About WiseScore / FAQ

Questions:
  1. What is WiseScore?
    1. Where does WiseScore get its source data?
    2. How is WiseScore calculated?
  2. My blog isn't listed. How can I add my blog to the top 100 list? How can I update my blog's details?
    1. What blogs qualify for this list?
    2. My blog's stats are wrong or out-of-date. How can I fix it?
    3. What's with the "-" stats?
    4. Why does my feed subscribers say "-"?
1. What is WiseScore?

WiseScore is one number that rates the quality, authority, influence and reach of a blog.

WiseScore considers a site's traffic, influence, loyal audience size, and audience engagement.

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1b. How is the WiseScore calculated?

To calculate the WiseScore of a personal finance blog:

  1. We first get the blog's stats from seven independent API sources.
  2. Then, we compare each stat for a blog against all the other PF blogs.
  3. Finally, a weighted average of the blog's percentiles is calculated.

Blog Traffic - 25%

Stats used:

  • Alexa Rank
  • Compete Rank

Alexa and Compete rank websites across the Internet based on their estimated traffic.

Note: unlike the other stats, Alexa and Compete provide ranks, which means the smaller the number, the better the score (ie., 1 is best).

Blog Authority - 25%

Stats used:

  • Inbound Links
  • PageRank

Inbound Links (according to Yahoo Search) is the number of links pointing to the blog (according to Yahoo! Search).

PageRank (provided by Google) measures both the quantity and quality of links from other sites, and assigns a 0-10 rating for the website.

If a blog receives lots of links, especially from big sites, it is a good bet that the blog is a trusted authority in their topic.

Social Media Influence - 25%

Stats used:

  • Klout Score
  • Twitter Followers

Klout measures a Twitter user's true social media influence. The Klout Score is considers three major factors of the PF twitterer's audience: Network Influence, Amplification Probability and True Reach. In-depth Klout analysis of personal finance twitterers.

Twitter Followers counts the number of followers a PF twitterer has.

Reader Loyalty - 25%

Stats used:

  • Feed Subscribers

Subscribing to a feed, either via RSS or email, requires proactive action by the reader that indicates they want to read everything the blogger has to say. The size of a blog's regular readership is a good indicator of the quality of the blog/blogger.
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2. My blog isn't listed. How can I add my blog to the top 100 list? How can I update my blog's details?

If you would like to submit a missing blog, please use the Submit a PF blog form.

For corrections, questions, or other general contact, please use the Contact us form, or email pfblogs@wisebread.com.

We try to update the information as soon as possible, but it may take up to a week. We will let you know when your blog's entry has been updated.

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2a. What blogs qualify for this list?

We'll add any blog that talks about personal money issues most of the time. You can be a problogger writing money tips articles or you can be sharing about your own debt reduction journey. As long as your blog is mostly about personal finance, we'll add you to the list.

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2b. My blog's stats are wrong or out-of-date. How can I fix it?

Stats are cached, so you may see a slight delay in updates if your stats have changed recently. This measure is to comply with the various APIs we have to query to get your stats. Stats are usually updated within a few days.

If your stats have been out of whack for more than a couple of weeks, email us at pfblogs@wisebread.com and we'll try to get to the bottom of it.

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2c. What's with the "-" stats?

Since all of this data is compiled from other people's services, there will be some coverage holes.

Feedburner - If the blog does not have a Feedburner feed and/or the public access to the Awareness API stats has been disabled, it will be shown as "-".

Alexa, Compete - Stats like Alexa and Compete don't provide accurate ranks for blogs based on sub-domains. For example, every Blogger blog (myblog.blogspot.com) has the same Alexa rank of the parent domain (blogspot.com).

Klout data will be missing if Klout has not calculated a Klout Score for the Twitter user. Also, Klout often calculates a Klout Score, but not the sub-components (True Reach, Network Score, Amplification Score).

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2d. Why does my feed subscribers say "-"?

The Feedburner subscribers numbers can only be pulled from Feedburner if:

  1. You have burned a Feedburner feed of your blog, and
  2. you have enabled the Awareness API for your blog's Feedburner feed.

You can burn a new feed (create a Feedburner feed) at Feedburner.com.

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