Alexa is a service that provides traffic statistics for millions of websites. It ranks sites based on tracking information of users of its Alexa toolbar for Internet Explorer and from integrated sidebars in Mozilla and Netscape. Unfortunately, most people do not have an Alexa toolbar. As a result, Alexa rank is not a true indicator of the popularity of your website, as it only measures a subset of your visitors.
Alexa addresses some of these concerns with a disclaimer which states:
- Generally, traffic rankings of 100,000 and above should be regarded as not reliable.
- Conversely, the closer a site gets to #1, the more reliable its traffic ranking becomes.
Although the Alexa ranking is not regarded as the most accurate ranking system, it is important if you plan on monetizing your site. Often advertisers and ad networks use the Alexa rank to determine the value of a link or ad spot on a particular website. So it may be to your advantage to use it. Here then are five ways you can improve your ranking:
1) Add An Alexa Rank Widget To Your Website
Installing a widget on your website will give you an almost immediate increase in rank. As stated earlier, only visitors with the toolbar installed are reflected in your traffic rank, but by having an Alexa rank widget on your website, your traffic statistics will include all visitors.
2) Install The Alexa Toolbar In Your Browser
This is another good way to boost your website’s traffic rank because all visits to
your website will be reflected in your rank. For added effect, be sure to set your website
as your homepage.
3) Encourage Your Visitors and Friends to Install the Alexa Toolbar
The more visitors to your site that have the toolbar installed, the better your Alexa rank
will be.
4) Use Alexa Auto-Surfing Websites
This will probably only be helpful if your Alexa rank is extremely poor, but these
websites will send visitors to your website that have the toolbar installed.
5) Follow Webmasters
Web developers and other technically sophisticated people most likely have the
Alexa toolbar installed in their browsers. Therefore, if you go to places on the internet –
such as discussion forums, tech blogs, etc. - you can get them to visit your website. One
easy way to encourage them to visit your site is to ask for feedback.
There will always be controversy about Alexa rankings - but if you use the tips above, you can improve your rank and the value of your website in the eyes of potential advertisers.