Our Alexa rating is rissing steadily !

[emporiumdays]

aaaaaaa



The number going down (and the graph going up), means more people are logging onto eBid ...

[emporiumdays]

Well, we just 'rose' a little further again today......


9946

[PetBazaar]

The number going down (and the graph going up), means more people are logging onto eBid ...

Or it could mean that the same number of people are logging onto eBid, but more of them have installed the Alexa toolbar.

[emporiumdays]

OK PetBazzar.... then let's all install our Alexa toolbars and drive that number down....

[PetBazaar]

That's a great theory, just can't help thinking that there might be a flaw in the logic.

I've got to admit that I've never been a huge fan of any site that requires a user toolbar for stats. Especially when users of any particular site are actively encouraged to install the toolbar.

While I accept that rising ratings are in general a good thing, I think that focusing purely on Alexa isn't necessarily healthy.

For example, virtually everyone on eBid agrees that the eBid tie in with Google is a good thing and many say that a reasonable proportion of their sales gome from Google visitors. You would expect then (given the relentlessly upward Alexas rating) that there would be more and more visitors coming from Google. So the question I have is... Why does Google Trends show the number of visitors coming to eBid via a Google search as being stagnant (or very slowly declining) for almost a year?

http://trends.google.com/websites?q=...ate=ytd&sort=0

If only increasing visitors was as simple as installing a toolbar.

[emporiumdays]

So, what you're saying then PetBazar, is that because 'Google trends' is showing a decline in google visitors, that the upward trend showing on Alexa is misleading.

[MPS16]

OK PetBazzar.... then let's all install our Alexa toolbars and drive that number down....

the figure for Australia makes interesting reading.

any body got any positive thoughts.

[PetBazaar]

Dunno what I'm trying to say to be honest. Sometimes my head goes round in circles with these stats.

I guess the point that I'm vaguely meandering around is that to increase the visitor numbers showing in google trends you have to get more people to visit you via Google. But to increase your Alexa rating you only have to persuade your existing visitors to install the toolbar.

My problem with the conflicting figures is the risk that Alexa is artificially inflating the figures due to more and more of the existing visitors signing up for the toolbar.

If Bing and Yahoo provided trend data it would certainly help to clarify things.

I should never have opted for systems analysis as my original career path

[emporiumdays]

Dunno what I'm trying to say to be honest. Sometimes my head goes round in circles with these stats.

Don't worry PetBazaar, I'm trying to make sense of it too.... That's why I'm trying to see clearly what you're saying. 'Cos I may be placing too much trust in the statistics.... And if I am, I'd rather know about it.

All I know is that in the past, (and it may still be the case), advertising $'s are spent based on Alexa figures - (rightly or wrongly).

[PetBazaar]

To keep on the straight and narrow, just remember this one thing. There are 3 types of lies: Lies; Damned Lies; and Statistics

Or, as one of the Guiness adverts in the UK said: 42.7% of all statistics are made up on the spot