[]1What is Alexa Ranking?
Alexa.com is a service from Amazon that aims to collect information about websites, and one of the things they do is rank websites based on traffic.
Is Alexa Ranking accurate?
Unfortunately, the way they do these rankings isn’t terribly scientific. Alexa provides a toolbar plugin for web browsers…once installed, it tracks the websites you visit and reports that information back to Alexa. The issue with this is that the people that are likely to download the Alexa toolbar aren’t representative of the “average web user”. Because Alexa is focused on topics like site rankings, web site information, search engine optimization, etc, the people that install the toolbar tend to be webmasters and other people deeply involved in the technical side of websites. These people tend to visit websites that are in that particular niche, creating a very skewed view of site rankings. Websites that draw a highly technical audience float to the top of Alexa, websites that address a different audience sink in the ratings. Of course, for highly popular websites that get visited by everyone, the effect isn’t as pronounced.
Sο why care about Alexa Ranking ?
There are some cases where Alexa ranking does matter. For example, there are some ad placement and affiliate programs that won’t accept your website unless іt’s got some minimum Alexa ranking. Additionally, there are other directories and services like reviewme.com, or payperpost.com that use Alexa rankings to make decisions. It’s also a factor if you are trying to sell your website or domain, as most purchasers use factors like Alexa rank or Google Page Rank to decide what your website is worth. Hοwеνеr, for askfrank.net, none of the above really matters. We don’t use the services that depend on Alexa ranks, have no plans to sell the website, and don’t deal with affiliates that care about things like ranking. Our honest reasons for caring boil down to a bit of pride and ego about the ranking, and a lot of curiosity about why Alexa ranks some sites so low.
How Do I improve Alexa Ranking?
I am sure if you have been reading this article this far then you must also be interested in increasing your website or blog Alexa ranking. Just follow these simple steps below and I will guarantee better Alexa ranking!
- Update your blog constantly, at least 3-4 articles per week.
- Encourage your users and friends to install the Alexa toolbar and browse your site
- Claim your website by filling information about your site on Alexa.com: http://www.alexa.com/siteowners
- On the same page there is an option to edit your site’s listing, do that!
- Add one of the widgets to your website from here: http://www.alexa.com/siteowners/widgets
- Get more visitors on your blog especially from blogging and webmaster communities because there is a good chance that they have Alexa toolbar already installed.
- Ask your friends and colleagues, to write a review about your blog in Alexa and rate your Alexa website profile.
- Try to take advantage of social media sites like Digg, StumbleUpon, and Reddit. Write good content for users to share on social sites which will increase traffic and Alexa rank.
- Do not use bots or any other automated methods because you can lose rankings easily if Alexa ever finds out!
