Is Alexa telling you have one of the most popular blogs in the world? Or perhaps Alexa is telling you you have one of the most unpopular blogs in the world? Whatever it is telling you, take it with a pinch of salt.
It is well known within the internet marketing and search engine optimization sector that the Alexa data does not give an accurate picture of how popular a website or blog is. It does, however, give an accurate picture of other data related to a specific domain, such as trends and demographics.
How do I know the Alexa traffic ranking data is inaccurate?
This week I performed a little test. It only took me a few minutes. I logged the Alexa ranking of three of my sites and checked that data against the amount of people that were actually visiting the sites in question.
Example One
Alexa Rank – 370,000
Unique Daily Visitors – Average 120
Sector – SEO/Internet Marketing
Example Two
Alexa Rank – 945,000
Unique Daily Visitors – Average 700
Sector – Fun/Humor
Example Three
Alexa Rank – 1,164,000
Unique Daily Visitors – Average 500
Sector – Recipes
The interesting point to notice about these statistics is that the site with a more ‘techie’ audience has the highest Alexa ranking and the lowest traffic figures. This isn’t really a surprise, as Alexa data is gathered through the toolbar it provides, and most of the people who have the toolbar installed will not be looking for recipes or the funny pictures on my other two sites.
Can Alexa data be manipulated to your advantage?
Yes, it can. You could ask friends to install the Alexa toolbar and visit your blog on a regular basis. You could even do this yourself if you wish. All of those visits will be calculated and become part of the Alexa database. You could then promote your blog by saying it has a high Alexa ranking – people in the know will not give much credence to a statement like that, but people who have heard of Alexa but don’t really ‘get it’, may be impressed.
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