I’ll be the first to kick start this conversation because I have a feeling you’ll be seeing similar posts discussing Alexa.com’s “new ranking” system on every other blog for the next week or so. But are these new rankings going to better determine how much traffic a site gets? Well, my answer is still “no.”
Based on Alexa’s announcement page, they state things like “Alexa rankings are now based on more sources of data to give a better indicator of website popularity” and “The rankings are now an even better indication of website popularity due to new and improved algorithms.”
Yet, they do not state what those “better indicators” are, all they state is “We won’t tell any secrets just yet, but you can expect to see new features rolled out over the coming weeks and months.” That basically tells me nothing – nothing at all! Well, maybe one thing – that I’m sure those die-hard Alexa oriented webmasters and bloggers will be pissed if they are no longer in the Top 100k and they spent months, if not years, trying to get there.
And I would hate to think about those people who was striving to make it into the Top 100k for months to get pushed back even further. Luckily, most of us don’t care about Alexa ratings… but there are still some people who surround themselves with the inaccurate Alexa ratings.
How that will affect you?
Well, let’s say that a lot of places, especially Ad companies, use Alexa as a way of describing a websites traffic and now that they have changed their ranking system does that mean all these companies that rely on it will change theirs accordingly? Probably not. So, if you are no longer in the Top 100k, I think you’re going to be screwed. It’s almost like what happened when Google dropped a lot of peoples’ pageranks.
And I’m sure a lot of you guys know 45n5’s Top 100 Money Making Blogs, well, I wonder how the new Alexa ratings are going to change that whole entire list. Well, with the except of probably the top 5-10 blogs.
Also, all those posts from bloggers on “How to get in to Top 100K in Alexa” will probably go down the drain now, huh? Because I can guarantee you that more than half of those blogs are no longer in the top 100K… and sure enough, most of those blogs shouldn’t have been there to begin with!
How did it affect me personally?
Well, it seems this blog was knocked from 80,000 to 260,000+ and honestly, I’m not mad. I knew I didn’t deserve to be in the top 100k, at least not right now. But I’m just glad that most other blogs, especially people who rely on Entrecard for all their traffic, could pushed back even further.
The interesting part, is that my other blog DatCurious.com which I updated once within the past 3-4 weeks has a higher ranking than this blog. Here’s the thing, I think I get a lot more organic search engine traffic to that site than on here, so that does mean search engine traffic (most people who do not have the Alexa toolbar installed) will account for part of the rating system? We’ll see, I guess.
The Good News?
Now instead of seeing people articially decrease their Alexa ratings, supposedly they won’t be able to. For instance, all those Entrecard users who dedicate their life to drop and run or chain drop to articially decrease their Alexa ratings, hopefully with this new system, it can’t be gamed.
Well, I’m sure someone will crack it and start gaming the system soon enough!
So with the new changes to Alexa, do you think it will be better? More accurate? Or do you think it’s still going to be inaccurate?
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So far, I seem to be one of the few who didn’t suffer negatively from the Alexa shake up.
But to your point, about organic traffic say vs. entrecard stuffing etc., I must admit I am not as diligent with EC as I can be…yet EC accounts for 21% of my traffic while organic search yields 11%.
Not sure what algorithms Alexa is using, it will be interesting to see how it all pans out though.
TeasasTips’s last blog post..An Interview With Me On Webmaster Journal
Yeah, like Teasa, I am not affected, YET. Perhaps my blog is at the right rank it should be at? I doubt it, though, hehe! Depended quite a lot on EntreCard too for traffic.
BobbyT’s last blog post..Get paid to blog via PayPerPost
My blog’s ranking went from somewhere in 340000s to 226850 so I am really happy with the new system. For now!
Raj’s last blog post..The Wonders Of LeechBlock
Mine seems to be mostly searches, that I am found.Entrecard is only a small percentage.
But, I have not been affected (for now) it seems. I am in the 167’s. But I was 225ish last week.
Simple Mindz’s last blog post..Goodnight Sam. You will be missed.
Well I guess the new alexa ranking didn’t affect me because I wasn’t even on alexa until a week or two ago. LOL
Mark Wilson’s last blog post..I hate the word “niche”
Nice post Jay. Never been a huge fan of that Alexa rank… In the end – it’s just a number.
knupnet’s last blog post..New theme at knupnet.com released
Teasa – Unfortunately, I think a lot of make money online blogs and blogging tips blogs took a hit. But what makes matter worse is the fact that I see a lot of blogs who get less traffic than me who has better rankings. And when I say less, I mean, I’m probably getting like 3 times as much daily traffic. But Alexa was never accurate to begin with and it’s just going to get worse.
Bobby – Well, I stopped using Entrecard like that. Matter of fact, I don’t drop anymore and Entrecard is like 3% or less of my total traffic. But Bobby, you’re better than that man… you don’t have to rely on Entrecard for traffic!
Raj – I guess you’re a lucky one who doesn’t have a make money online blog lol… it seems you have a better ranking than me, should I assume you get 200-500+ unique visitors a day at the bare minimum?
T (simple mindz) – It seems a lot of non make money online blogs have been affected by this. As you can see the drastic hit I took from 80,000 to 266,000 lol… it’s almost like when Google started slapping people left and right with PR0 a few months back. Oh well…
Mark – Well, that’s a good thing. Don’t rely on it because the ranking is pretty much worthless anyways.
Knupnet – Yes, agreed. And I can say the same exact thing for Google’s pagerank.
Jay
I have another blog – that I hardly update – with a PR of 2. How crazy is that? lol.
Makes no sense!
I do make money off of my blogs though. Not a ton – but enough to pay for stuff that I could not ordinarily afford.
Simple Mindz’s last blog post..Goodnight Sam. You will be missed.
well, i like the new system my blog went from 613K to 475K, big jump, too bad you’ve gone down.
——-
P.S found this from twitter, 1 question about it, if i send a status message with @username does that person get the message even though he’s not following me?
luq’s last blog post..Be fair by all posts – Optimize your Popularity Contest Values!
T (simple-mindz) – What’s “hardly?” And also, how many uniqu visitors do you get monthly?
Luq – The new system is obviously flawed and it seems all the big blogs have taken a hit and the low traffic blogs increased. I mean, my other blog I started 2 weeks ago is getting up there and I don’t think anyone knows about it!
And to your Twitter question, yes, if you message directly at that person, they do get that message. They don’t get your generic ones or ones you message at other people though.
Jay
Jay’s last blog post..Alexa Ranking Change(s) – Still Inaccurate If You Ask Me!
thanks for the reply,,stumbled this post can you stumble my latest post(bottom)? =)
luq’s last blog post..Free up your disk space and fix registry issues with CCleaner
LOL – You know what? I never check. I check my bloglog, and once in a while my feedburner.
As for hardly- we are talking months! I just started to “redo” the site a few weeks ago, off and on…other then that – I never bother.
Simple Mindz’s last blog post..Goodnight Sam. You will be missed.
thanks!
luq’s last blog post..Free up your disk space and fix registry issues with CCleaner
I noticed a really weird ranking for one of my sites. It was ranked a lot worse then another website that I had abandoned which never really did well at all. I am wondering if alexa has some problems lately?
Millionaire Mindset’s last blog post..Issue 47 : What is Business Networking?
well , i never liked alexa .. there is many ranking sites over the web
ameo’s last blog post..high heels women
This is officially the 1245th post I have seen this week about Alexa.
Thank god I didn’t miss it.
Bill’s last blog post..DatMoneys Get Traffic Blog Contest
I am not understanding what is going on with Alexa. My made a large drop. Knowing it should have not dropped like 500,000, maybe the larger # the better off?
Read somewhere that Alexa is working on some large changes but it’s hush, hush until unvailed! Humm we’ll see.
I think entrecard sucks too, and I was really liking it for at least getting my blog out there!
Agreed, Alexa is still inaccurate, but it gives us a general idea..and that’s the best we can really hope for right now.
Mine went down 20,000 points and as for the accuracy, I don’t know for sure yet.
It makes me curious what “other resources” Alexa use now beside of their toolbar
Louis Liem’s last blog post..GPT – Summon The Titans!
Funny I have never worried to much about Ranking. Whether it was Google, Yahoo or Alexa.
Should I be???
My ranking at Alexa truly sucks
1,124,387 (pretty bad)
Any suggestions how to increase it
Wendy Friedrich’s last blog post..Off Topic
Wendy – If I were you, I still wouldn’t be too concerned about those type of stats. Just as long as you’re getting visitors, readers, making money, whatever it is that makes you continue to blog, then that should be enough.
And to comment on if you should change your blog, I guess it all depends on what you’re looking to do. Even if your blog is serious, there are thousands, millions of people who probably have the same point of view as you… you just need to know where to find them, that’s all. Just blog however you feel comfortable, just work a little harder on marketing.
Jay
@Wendy:
Make some articles and promote them like crazy. Put your post links anywhere you can as long as you’re not spamming, and make a good use of your social networks.
No matter how much is their algorithm changes, I bet they put clickthroughs and backlinks.
I recently joined twitter, so you may want to have my updates for one of your post ideas if you don’t mind
http://twitter.com/louisliem
Louis Liem’s last blog post..Let Readers Discover Your Content – Lead Them With Proper Categories and Tags
i’m still clueless
betchay’s last blog post..Namsan Park/ N Seoul Tower
I don’t know. I don’t run around thinking Alexa all day. I wonder though if they like to keep a secret, because if their system gets out, it’ll take only a couple of days before people learn to trick it, and then everyone’s back to square one. A non-useful and non-truthful ranking system.
Tamera’s last blog post..Ready to Go
I heared the announcement that alexa has changed its ranking algorithm. I am little happy with this change because my website got little improvment. see new alexa ranking for http://www.alexa.com/data/details/main?url=www.fortunehotels.in Fortune Park Hotels Ltd.
When I saw a positive change in my ranking, I was very happy but never heard anything about the alexa changes.
One question I keep asking myself is “Do I deserve this new rank”?
i never really follow the alexa rankings because of the possibilities of manipulation the whole thing isn’t so important to me. great post
I think Alexa really do need to work out the kinks in there system. I really love Alexa, but the results lack accuracy.
Best Regards,
Jermaine