Summary: Adding a blog to Technorati blog directory can help with SEO and has other benefits as well. This post shows how to add and claim your blog on Technorati
I have claimed my blog on Technorati before. Several months ago I noticed that all authority for my blog had disappeared. I tried to update my blog, but eventually the whole blog disappeared from their directory. Now I'm adding my blog in Technorati again.
Technorati service has not been very good lately, and each blogger should add and claim their blog there. Technorati top-lists are an authority in the blogosphere and having blog added to their directory is good for blog SEO.
How to claim a blog on Technorati
1. Add a blog to Technorati
- First create an account if you don't have one yet.
- Then add a new blog, fill in the details, blog name, descriptions, tags, etc.
2. Add the claim code to a blog post
- After adding the blog, Technorati sends a mail with the claim code, like this:
- PFQCYZG385BX
- Add the code to a blog post that is the RSS feed
- e.g. make a new blog and add only the code
- delete the post afterwards
3. Verify your claim token
- After publishing the blog post with the claim token, make sure that post is visible in the RSS feed
- go to http://technorati.com/account
- click on the Check Claim for your new blog
- click on Verify Claim Token
The blog should be verified and claimed as soon as Technorati bots visit your blog (this might be anything from hours to days)
Troubleshooting
You might see a message like this after trying to verify the claim token:
Unfortunately, we encountered a problem reading your blog. Our engineers are investigating and we will update your claim status as soon as we are able.
Chances are nothing will happen to your claim unless you make a support ticket at the Technorati support forums at Get Satisfaction, so do that (this is what I had to do).
Advanced: How to allow TechnoratiBot access
Before you even start the claim, make sure the TechnoratiBot can visit your blog. This is advanced stuff, and unless you have edited your robots.txt this should not be an issue. However, if you have restricted bot-access to your blog, add this to the robots.txt to ensure free access for TechnoratiBot:
# Technorati
User-agent: TechnoratiBot/8.1
Disallow:
Allow: /
This is only needed if you are restricting bot-access somehow. If you are unsure, do this only if you get notification on Technorati that their bot has been blocked. For more advice and troubleshooting, check the Technorati Blog Claiming FAQ and the Technorati support forums at Get Satisfaction.
Conclusion
Technorati claim can be a painful process, but in theory it is relatively simple. I'm not happy with their service and quality lately, but I think each blog should be added and claimed on Technorati.
So go ahead and create an account on Technorati, or login to your existing account and ensure your blog is visible on your profile. If it's not, proceed with the claim, adding claim code to a blog post and verifying the claim to get the SEO benefits of this one-shot task.
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