Does Alexa Rank matter?

Spooky · #1 (**permalink**) 06-22-09, 18:42

I'm looking into selling a few domains that I have lying around doing nothing. One thing I noticed from other domain sellers, though, is that they also put in the domain's Alexa Rank. Does Alexa Rank really matter to buyers? The only ranking I've been paying attention to was Google PageRank and now I've got another thing to worry about. Should I even bother with it?

surreality · #2 (**permalink**) 06-22-09, 19:29

Alexa Rank is easily manipulated: just have you and your friends install the Alexa toolbar and visit your sites. Voila! Instant Alexa Rank increase. Because of that, Alexa Ranking is considered worthless by discerning webmasters.

My advice to you would be to disregard the Alexa Rank. If potential buyers ask you about it, tell them that Alexa Rank is unreliable at best.

MattBarthorp · #3 (**permalink**) 06-23-09, 05:32

The buyer practically doesn't take Alexa rank that seriously, they intend to have a domain name that is best suitable for their business, and as said by 'surreality', alexa rank can be manipulated for sure, so you shouldn't bother much about it.

carl owen · #4 (**permalink**) 06-23-09, 16:04

Well, when it comes to alexa rankings, it is seen that alexa records the visitors on your website if the visitors have alexa toolbar installed in the web browser. Due to this, if the visitors you get on your website have alexa toolbar, it will be counted, otherwise, not

Hence, I don't think it is important as it might be possible that visitors visiting your website won't have alexa toolbar in their web browsers (mostly people don't have it due to spyware etc.

)

Alexa rankings is counted by web masters as they mostly have alexa toolbar installed. You shouldn't consider alexa toolbar for general audience as it will be counted only if they have alexa toolbar installed

Hence, alexa rankings are limited to some extent. Also, some the web browsers do not support alexa toolbar which is yet another drawback as the hits from those browsers won't be counted.

Some people say that alexa has an algorithm to rank websites. Well, if this the case then I think the algorithm also depends on the results from alexa toolbar only

anny feng · #5 (**permalink**) 06-24-09, 18:58

Quote:

Originally Posted by carl owen

Hence, alexa rankings are limited to some extent. Also, some the web browsers do not support alexa toolbar which is yet another drawback as the hits from those browsers won't be counted.

Some people say that alexa has an algorithm to rank websites. Well, if this the case then I think the algorithm also depends on the results from alexa toolbar only

agree,
and if i need to buy a domain, i will focus on google rank,
but it seems google PR is unavailable today.

Joseph · #6 (**permalink**) 06-24-09, 20:48

Quote:

Originally Posted by anny feng

agree,
and if i need to buy a domain, i will focus on google rank,
but it seems google PR is unavailable today.

Well, when it comes to a site with PR, you will find many sites on the Internet. However, if you wish to purchase those sites you should make sure that you will have to spend a good amount of money for it

MattBarthorp · #7 (**permalink**) 06-25-09, 02:51

Thats right, a pre existing domain that has backlinks and a fair PR, can be fairly costly. One has to shell out enough money to buy such domains. But, if the domain name is fit for your business then you can opt for buying it. You can recover this money later, as it is very important to have an appropriate domain name in order to suceed in any online venture.

sharron · #8 (**permalink**) 06-25-09, 07:00

Yes, right domain name is imperative to the success of your website. If you choose domain name which is directly related to your business, then it will become much easier for visitors to remember it the next time they are looking for the product available on your website.

angelad · #9 (**permalink**) 06-25-09, 16:58

Quote:

Originally Posted by surreality

Alexa Rank is easily manipulated: just have you and your friends install the Alexa

toolbar and visit your sites. Voila! Instant Alexa Rank increase. Because of that, Alexa Ranking is considered worthless by discerning webmasters.

My advice to you would be to disregard the Alexa Rank. If potential buyers ask you about it, tell them that Alexa Rank is unreliable at best.

Lots of people still put a lot of stock into Alexa rankings since it has established an industry standard. So yea, I would stay it still carries some stock.

carl owen · #10 (**permalink**) 06-25-09, 17:38

You can buy a domain with a good PR if you shell out some money. Maybe, you will get a domain which has keywords related to the kind of business i.e. services, you will be providing to the customers. This will certainly make a difference and will be beneficial to you

However, while buying the domain, it's not only the PR which is important

You should check the kind of reputation the domain has on the internet and what kind of work is done on it to get the PR. If it has PR, it may have backlinks and good content on it, however, you should check thoroughly before you buy it

When it comes to Alexa, yes, it has gained reputation on the internet as it has been in this industry from a very long time. However, I think some development is necessary to maintain the importance it has or I would say to regain the importance it had

gazzie · #11 (**permalink**) 06-27-09, 00:56

Quote:

Originally Posted by angelad

Lots of people still put a lot of stock into Alexa rankings since it has established an industry standard. So yea, I would stay it still carries some stock.

Personally, I believe that those people who still think that the Alexa Ranking is an accurate indicator of a site's popularity really aren't that well versed in the domain business. Any good domain broker worth his salt knows that Alexa Rank is easily manipulated. Not only that, but Alexa has had its own share of controversy — their toolbar being marked as spyware, for example (and it still is).

Windac · #12 (**permalink**) 06-27-09, 12:50

Like most people have already said, Alexa ranks are very accurate and can be affected easily. I never pay attention to it and I don't think many other people look at it either. Google ranks are the main thing people will look at. It is al lot more trustworthy.

bluetrance05 · #13 (**permalink**) 06-27-09, 14:42

You don't have to be bothered about it, this is just what they claim a powerful tool used to rank websites that have a lot of traffic. It can tell how many traffic is visiting your site, but I'm not sure how accurate Alexa Rank is. A lot of people are using it just for their preference, but I still prefer Google Page Rank if I have to choose between the two.

carl owen · #14 (**permalink**) 06-27-09, 15:49

Quote:

Originally Posted by bluetrance05

You don't have to be bothered about it, this is just what they claim a powerful tool used to rank websites that have a lot of traffic. It can tell how many traffic is visiting your site, but I'm not sure how accurate Alexa Rank is. A lot of people are using it just for their preference, but I still prefer Google Page Rank if I have to choose between the two.

Alexa ranks sites on the basis of the traffic they have but as it is said before (by me

), if the visitor visiting your site does not have alexa toolbar in the browser, the visitor won't be counted and hence you cannot rely upon alexa to check the traffic for a site

The best tool to check the traffic of a site would be a web analytic application which is installed on the site (if you do not have access to it, you cannot check the traffic through the application

)

Well, you cannot compare Google PR and Alexa as they have a different concept for rankings the sites (as far as I know, I think I am correct).

Google does not give PR to a site depending on the number of visitors a site gets per month but it depends on other factors such as relevant backlinks to the site, content of the site etc

When it comes to Alexa, it ranks the site depending on the number of visitors it gets and hence you cannot rely on Alexa.

For this reason, I think comparing Google PR and Alexa is not correct. However, when it comes to Google PR and Alexa, I prefer Google PR

BlueGigs · #15 (**permalink**) 07-13-09, 12:22

I completely ignore the Alexa Rank of my websites. I don't use the Alexa toolbar, have no intention of using it in the future, and don't expect my visitors to use it.

I don't think it's practical to rank websites based on traffic by counting only a small subset of users.

Joseph · #16 (**permalink**) 07-13-09, 16:34

Quote:

Originally Posted by BlueGigs

I don't think it's practical to rank websites based on traffic by counting only a small subset of users.

Well, I think many of the users on the internet share the same thought

The reason most of the users do not trust Alexa for the rankings of the traffic rankings of the websites in the fact that Alexa only counts the visitors who have Alexa toolbar installed in the web browsers (as said by carl owen before

)

I think this is the main reason for which Alexa rankings are not considered and if Alexa starts counting the visitors which do not have Alexa toolbar in the web browsers, the Alexa rankings of most of the websites will change and more webmasters will start considering Alexa rankings for the websites

tigress · #17 (**permalink**) 07-14-09, 01:58

Quote:

Originally Posted by carl owen

Alexa ranks sites on the basis of the traffic they have but as it is said before (by me

), if the visitor visiting your site does not have alexa toolbar in the browser, the visitor won't be counted and hence you cannot rely upon alexa to check the traffic for a site

The best tool to check the traffic of a site would be a web analytic application which is installed on the site (if you do not have access to it, you cannot check the traffic through the application

)

How do I install a web analytic application on my website? Where will I get one?

Quote:

Originally Posted by carl owen

Well, you cannot compare Google PR and Alexa as they have a different concept for rankings the sites (as far as I know, I think I am correct).

Google does not give PR to a site depending on the number of visitors a site gets per month but it depends on other factors such as relevant backlinks to the site, content of the site etc

Does this mean that even if I do not get any traffic or visitors in my site, if I have relevant backlinks and good content, I will get a good PR from google? I won't have to bother with the traffic stats?

BlueGigs · #18 (**permalink**) 07-17-09, 11:22

Quote:

Originally Posted by tigress

Does this mean that even if I do not get any traffic or visitors in my site, if I have relevant backlinks and good content, I will get a good PR from google? I won't have to bother with the traffic stats?

Well, sort of. It's pretty difficult to get relevant backlinks if nobody is viewing your website, and it's also challenging to get a high level of traffic if your content isn't good. High traffic and a high PR rating usually go hand in hand, even though the PR isn't given based on the traffic.

centelo · #19 (**permalink**) 07-17-09, 14:04

Quote:

Originally Posted by BlueGigs

I completely ignore the Alexa Rank of my websites

I don't either but I do end up taking other things into consideration before I just deal only with AR, and it bothers me that people still deal with this as if its not something easy to manipulate. How is someone that knows they really do need that site for whatever reason, use it, lose it and end up getting a domain that is almost worthless. Though in this time, most sites are never just worthless.