PostRank for Measuring Content Performance

Have you heard of PostRank?

Well, if you haven't, then maybe you might like to check it out.

The other day I received an email inviting me to give it a go. Apparently I already had an account, but I cannot remember for the life of me just when I signed up! Still, I'm quite glad I did. Why?

PostRank - A Super RSS Reader, with a difference
PostRank is basically a grown up relative of RSS readers such as Google Reader, only it has a couple of noticeable differences.

Post Ratings
For one, it gives posts, or articles, a rating from one to ten - with one being not too engaging, and ten being super readable. At least that is the theory. In practice the ratings PostRank gives to posts allows you to see which articles contain subjects which are the flavour of the moment. This, potentially, allows sites to predict which content is likely to bring in traffic, and can help in terms of long term traffic building or strategic planning.

It is also possible to pop a distinctive PostRank widget on your website, so readers can see what is hot at the moment, and the psychological effect of seeing a few tens probably encourages visitors to dig deeper, and reduce that all important bounce rate. This could lead to subscriptions, or to product purchases, and allows you to engage your visitors, thus keeping them on your site.

Engagement Metric
Actually, speaking of engagement, the second feature of the PostRank system is that it also tells you how 'engaging' a site is. This data, aside from being of interest to publishers, might also be of use to potential advertisers and marketers.

Publishers Can Monitor Their Own Sites
Other handy features of the system are the ability to 'hide' your own feed, so you and only you can see how your site is performing, and you can also create subscriptions which are linked to key categories which you would like to follow. This means that all the data floating around the Internet becomes a little easier to digest - which is something that can be a big help. And, of course, you can see how your competitors are performing!

In addition to slimming down feeds, PostRank will allow you to 'follow' certain people. This means that you can keep in touch with industry experts and the like. For the moment, many of the members seem to be in the technology and marketing sectors, so it would be good to see a few travel sites and services in the community.

Performance Rated Pay?
More and more sites are turning to freelance writers for good content. In theory, achieving a high rating on PostRank could be used as the basis of a writers bonus scheme. Publishers too can understand which writers are performing well, and this could help sites develop a sharp and effective team of content writers.

So Far So Interesting
Aside from popping the widget on my Blog from Italy site, on one of the post pages, example here: Italy Map plus YouTube Videos, I've been checking in at the PostRank site more and more. The WordPress widget gives each of your posts a rating from within the admin area too, which is convenient.

You can also add a plugin to Firefox, and this will let you see PostRank ratings for everything you are following in Google Reader. Very interesting.

Find Out More
Those who want to know more might like to take a look at this page which explains how PostRank works its statistical magic: PostRank - How it Works.

Here is the homepage of PostRank. If you want to sign up, but cannot, just let me know via a comment or a message, and I'll send you an invitation.

There are other more sophisticated features, which you will discover if you take a look.

FeedBack!
I'd be interested to hear what others make of this service, and of its validity.