On Alexa Traffic Ranking

Alexa Traffic Ranking According to Alexa.com:

“Alexa’s Web site is built on the notion that timely and relevant information is essential to a vital web experience… Alexa has built an unparalleled database of information about sites that includes statistics, related links and more. All of this information can be found on Alexa’s Site Overview pages, Traffic Detail pages and Related Links pages. To access these pages, simply type the URL of any site into the Alexa Search box.”

What Is Alexa Traffic Ranking?

The Alexa Traffic Ranking is a system that measures web traffic and awards an Alexa Traffic Rank. However, for web traffic to qualify for the Alexa Ranking, the website visitor must have the Alexa Toolbar installed in his or her browser. As for the ranking, a low rank (ex: 1) is a good thing and means higher traffic levels.

Top Sites According to Alexa

1. Google
2. Facebook
3. YouTube
4. Yahoo!
5. Windows Live

Who Uses Alexa Traffic Ranking?

Websites that generate money through advertising may user their Alexa Traffic Ranking score to justify the value of a link or advertisement on their site. Additionally, companies or individuals interested in paying for online advertising may want to know the Alexa Traffic Ranking of a site before they commit advertising dollars.

The image below from compete.com shows a trending increase in traffic over the past year for alexa.com.

How to  Increase Your Alexa Traffic Ranking

To increase your Alexa Traffic Ranking, you essentially need to increase your current web traffic. The assumption is that the higher your traffic, the more likely visitors utilizing the Alexa Traffic Ranking toolbar will visit your site. Additionally, you can install an Alexa Ranking widget for non-toolbar users to click on. It is unconfirmed that this in fact counts towards an increase in your Alexa Traffic Ranking, but many believe it does.

Problems With Alexa Traffic Ranking

1. The Alexa Traffic Ranking system is dependent upon users utilizing the Alexa Traffic Ranking toolbar. Even Alexa.com admits that “Alexa could not exist without the participation of the Alexa Toolbar community.”
2. Alexa.com cannot accurately rank pages with a rank greater than 100,000. If a website has an Alexa rank greater than 100,000 it means that the web traffic is too low to measure accurately. From day to day the Alexa rank could increase or decrease drastically even if the actual traffic is increasing or decreasing in the opposite direction!
3. The Alexa toolbar is only available for Firefox browsers, essentially eliminating web browsers who use internet explorer, safari, or other browsers.
4. Many people believe there is an inherent bias, because individuals who care enough to install the Alexa toolbar on their browser most likely have a website that they are monitoring and attempting to increase the Alexa score for.

Identity Building Blog Take Away

The Alexa Ranking can be helpful for those who wish to spend money on internet advertising, especially because the information is public. If you are prepared to spend money on links or ads you most certainly want to gain as much insight into the advertiser as possible. While it can be helpful, we suggest always considering the Alexa Traffic Ranking as part of a mix of information including Google PageRank and web traffic from compete.com. There are simply too many variables affecting Alexa Traffic Ranking for most sites for us to use it as the sole traffic ranking system.