subject: How Important Is Your Alexa Rank? [print this page] I am a Judgment Broker who writes articlesI am a Judgment Broker who writes articles. This article is my opinion about how one's Alexa rank is not worth trying to increase.
Alexa Internet began Alexa in 1996, as a web browser toolbar called the Alexa Toolbar. The toolbar offered rankings of web site popularity, with suggestions of what site to visit next, based on what other toolbar browsers had surfed. Alexa invented the "Wayback Machine", and has been a pioneer in web crawling, indexing, and storage.
Alexa was a very important contributor to the web infrastructure, and is now owned by Amazon. In 2009, Amazon "deprecated or discontinued" most of Alexa's consumer services. Still remaining, is the Alexa Toolbar that rates web site popularity.
What the Alexa Company did, and part of what it does now, is very important. However, the Alexa ranking that appears on perhaps millions of browser toolbars, is not important to monitor. Google is # one (I bet you might have guessed that), Yahoo is number 4, Amazon is # 11, Comcast is number 198, most web sites are over a million.
There are many SEO guides, software programs, pinging services, web services, and companies that offer, and will dramatically boost one's Alexa rank. However, Alexa rank doesn't provide any new information. The real result of Alexa rank is to impress some people that have installed the Alexa Toolbar.
Most companies that attempt to sell products and services to reduce one's Alexa ranking have a common advertising pitch, that Google has a clear preference for web sites having a better Alexa rank. I think Google notices web sites with content that is valuable, unique, in-depth, well-organized, and provides a real product or service.
Those with Alexa rank boosting products to sell also brag about more alleged advantages of getting a lower Alexa rank. "People will be impressed and take your site seriously. When you get under a 100,000 rank, people will be willing to pay you to place banners on your web site." A few mention Neilsen Ratings, as if old TV watching patterns should be compared with the dynamic web.
One's Alexa rank has the most effect on the rank number on the (if installed) Alexa Toolbars on web browsers. I think it is a pipe dream to believe that customers will do business when you have an Alexa rank of 250,000, yet will not do business with you when your Alexa ranking is four million.
It is foolish to think that if you pay a service or use a product to boost your rank under 90K, you will be paid to put banners ads on your site.
When you get to Alexa rank number 6,000, perhaps people might offer to pay to place banners and ads on your web site. However, when their advertisements don't work, you won't get paid much.
If your web site's clicks come from robot visitors, they only improve your Alexa rank, they don't help you in any other way.
Having a fantastic Alexa rank by itself, has nothing to do with whether someone clicks an advertisement. Even if a robot clicks a a banner, what counts are sales, not clicks.
The right method to get a good Alexa ranking, is to ignore the Alexa ranking. Improve your site and grow your business as much as possible. That will lead to a useful Alexa ranking.
When you are lucky enough to get an Alexa rank of 1,000 by ignoring the Alexa rank, you'll be very successful.
If you buy your way to an Alexa rank of 900, you will get noticed, but probably won't be successful.
