Technorati Rank and Link Counts Explained (and What to Use Now)

Technorati rank was the number every blogger watched in 2006. Technorati tracked links across the blogosphere and ranked blogs by how many other blogs linked to them. This article explains how Technorati rank and link counts worked, what they taught us about building authority, and which tools measure links and authority today.

Quick answer: Technorati rank no longer exists. Technorati stopped indexing blogs and assigning authority scores in 2014. It ranked blogs by the number of distinct blogs linking to them in the last 180 days. Today you can see your links in Google Search Console, and tools such as Ahrefs and Moz give authority scores.

How Technorati rank and link counts worked

I was always confused about how Technorati link counts worked, so I contacted their support. I got no direct reply, but they soon published a post explaining them. If you never used Technorati, read why bloggers joined Technorati and what happened to it.

Here is a real example from our blog in 2006. Technorati showed Rank: 2,055 (1,605 links from 793 blogs), and a little below it said 1,744 links to this URL. This meant:

• Rank 2,055: the number of blogs, plus one, that had more than 793 blogs linking to them.
• 1,605 links: the number of links pointing at the blog in the last 180 days.
• 793 blogs: the number of distinct blogs linking in the last 180 days.
• 1,744 links: the total number of links ever found pointing at the blog.

What Technorati rank taught bloggers

Linking blogs mattered more than links

Looking at the Technorati Top 100 showed that rank depended on the number of blogs linking to you, not the number of backlinks. A circle of blog friends cross-linking each other’s posts could produce hundreds of backlinks without improving rank much. At the time you needed links from more than 3,062 blogs to enter the Top 100.

Critics such as John Scott, with his $10,000 challenge, worried that Technorati could be gamed, because many Top 100 bloggers mostly linked to each other, so the A-list kept getting bigger.

Active and consistent blogs ranked higher

Because only the last 180 days counted, active blogs ranked higher. If you stopped posting and people stopped linking, your rank dropped, however popular you had been. A single viral post could push your rank up, but without a steady stream of good content and new links, that spike disappeared after six months.

These lessons still hold: links from many different relevant sites matter more than many links from a few, and consistent quality beats one-off spikes.

How to check links and authority today

• Google Search Console: the Links report shows your top linking sites and most linked pages, free.
• Bing Webmaster Tools: includes a free backlinks report.
• Ahrefs: Domain Rating and referring domains. Verified site owners can use Ahrefs Webmaster Tools; see our guide to a free Ahrefs account.
• Moz: Domain Authority, a widely quoted third-party score.

Remember that these scores are estimates made by tool companies, not Google rankings. More options are in our list of free Google SEO tools.

FAQ

Does Technorati rank still exist?

No. Technorati stopped indexing blogs and assigning authority scores in 2014.

How was Technorati rank calculated?

By the number of distinct blogs linking to you in the previous 180 days. A lower rank number was better.

What is the modern equivalent of Technorati rank?

Third-party scores such as Ahrefs Domain Rating and Moz Domain Authority are the closest, along with the count of referring domains.

Do backlinks still matter for blogs?

Yes. Links from relevant, trusted sites remain an important signal, but helpful content comes first.