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Brick No1: The web's best kept secret
By Matt Weston, Friday 19 September 2003 When Amazon and Google come together to provide a new online service, you'd think everyone would know about it. Alexa.com has been around since early 1996. Bought by Amazon in June 1999, it teamed up with search engine colossus Google in May last year. Yet, despite its famous parentage, Alexa is still the web's best kept secret - a site so uniquely useful that web and marketing people keep it all to themselves. I stumbled across Alexa.com by accident, messing around looking at the Google corporate website I think. But, over the last 6 months, I would say Alexa has been the most useful site, bar none, in helping me develop inside-out market knowledge to write my business and marketing plans. Why is Alexa.com so uniquely useful? The best way to see is to visit the site and have a quick play. Alexa.com pairs search engine technology with detailed web information tools. Already covering hundreds of thousands of sites it provides comparative stats on traffic levels, links from other sites and access speeds. So, let's take good old 'Aunty' as an example - tap in bbc.co.uk in the search box on the homepage and up pops an info page. You can see that: - bbc.co.uk is the 26th most visited site in the world (Traffic Rank) - People who visit bbc.co.uk also visit beeb.com, BBC America, Channel 4, News Unlimited (the Guardian site) etc - An incredible 55,643 other sites have links to the bbc.co.uk website - The site is classed as 'slow' by Alexa, in the 20th speed percentile. So 80 percent of sites are quicker than the bbc.co.uk site - There's also 'deeper', more detailed information that you can view by clicking the various navigational links To everyone not 'in the know' now, this sort of information just isn't in the public domain. You should know your own site's data of course - site usage, traffic etc - but very little, if anything, about your rival sites. For a 'techy' explanation about how Alexa and Google work out the data click here. 4 ways you can use Alexa.com - 1. If you've already got a website: work out your market position Compare how you're ranked against your main competitors - Alexa has a graphic tool to track your site's traffic rank over the last 3 to 24 months against competitive sites (click on 'traffic detail' on the Left-Hand Side Toolbar, then enter the competitor site's web address in the 'vs' box). To get a summary of your closest rivals, try typing in key search words that sum up your market in the search box - eg 'graphic designer uk', 'pet shops uk' or 'car magazines uk'. Note that you need to include 'uk' in the search as there is no Alexa.co.uk yet. This will pull up a list of sites - click 'site info' to access the relevant stats. 2. If you haven't: build up inside knowledge of your competitors Alexa is an unparalleled tool for researching and getting to know your market. As above, type in terms that sum up the market in which you're looking to operate. Click on the links, visit the sites that link to the main players and draw up a chart listing traffic rankings and the number of links each site has. This sort of knowledge will be really useful when you're drawing up a business plan outlining the market and the key players in it. 3. Draw up a hit list for your links programme The best cost-free way of marketing yourself online is by developing an effective links campaign. The more relevant sites that link to you, the more search engines will recognise and index your site, and the more traffic you will get. I strongly recommend that you set in place a programme dedicated to getting as many relevant links to your site as possible. Target something achievable, say 20, to start off with. Send a friendly email or phone the people in charge of the site, offering to put a link on your site to theirs in return. The best place to build a hit list of sites you can ask to link to you? Alexa.com. As above, type in relevant search terms such as 'plumbers uk' or 'book shop uk' and build up a list of non-competitive sites in your field. For some sites, Alexa.com lists contact information, alternatively visit the site to get the relevant email address or phone number. Also look at the sites that already link to your competitors - click on the number next to 'other sites that link to this site' - et voila, all the sites that link to your competition. Put these sites at the top of your hit list. 4. Draw up some measurable targets The last great thing about Alexa is that it allows you to truly measure your online marketing efforts in comparison with your competitors. Put realistic targets on the site ranking and number of links you want to achieve in the next 3, 6 and 12 months. Then hit your targets! Remember to sign up: back to top |
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