Puffbox

Another new blog to keep an eye on – Heather Hopkins is an analyst with Hitwise, who produce insanely addictive ranking lists of the most popular sites in goodness knows how many different categories. In the private sector, it's all about tracking the competition; in the public sector, it's a great way to see who's making a success of the web, and more interestingly, who isn't.

I get a regular sight of Hitwise's rankings of central government websites, and it's always fascinating. The top site, virtually every month, is Job Centre Plus, typically followed by the taxman and the Met Office, with Directgov climbing steadily. People are often surprised by how few of the 'big name' government departments make it into the top 20; instead, the sites people actually use are the sites that do something for you… like taxing your car, or selling you a personalised number plate.