How to use Technorati Tags?

What is Technorati?

Technorati is an almost in real time search engine focused primarily on blogs, but really it picks up anything with an RSS feed that has been "claimed" in Technorati.

How do I claim my blog in Technorati?

It's a very simple process; in fact, I've claimed two blogs now with nary a fuss. Just go to the Technorati Claim Your Blog page and follow the directions. Technorati will give a claim token just like this, ZMMRTQ8W4TMU and post it in the body of your post or feed.

How does Technorati benefit me?

If you own a blog or website, and would like other people to find you, Technorati is an excellent resource to drive targeted traffic. First, you'll need to understand a little bit about Technorati Tags.

What are Technorati Tags?

Tags are basically just a way to categorize something. You can tag your blog postings, images, links, etc. with any tag you want. When other people search for something within Technorati, say "cheese", all the posts, images, links, etc. that have been tagged with the word "cheese" will show up.

Now, there is a bit of coding involved with this, but it's very non-scary. Go to the Technorati Tags page to get the code format that you'll need to use for your tags, or, you can check out a few of the Technorati Tools to automate the tagging process.

How does all this Technorati stuff fit together?

Okay! Here's what it all looks like:

• Sign up for a Technorati account.
• Once you sign up, you'll be asked if you have a blog to claim. Go ahead and complete this process.
• Now that you're all claimed and good to go, you can start tagging your posts (see above for more discussion on tagging).
• If you've claimed your blog and there's no problems (knock on wood), it should automatically update to Technorati without much help from you. However, if you'd like more of a say in the process, check out Technorati's developer center. More on this at About.com