All companies that have adopted online marketing aim to improve their conversion rate. Now, there are different ways to attract targeted traffic. Some look for a good place in the SERPs, others like to know that their site receives a lot of traffic. Either way, everyone has the goal of achieving financial success.
But, while for some business owners getting a high Google score may seem like the only way to get noticed and achieve their goal, there are others who think that a good place in the Alexa ranking system could benefit them just as well.
What is the Alexa rating?
This is a ranking system set up by Alexa (a subsidiary of Amazon) which basically audits and makes public the frequency of visits on various websites. The algorithm according to which the Alexa traffic rank is calculated is simple. It is based on the amount of traffic recorded from users who have the Alexa Toolbar installed over a three-month period.
This traffic is based on parameters such as reach and page views. Reach refers to the number of Alexa users who visit a particular site in a day. Page View, as the name suggests, is the number of times Alexa users view a particular page (URL). However, Alexa makes it clear that if a particular user visits the same URL multiple times in the same day, all those visits will count as one.
The first step in the ranking process is to calculate the reach and number of page views for all sites on the web on a daily basis. The Alexa rank is obtained by taking the geometric mean of reach and page views, averaged over a predefined period of time (three months).
How Alexa Ranking Works
It’s pretty easy to get started. All you have to do is visit alexa.com and download (and install) the Alexa Toolbar. This toolbar offers a search function, but mainly displays the ranking (global level) of the visited site, as well as the sites visited by Internet users that are linked in some way to the site being visited.
The Alexa toolbar not only displays information, but also sends data to the central server. Thus, every time you visit a Web page through a Web browser (either Internet Explorer or Firefox) that has the toolbar installed, information is sent to the server indicating your IP and the page you are visiting. Such data is collected from all web users who have the Alexa toolbar.
With Alexa, the lower the numerical ranking, the better. Most people say that if you manage to get in the top 100,000, it’s a sign that your site is enjoying pretty heavy traffic.
Is Alexa rank worth anything?
Benefits
- Unlike Google PageRank, the lower your rank number, the better.
- It helps webmasters and advertisers see the true marketing potential of their website. The better their Alexa Rank, the higher they are willing to bid to buy ad space on your website.
- Personal pages or blogs are taken into account and ranked in the same way as regular websites. They will even get a distinctive mark.
Since Alexa Rank gives you information about your website, it is a good tool to have in view of search engine optimization.
Learn more at: http://www.avangate.com/articles/alexa-ranking-99.htm