Alexa Ranking

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Alexa Ranking
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Alexa (owned by Amazon.com) have a tool bar that can be installed on Internet Explorer that has a number of functions (eg pop-up blocker; information on the site you are visiting; and links related to the site you are visiting). One of the main functions that webmasters use the Alexa tool bar for, is the traffic ranking of sites. The Alexa Toolbar can be downloaded here.
 
 
   
The Alexa ranking is based on the number of visitors to a site by those with the Alexa toolbar installed (Alexa state that 'millions' use the toolbar). Alexa takes this information, analyses it and gives a rank to each site based on a three months average. This number is displayed on the toolbar as you visit a site. For example if a site has a ranking of 25374, it means tha the site is the 25374th most visited site by those with the Alexa toolbar installed. Yahoo! is number 1 (the most visited site). Alexa also provide a number of other pieces of information based on the traffic (here).
 
 
   
Uses of the Alexa Ranking:  

Webmasters have tried to use the data for number of things:

  • compare traffic with competitors (we have displayed the rankings here for the lists of directories).
  • trade links only with those who have a good Alexa Ranking
  • look at trends over time (especially seasonal variations)
  • not do business with e-commerce sites with rankings >4 million
  
 
   
What is wrong with the Alexa Rankings:  

Despite the potential benefit of having the above information about a site and ones competitors, there are a number of problems with the Alexa rankings:

  • even though the toolbar is used by several million people, which is impressive, the sample of users is not very representative of all those who use the web. Those with the toolbar installed are more likey to be more technically orientated, so the Alexa ranking will be biased in the direction of higher ranking of the sites that those who are more technically orientated would visit. Any statistician will tell you that a small random sample of all users would yield more accurate results.
  • webmasters who track changes in their own traffic and the changes in Alexa ranking usually find no relationship between the changes, often with the Alexa ranking improving and traffic going down (or the opposite).
  • it is easy to manipulate the rankings. Just installing the toolbar will improve a webmasters own rankings on their own site as they will most likely be visiting their own site more often. Just visiting your own site and clicking on some deeper links into the site several times day would generally be enough to get a site to a ranking of less than 100 000. If its done from a couple of IP addresses, several times a day, then a ranking of less than 60000-70000 is not difficult to achieve.
  • software is now available that simulates visits to a site from multiple IP address to manipulate the ranking (there may even be some advertised in the Adsense at the bottom of this page!). There are also networks of real people that can be jonied where they all visit each others sites with the toolbar installed.
  • despite the above, many claim that this results in inaccuracies in the data, but its not possible to manipulate the results in the top 1000. See this thread at WebProWorld on Giving Up the Alexa Habit with an example further down the page of a site in the top 250 that the results are biased towards.
  
 
   
Of what use is the Alexa Ranking?:  
The Alexa ranking should be considered more for entertainment purposes. It may have some use (eg would you buy something from an ecommerce site with a ranking of greater than 4 000 000?). It is easy to manipulate and some do take advantage of this to impress those without a full understanding of what underpins the rankings. Despite that, the Alexa Toolbar still has some other useful functions (eg pop-up blocker; related links and site information)
 
   
 
What do others think?:  
Giving Up the Alexa Habit  (WebProWorld)  
How to beat Alexa Ranking? (Digitalpoint Forums)  
Is alexa user traffic toolbar accurate? (Digitalpoint Forums)  
Alexa, What do you think? (HighRankings Forum)  
Alexa ranking? (Cre8asite)  
Alexa Ranking (SEOChat)  
Do you trust Alexa ranking? (Site Point Forums)