Does Anyone Trust Alexa Anymore?
Earlier this year, my Alexa ranking had been going down fairly consistently (meaning getting better). Up until August, it got as low as 98,056. But all of a sudden, it stopped updating for a couple of weeks. I don’t know if that was widespread, but I had just been keeping record of it for MAMD.
Admittedly, shortly after that, I wasn’t able to provide the proper care and feeding of my blog, so it was expected my ranking would suffer. Finally, it updated, but as expected, it was going the wrong direction.
But then I started to be more regular with my posts and expected to see the ranking improve. I even contacted the support folks over at Alexa on several occasions asking if my ranking with them was stuck somehow. Their answer simply explained how Alexa worked and that it depends on the number of visitors who use their toolbar.
Well, duh!
I was determined to keep at it by posting regularly, trying to bring that traffic in while hopefully getting the ranking going in the right direction. My efforts failed. In fact, by comparison to my other blogs (who were not getting as much traffic as MAMD, btw, because I had neglected them in favor of MAMD) had their ranks suffer as expected.
The thing is though, their rankings were changing and MAMD’s was barely.
I contacted Alexa at least two more times asking them to PLEASE check into why things just didn’t seem right. I even pleaded with them NOT to explain to me how Alexa worked. I provided them details for my other blogs not doing well in traffic, thus the impact on their rankings which all made sense.
What did I get? “Alexa’s ranking is based on the toolbar installed by visitors…blah blah blah.” 
So let me see here: MAMD was getting better traffic, which I would think it would be reasonable to say that meant more people were more likely to have the Alexa toolbar installed, thus improve my Alexa ranking. But my other blogs with lesser traffic evidently had more visitors with the toolbar installed, which caused my ranking to update even though it was a ranking that was understandably suffering.
And just this week alone, the ranking has been bouncing around from 115,389 to 128,342, back to 115,389 and now, as of this writing it’s back to 124,198. Can you say “boing-boing”? 
The only real concern I had over this was the hope that the rank would improve the attraction of advertisers in some areas of the Web.
Can anyone make sense of all this?
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About the Author: Mark Sierra is an online entrepreneur and web publisher. As the owner of StarFrost Media, he continues to add blogs and products to his online portfolio designed to help inform readers on software and blogging, teach them to be more productive, and even learn how to make money online.
Ad Tracker | Dec 16, 2007 | Reply
Why sure Mark, I’d be happy to help you understand what’s going on.
Your Alexa score is based on the number of visitors to your site who have the Alexa Tool Bar installed on their computer. Alexa then calculates the nuber of pages viewed, time spent on page, links clicked, etc. to eventually asign a score to the site. Unfortunately visitors witout the Alexa Too….
Get the picture?
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Mark | Dec 16, 2007 | Reply
@Ad Tracker
Now I get it. LOL
Mike | Dec 16, 2007 | Reply
I’m seeing 115,389 right now, buddy ;P
Mine got to about 68,000 at one point. The traffic has been the same for the most part since then, but the Alexa number is now going in the wrong direction. Ahh well.
BTW, your Alexa numbers are based on the number of visitors to your site who are nerdy enough to have the Alexa toolbar installed
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Mark | Dec 16, 2007 | Reply
@Mike
Well, at least 115,389 is in the right direction.
So, is it that people who visit my site need to have the Alexa toolbar installed in their browser in order for it to affect my ranking on Alexa?
Hmmm…
Kyle Eslick | Dec 16, 2007 | Reply
I keep the widget on most of my sites to make sure that every single visitor earns me Alexa credit, though I don’t think it really matters.
Alexa is so flawed that I don’t think many advertisers really look at it any longer, but that is the only reason I can think of to care about it
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Bush Mackel | Dec 16, 2007 | Reply
I feel your pain brother man. I’ve seen a nice little sustained increase in my traffic “as of late”. Is it reflected in Alexa? Hell no.
I think what we and advertisers need to do is just get away from the not so good metrics like PR and Alexa Rank.
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Mark | Dec 16, 2007 | Reply
@Kyle
That’s my take on it as well — advertising appeal.
@Bush
I think if they keep doing what they’re doing, they’ll fall away on their own.
Garry Conn | Dec 17, 2007 | Reply
I don’t like Alexa or their ranking system. For one… it can be gamed and is done so very easily. I think their ranking system is very misleading and last I checked, (few months ago) they don’t even have a working toolbar for Windows Vista IE users.
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Bobby Revell | Dec 17, 2007 | Reply
I have been using the Sparky Alexa toolbar for firefox several months now, and just looking at my own blog has improved my ranking.
I gave up caring about rankings. Ever since Google stripped me from PR4 to PR0, I just cannot care. The great thing is…nobody can tell me why! Even if they could, it would be nothing more than a theory.
My Alexa dropped from 300,000 down to just over 100,000 in 3-4 months but I don’t care…I can’t care anymore. That’s the stuff that gets me frustrated. It’s like being on a jet and told that you’re going to crash…what can you do besides pray, cry or scream? Nothing.
Merry Christmas Mark
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Mark | Dec 17, 2007 | Reply
@Bobby
Well hello there, Bobby! I hear ya with all the ranking shenanigans going on. We just keep doing what we do best and be proud of it.
Good to see you here. I know I haven’t been much of a visitor lately myself, but will turn that around.
Brown Baron | Dec 17, 2007 | Reply
That is definitely strange. What I’m really waiting for is someone to come out with a ranking system that has a brown bar instead of green
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Mark | Dec 17, 2007 | Reply
@Garry
Didn’t know about the Vista thing. Geesh. They’re really trying hard to work themselves into nonexistence.
@Baron
AH! I knew there was something missing, but couldn’t figure out what it was: a brown bar would bring it all together. Good call!
Michelle | Dec 17, 2007 | Reply
Hi Mark - interesting post and I can say that I try not to pay too much attention to Alexa but I know many advertisers look at this number. As a business owner, blogger, and advertising buyer, I look at these things first:
1. The niche audience (will it attract buyers to my site?)
2. The writer and the community (are there comments and interaction - does this person care about readers and content or are they just in it for the cash).
3. The cost (I am much more willing to advertise on a site that does not jack up their ad cost due to PR or Alexa Ranking).
So, to finally answer your question…Do I trust Alexa? No - I trust the integrity of fellow bloggers far more.
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Mark | Dec 17, 2007 | Reply
@Michelle
That’s always a good approach: trusting the integrity of bloggers.
Aaron Cook | Dec 18, 2007 | Reply
You see, Mark, Alexa’s Traffic Rankings work like this…
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Mark | Dec 18, 2007 | Reply
@Aaron
Don’t tease me! How does this darn thing work again?
Opal Tribble | Dec 25, 2007 | Reply
Well everyone else already said it it’s based on the amount of people use the toolbar. Mine was down to 69,000 but it’s back up to 90,000+ the amount of visitors I have has increased by a few 100 but they, like myself, don’t use the Alexa toolbar. I never liked Alexa or Google PR for that matter.
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yourasnwerhere | Dec 25, 2007 | Reply
I don’t think that Alexa result are accurate and reliable
Mark | Dec 25, 2007 | Reply
@youranswerhere
Looks like we have others who would agree with you. You’re a first-time commenter here. Thanks for taking the time to do so.
Benedict Herold | Dec 26, 2007 | Reply
At least for me, the Alexa rank was directly proportional to stumble hits! That tell me people who has installed StumbleUpon toolbar are more likely to install Alexa toolbar as well! That doesn’t make any sense for a better ranking system and doesn’t tell anything to advertisers. But the fact is there are lot of advertiser who still depends upon these ranking system!
However, I’m not caring about any ranking system from now after Google penalized me for putting a text ad!
Web needs a better ranking system where it doesn’t have place for Alexa and Google!
BTW, hope you had a great Christmas and Happy New year dude!
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Sire | Dec 30, 2007 | Reply
Mine started dropping even though I was getting more visitors. I suppose those visitors don’t have the alexa tool bar. BTW, mine stopped working and I can’t work out why.
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Mark | Dec 30, 2007 | Reply
@Sire
Yeah, makes no sense. Blogs I have with fewer visitors have better ranking than this one with more traffic. Go figure.
Mark | Jan 1, 2008 | Reply
@Benedict
I just realized I was remiss in responding to you. Yes, there’s got to be a better way to rank pages and whatever it turns out to be, it has to be game-proof and reliable.
Happy New Year to you too!