Two weeks ago I went on a quest to increase my Alexa rank.
So I started looking around for info on how Alexa’s rankings are determined and what to do to increase it.
I found some basic hints like adding the Alexa javascript ranking to my site so Alexa has a more accurate count of my traffic, building more links, and blogging regularly.
I was already blogging pretty regularly, but I’ve added that Alexa ranking (bottom right corner of my site), started to focus more on building some good links and my ranking has increased. Alexa doesn’t show they’ve noticed the links yet so I think just giving them a more accurate look at my traffic is what’s helped so far.
So I’m asking you what advice you’ve got!
I had to laugh at myself as I just realized there’s a 3 month averaged rank (the one I was watching) and a 1 month rank. Yes, I’ve been paying close attention (sarcasm). I think I remember noticing it before, but I really should have been tracking that one along with the 3 month one… and I might be as blind as a bat but I can’t figure out where to see my actual daily rank.
I’ve checked Alexa occasionally over the last year or so, mostly when going through ProBlogger’s 31 Days to Build a Better Blog and figured it’s an interesting way to watch my progress, but haven’t obsessed over it. Should I be more concerned about my ranking?
What’s your opinion on Alexa? Any tips on how to increase rank?
Photo Credit: ilco at sxc.hu
I gave up on obsessing about Alexa a while back :)
One of the reasons is that the data is somewhat skewed by whether or not the traffic that visits your site has the Alexa toolbar installed on their browser.
When I compared Alexa to my performance in Google rankings, there was a noticeable difference in performance. I was driving 3x more traffic to my blog than the previous month, but my Alexa rankings were “increasing”.
So now I still look at it, but I don’t obsess over it. I’m more concerned with new visitors to my blog and if they’re interacting and commenting on my posts. To me that’s more important, especially since I’m not selling any advertising space right now.
That’s my two cents :)
Yeah, I’m surprised at how much my ranking has gone up when my traffic is up, but not that dramatically. I think adding their javascript with their counter just showed them my traffic and that their guess wasn’t very good before.
100% agree that interaction and commenting is a better measure! :)
Hey Michelle,
Great question. In my opinion it really does not make that much of a difference but it is one of many ways to measure the traffic and popularity of your blog. I use it to see how traffic is flowing to my site and check it on a weekly basis. You could also install the toolbar on your browser to keep track as well. Another thing to look for is your Google PR or Page Rank. Check that out when you get a chance.
Make it a great day!
God Bless,
The GREAT Edward!
Thanks Edward, I haven’t checked Google PageRank in a while, I’ll add that to my list of metrics to track.
Hey Michelle,
Didn’t know you could add the ranking to your site. Nice idea.
I really haven’t bothered w/ Alexa, but I was impressed when I checked it late February that I had just as many Canadians over Americans looking at my blog. Made me proud, but that was it.
I may look at it again and maybe consider adding the ranking to my site, but we shall see.
Thanks for the information!
I thought the break down by countries was kind of cool, too.
From what I’ve found, installing the Alexa toolbar and the Alexa widget increases your Alexa ranking.
From what I’ve seen since I installed the javascript a couple weeks ago it has.
I kind of trust Alexa in a way but it does say different things to Google analytics. Having said that my Revolver globe says different things to GetClicky and so on! I seem to be adding more links fairly consistently and I share and engage and everything as much as I can. I think you’ve got to be fairly obsessive to Blog 2 or 3 times a week anyway. It’s best to keep an eye on just about everything really, I only realised the other day that I’ve been Blogging with just the default pingbacks since I started? OK, another curve that’s been learned! Hey Michelle, I’m following this Blog now, can you follow mine too?? Good post, thanks, Peter (StumbleUpon is brilliant BTW, check my post that mentions them & look at the stats, amazing!)
Thanks Peter, I’ll check that out. I’ve been by your blog but I’ll make sure I’ve got it in my RSS reader, too. :) We’re in the Facebook Blogging Mastermind Tribe together.
Very interesting discussion topic Michelle. I think Alexa is a great tool, but should only be just one of the tools that you use to determine the position of your website on the web.
I think, to improve your Alexa rank, you need to be careful what “keywords” or “search terms” you are adding to your website on a regular basis. And also Alexa weighs heavily on Incoming Links, so building these might be a good idea.
I like that approach, Fiona. There are so many options out there for this type of info, makes sense to look at different ones and take them into account.
Hi Michelle, good job on your Alexa rank! I recently discovered Alexa and added the toolbar. Ever since I’ve been using that, the rank of my blog has improved, so I like Alexa so far. The day my rank gets worse is the day Alexa and I won’t get along.
I didn’t know about adding the Alexa rank to the bottom of my blog, but I will look into that. I did know about seeing what countries readers come from. I’m proud to say the #2 country my readers come from after the US is Australia. I was also surprised to learn that 1/3 of my readers are from outside the US. That has affected how I write my blog. I write about personal technology which can different outside the US so I make a greater effort to include helpful information to my international readers. I wouldn’t have known to do that without Alexa.
I have to admit, it’s been driving me crazy to see how much it jumps around – and I definitely like it less when it get worse!
The country info is helpful. I try to remember I’ve got readers outside the US and I’d better not generalize, too. It’s really cool to watch the areas on the map grow, isn’t it? :)
Hi Michelle,
I’ve had the Alexa addon for Firefox for quite a while now and I’ve noticed changes on many sites that I deal with. Frequency of updates is a big factor, as well as visitors / traffic. When I don’t update my blog often enough rank reflects it pretty fast, and vice versa. What also helps a lot is to have high search engine rankings.
While Alexa notoriously gets traffic wrong, I still like to monitor it. There’s just something motivational about seeing your site considered “improved” by a third party because of your efforts.
Interesting! I need to work on my SEO. I tend to let that slip. Thanks for the tip.
It is motivational! I like watching my TwitterGrade, HubSpot website grade, etc for that reason, too.
Thanks for the helpful post! I’m currently on a quest to get my Alexa ranking bumped up…hopefully your tips will help. :)
-Pixel