Is Alexa Ranking Still Reliable and Important?
One of the questions I usually get from my readers who've just decided to start their own blog is "How important is a good Alexa Rank? Should I work my *** off to make my blog a top 100,000 Alexa site?"
On the other hand, in casual meetings, my friends from PR and Media Agencies would usually ask, "It's 2011. Is Alexa ranking still all that reliable in determining a blog or website's relevance? Alexa sounds old."
Well, in answering these question, the first thing we have to do is to revisit what Alexa is all about.
Basically, Alexa is a web information company known for its traffic ranking system;
So with that, we go back to the questions:
1. How important is a good Alexa rank? Should I work hard my *** off to make my blog a top 100,000 Alexa site?
Well, first off, you have to ask yourself, "How do you want to position your blog or how do you want to be known?"
If you want your blog to be popular in that circle of Alexa toolbar users, then by all means, work hard for a good Alexa rank. But if you want be relevant in other ways like in terms of traffic, quality of content or social media clout, then you might want to focus your efforts on more worthwhile activities.
To tell you honestly, these days, Alexa rank does NOT always reflect the actual traffic of a blog or a website. A blog with high traffic can have a low Alexa rank and vice versa. And that's the truth. And the same thing can be said about social media clout.
Why is this so? It has something to do with the way Alexa collects information. I mean, how many of you here actually have an Alexa toolbar installed on your browser? If you don't, are your visits affecting a site's Alexa rank at all? You tell me. Also, it's important to note that there are schemes and programs that you can subscribe to that can help augment your Alexa rank without working too hard to increase your actual traffic. Just telling it like it is.
I'd personally advise you not to work your *** off for a high Alexa rank. Work hard for quality content that will benefit people; Not only does that guarantee good traffic but it will also help you gain supporters and followers on popular social networking sites. Now, if your Alexa rank increases as a result of your efforts to increase your traffic, well and good. If not, don't feel bad.
This is TechPinas' current Alexa rank. Does it reflect my actual traffic? I don't know and honestly, I'm starting not to care anymore. :)
2. It's 2011. Is Alexa ranking still all that reliable in determining a blog or website's relevance? Alexa sounds old.
For PR and Media agencies, Alexa rank should still be useful IF they want to know a blog or website's relevance and popularity in a specific target market: those who are using an Alexa toolbar. And that's it. Otherwise, I'd suggest they look at the site's unique visits, actual pageviews and social media relevance. If you ask me, these days - apart from traffic - social media clout is definitely king.
There you go. I hope you find this helpful.
On the other hand, in casual meetings, my friends from PR and Media Agencies would usually ask, "It's 2011. Is Alexa ranking still all that reliable in determining a blog or website's relevance? Alexa sounds old."
Well, in answering these question, the first thing we have to do is to revisit what Alexa is all about.
Basically, Alexa is a web information company known for its traffic ranking system;
Alexa computes traffic rankings by analyzing the Web usage of millions of Alexa Toolbar users and data obtained from other, diverse traffic data sources. The information is sorted, sifted, anonymized, counted, and computed, until, finally, we get the traffic rankings shown in the Alexa service. [source]
So with that, we go back to the questions:
1. How important is a good Alexa rank? Should I work hard my *** off to make my blog a top 100,000 Alexa site?
Well, first off, you have to ask yourself, "How do you want to position your blog or how do you want to be known?"
If you want your blog to be popular in that circle of Alexa toolbar users, then by all means, work hard for a good Alexa rank. But if you want be relevant in other ways like in terms of traffic, quality of content or social media clout, then you might want to focus your efforts on more worthwhile activities.
To tell you honestly, these days, Alexa rank does NOT always reflect the actual traffic of a blog or a website. A blog with high traffic can have a low Alexa rank and vice versa. And that's the truth. And the same thing can be said about social media clout.
Why is this so? It has something to do with the way Alexa collects information. I mean, how many of you here actually have an Alexa toolbar installed on your browser? If you don't, are your visits affecting a site's Alexa rank at all? You tell me. Also, it's important to note that there are schemes and programs that you can subscribe to that can help augment your Alexa rank without working too hard to increase your actual traffic. Just telling it like it is.
I'd personally advise you not to work your *** off for a high Alexa rank. Work hard for quality content that will benefit people; Not only does that guarantee good traffic but it will also help you gain supporters and followers on popular social networking sites. Now, if your Alexa rank increases as a result of your efforts to increase your traffic, well and good. If not, don't feel bad.
This is TechPinas' current Alexa rank. Does it reflect my actual traffic? I don't know and honestly, I'm starting not to care anymore. :)
2. It's 2011. Is Alexa ranking still all that reliable in determining a blog or website's relevance? Alexa sounds old.
For PR and Media agencies, Alexa rank should still be useful IF they want to know a blog or website's relevance and popularity in a specific target market: those who are using an Alexa toolbar. And that's it. Otherwise, I'd suggest they look at the site's unique visits, actual pageviews and social media relevance. If you ask me, these days - apart from traffic - social media clout is definitely king.
There you go. I hope you find this helpful.
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