by Christina Pomoni

Created on: July 05, 2010   Last Updated: May 30, 2012

The Alexa Traffic Rank is a prominent ranking system that compares and ranks websites based on the amount of traffic that is driven to them. By computing an algorithm based on the historical traffic data of the past three months, Alexa generates a combined calculation of the numbers of visitors to a website (reach) and the number of pages on the website that those visitors open. By computing aggregate data, the ranking of the website on the Alexa Traffic Rank is, in effect, the geometrical mean of the visitors and page views over time.

The top 5 sites according to Alexa Traffic Rank (as of 7/5/2010) are Google, Facebook, YouTube, Yahoo and Live. This simply means that these websites receive the greatest number of visitors based on their content, functionality, and speed. Yet, Alexa ranking is computed based on people who visit the website and have downloaded the Alexa toolbar. Instead, visits from people who haven’t downloaded the Alexa toolbar do not count toward the improvement of Alexa ranking.

Alexa ranking is broadly viewed as a web monetization strategy and for the most part it is. One of its benefits is that it can be used as a competitive intelligence tool and provide valuable information about the competitive positioning of a particular website. It can also provide an indication about the success of web marketing efforts in relation to competition and allow room for improvements. In this context, improving Alexa ranking is important not only because it offers exposure and greater visibility to a website, but also because through worthy links it increases the site’s monetization. Often, high ranked websites are widely regarded as containing valuable links. Hence, websites that use link building as a form of monetization can achieve better pricing for their ads if they have a higher Alexa ranking.

Besides, by being a subsidiary of Amazon, Alexa’s results are closely related to Amazon’s profile. Therefore, when a visitor reviews a particular website, it is highly likely that it is linked to the Amazon profile. Thus, websites gain greater exposure, but also websites with similar offerings can be related through Amazon’s platform and enhance their web marketing efforts.

There are several tips that webmasters suggest to improve Alexa ranking. The easiest of them include:

* Downloading and installing the Alexa toolbar

* Installing the Alexa widget on the website under consideration to intrigue visitor to check it out

* Writing

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