There are some internet business owners who denounce the value of using Alexa and its somewhat questionable statistics. There are also some savvy internet marketers who know how to use Alexa and use the available information to their advantage.
No matter your opinion of Alexa, there are no doubt ways you could be using it to gain an advantage over your competition.
About Alexa
Alexa has been in existence for quite some time, since 1996 actually. Many early internet users downloaded the Alexa toolbar in order to help the company gather website statistics regarding browsing habits and site popularity based on traffic.
This is still an option but is not as popular as it once was. Clearly, Alexa can only compile data on those who have downloaded their toolbar so the information it provides on page rankings is biased.
You can type in the URL of your own website and see what it returns; this service is absolutely free. It’s not necessarily an accurate reflection of your page’s SEO but it can be interesting to review. Note that the lower the number of your traffic rank, the better.
How To Use Alexa Research Tools
For the purposes of internet marketing, there are various tools Alexa offers to gain information on your competitors and consumer habits.
The Wayback Machine is a collection of old web pages and how they looked over a period of time. This archive can be a useful way to figure out which design tactics and techniques have worked for the most successful e-commerce websites.
Type in the URL of a competitor’s website so that you can compare their website statistics with your own. This gives you a good idea of your company’s market share and reach. Click on “traffic details” and it gives you the option of graphing the comparison between sites.
Want to know who the leader is in regards to the subject matter related to your online business? Alexa provides a list of top sites according to subject and/or language.
Click on “Related Links” and you will find a list of other sites visitors went to. This is a great way to compile a list of valid competitors or even to find sites where your advertising dollars might be best spent.
Alexa also gives a detailed overview of all sites on the internet that link to yours, along with some basic information about these sites. It might be surprising to realise how many backlinks you’ve built up, and also make you aware of any negative associations.
Reviewing Alexa’s overview of your website gives you a quick summary of statistics including contact information, reviews posted online, and the loading speed of your pages.
If you find yourself referring to the information on Alexa often, you may want to install the Alexa toolbar in your browser. This conflicts with many anti-virus programs so it may not work for you in some cases.
Once you learn how to use Alexa for internet marketing, it can provide some very interesting and informative statistics about not only your site, but your competitors’ websites. Use it to your advantage and stay ahead of the game of e-commerce and search engine optimisation.
Have a most outstanding day.
Sean RasmussenAussie Internet Marketing
www.SeanSEO.com © 2008 - 2010
{ 20 comments… read them below or add one }
I know that Alexa offers these services, however you can also get pretty much the same information from other online services. I do however wonder what “extra” Alexa provide when you sign up with them. I may have to sign up and see.
Worth checking out Cemil. As stated in the article, Alexa is not as popular as it used to be, but it still provides some pretty cool statistics that may be of value to you.
Regards – Sean
I can see this will be handy even if only to figure out who the competition is
Thanks for the tip about the lower the PR, the better! I probably would have done cart wheels and got too excited otherwise…
Thanks so much for this information. I have had the A worm in the bottom right hand corner of my computer for a long time but have never really known what it meant or done anything about it. Now I will investigate and get a daily boost or shock as I watch it in relation to my sites.
Thanks
Hi Sean,
I have downloaded the Alexa toolbar. It’s really exciting to see your Alexa ranking going down each week. I find that it really motivates me to try and improve each week.
I definitely think that the information I get about my competition is very helpful even if the results are skewed.
I knew of Alexa but will re-visit it to look at it with new eyes!
Your tip about negative backlinks is very valuable, not many people would think of that. Thank you
Hi Sean
Once again. something new to my ears and eyes and I am going to download it after I have finished writing this. Then I will be able to see for myself how useful it will be to me. I like the idea of stat’s.
It will at least give me an overview of how I am going. I am wondering how I will know if it conflicts with my anti virus program e.g, will I get notification?
Blessings
Elly
The toolbar probably just won’t work if there is a conflict Elly.
Since using Alexa here in the competition, I realise how powerful it is to have reviews done about your site. I can see that it is good for your rankings.
Hey Sean,
This sounds like a very powerful tool to have in your utility belt, even if it isn’t as popular as it used to be.
Cheers,
Pete
This article alone proves what we don’t know but you do… therefore to put it simply – “you are the man”. If there anything you don’t know about internet marketing it’s not worth knowing!!
Yet another tool we can use for internet marketing purposes. I find myself asking what else is there…? My mind boggles!!
Even I am still learning Samantha, we can never know it all
Hi Sean,
I will have to find out how to use Alexa , looks like another tool for us to learn about its amazing just how much there is for us to use, so we can see just where we are going
Hi Sean,
I had Alexa on my computer for some time without fully understanding the features. This article helps me to better understand the toolbar and how to use it.
Or I’ll have some fun trying to work it out.
Hi Sean
I Just wanted to write another comment to say that since I have been using Alexa in this competition to write reviews I can see the potential in having your site reviewed and the many other features like giving star ratings and making choices about the over all presentation of the site.
I realise we are not supposed to write more than one or 2 comments for each article in this competition but I thought it appropriate to mention Alexa here. I don’t want you to think I am trying to get extra points!
Thank you for getting us to join Alexa. I have only just started to learn about it.
How to get Number one on Google is a top priority for us all. Great article Sean.
Registered with Alexa . I have to have little red book these days with a hundred Logins and passwords!!! LOLOL
Hi Leigh
I have a red book full of them too. I know it is not a safe practice to do this as it is an open invitaion for anyone to get into all your sites etc should it get into the wrong hands. I have just set up a folder in my email called passwords and I am transferring them in to there.
This way I can be anywhere in the world and I can access them without fear of having them unsecured.
This is an interesting article. I have had an Alexa toolbar for a few years now. I just thought I would try some of the suggestions above.
Alexa says that most visitors are from Australia, while Google analytics syas the preponderant number of visitors come from the USA – which is what I target. Oz ranks 3rd for visitors after Canada.
I imagine I won’t get accurate stats until I am down below 100,000 – which is a long way off.