How Much Importance Should I give to Alexa Rank?

I have noticed my Alexa ranking fluctuate gradually over the past month or so, going from nearly 300k to about 180k within a week or 2, and now it's back up to around 200k. I am wondering how much respect I should actually give to this ranking, or if it really doesn't mean much.

 

I just said this in another post.

Dont care. Its useless and can be easily cheated. Alexa is a waste of time.

 

Can somebody please explain to me what an Alexa raiting is?

 

Alexa ranks every unique URL (ie, youtube.com, insidethewebb.com) and ranks it in comparison to every other website out there. There's probably a few million URL's out there, so getting into the 6-digit or 5-digit for your alexa ranking is very good, and anything above that is very, very good!

However it's difficult at first to build up your Alexa rank, as it's based on backlinks, total visitors and traffic, and DoFollow links from high-PR sites.

 

Thanks. I've been hearing a lot about an Alexa rank all over this forum.

 

I have read it at more than one place that Alexa rank is not that important. So you can stop worrying about it.

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My socio-personal blog

 

It seems like something that would be fun to brag about but not terribly important.

 

Yes kind of! You got it right and put it nicely laced with humour!

 

Glad I know something about something I really know nothing about
Try saying that 10 times fast...

 

Alexa rank is important to potential advertisers for your site

Although it can be manipulated, I have not found a better Free service for checking individual website traffic, keywords, where the traffic comes from and other stats.

Compete is pretty good too, but can also be manipulated.

 

Wow. It sounds like you really know your stuff. I've never even checked my Alexa ranking. I might start trying to find something to brag about with this.

 

Alexa is really only good for very large sites IMO. Based on the amount of traffic a large site gets, it is difficult for a small group of people to influence its rank. Conversely, for a site that has low traffic volume a few people can boost it very easily.

If you want to frustrate your competitors, get a bunch of people to use the toolbar and visit your site frequently. Your stats will look great and you can go around telling people you have a better Alexa rank than your competitor. But, people who know SEO will laugh when you tell them.



/*tom*/

 

Where do you go to install the toolbar? I may try this technique...

 

Alexa is ranked by traffic I think, and people are nt attaching much importance to it.

 

Ya. Where can I download the toolbar. It sounds like a great idea.

 

Got to alexa.com > at the right bottom
And by the way I like alexa ranking and the competition, but All that matter is Google Rank! Alexa is like a joke

 

alexa rank is a joke with webmastersworld

 

Alexa lost its prestige over the years, but as some of the previous posters mentioned...
- it is still important enough for Google to check it (together with dmoz, archive.org and a few other similar sites)
- matters a lot to advertisers, especially in the US (together with PR it influences link pricing directly)
- while easy to trick, it has interesting data to offer if you DON'T

You need to understand that some of their data comes from the above mentioned toolbar, which is more accurate than Google Analytics on detecting user behavior. While GA and analytics in general go in width, Alexa bar goes in depth. In the end it is just a tool - if you can use it properly, there is benefit to gain. Dismissing things without arguments is sometimes just preventing you from making more money. Good luck!

 

It's apparent to me that an Alexa ranking is important and it's not just bragging rights. If it helps your site grow, especially through google, then of course it's important.

 

I know it's easy to trick, but I still care about it.