hi alexa shows different results for successful sites. for some it shows really poor results and outdated screen shots, even tho the site does well for google and has good traffic. why is this?
Alexa is one of the most popular poor ranking sites on the internet, it really is only used by a small fraction of web users. Actually, many don't realize alexa toolbar is actually spyware gathering data about the websites you visits, what you do there, etc.
Its obvious that what goes on behind the scenes in alexa is different in what goes on behind the scenes in google. I beleive google has a better system and maybe better search engine spiders than alexa does. Or did you think about the fact that Alexa might have a different in oppinion of what a good site is. This is a nice question!
Alexa is pretty reliable as their toolbar is used by enough people build up a good sample data. Despite that the that is shows is limited and there is some tricks to pump your alexa ranking stand even if our site is actually going down in the number of visitors. I found this recently. Sorry guys, can't share that info, it is still too precious, maybe some time in the future.