these type of lists on some levels as I think there are plenty of blogs out there that are doing great things that will never get on them – however what I think is most useful about them is that they highlight a list of blogs that we all could learn a thing or two from in terms of building an RSS subscriber list.
Keep in mind some of the observations disclaimers that Stan makes in his post. For example the list only includes those using feedburner etc. It’s not something to take as ‘the’ list but perhaps is a useful observational tool for some analysis for those wanting to grow in this area.
For more on using RSS feeds effectively – check out my series – how to make your RSS feeds POP!
I’ve been finding Feedburner stats. to be inconsistent of late. I have little confidence in the accuracy of their reporting.
Thanks for finding this, it seems I’m adding to my Google homepage on a daily basis now, so many feeds from such great sites.
Yep.. I don’t trust Feedburner stats either..
I’ve noticed my Feedburner count seem to be elevating very slightly every few days or so. I seem to remember a post from a few months back talking about how Feedburner was going to start including a few other factors into the stats.
What puzzles me is why my feed count is slightly growing when I haven’t really updated my blog on a consistent basis…
Thanks for reporting on this. Very helpful. As a new blogger, I need all the help I can get. I still lack a little direction, but I think my blog is strong. I also wanted to know or get a really good idea on what the most popular blogs were out there in the blogesphere. Thanks so much! I am going back to Frantic Industries and add a few more blogs to my regular daily review – via my RSS reader.
Thanks for the link, I appreciate it.
I’d like to point out once again that the list is not a definitive metric of any kind, but then again, what list is? Hopefully, with a little input from the readers (comments are pouring in), I’ll update the list and it will be a bit more closer to the truth.
The point of the post is to show that a list of top sites by RSS subscribers might be a very interesting way to measure popularity. In my opinion, such a list, if done by FeedBurner, would have at least as much weight as Technorati top 100.
This list is pretty… uninclusive. I know for a fact Ars Technica would be in the top 3, if not #1 if they published their numbers.
The only ones who really know are Feedburner.
Thank you for this list, as a new blogger I have a place to start.
@Rian: oh, definitely. I think Engadget, Gizmodo, AT, and several others would upset the top 10 of the list. But they keep the number of their RSS subscribers private. However, such a top list are not, and can never be 100% exact, even if FeedBurner would maintain it.
Look at Technorati’s top 100. Some very big sites aren’t on that list, or they are lower than they’re supposed to be, with regards to traffic or the number of subscribers. Yet, that list is the basis for many business decisions.
A unified list of top sites based on RSS subscriber numbers could never be the be-all-and-end-all list, but it would be another important metric. Even my list, which is undoubtedly flawed and incomplete, is a good place to start if you want to know who has the most RSS subscribers, and that’s why I made it in the first place.
I’m starting a blog too and those informations are very useful.
feedburner stats do seem to be a little off…compared to my site meter stats…but my rss traffic sucks anyway…I guess cause of the niche i’m in there not really knowledgeable of rss subscribers.
Good as usual. Problogger is always informative with great resources. I guess the list is pretty good and the numbers are huge. Wonder how much time did it take to have that many readers?
rss stats are not consistent, cannot trust it.