Don’t give up when your Alexa Ranking slips
Don't ponder too long, just do it!
Have you ever been tempted to throw in towel and stop blogging? Whenever I am thinking like this, it is generally because my numbers are not looking good. And now my Alexa Ranking is slowly going back up instead of going down.
I have watched my Alexa Ranking go from 94K to 108K. It is like someone has knocked the wind out of my blog. I know what the numbers mean and what I must do. I will not let these numbers get me down.
I use to do many things to get traffic to my site. I even tried being everywhere and sometimes this gets overwhelming. When I was doing these things, my Alexa Ranking improved everyday. But since I have stopped being everywhere, I see my numbers are plummeting.
Some of you would probably say, “Stop whining, your Alexa Ranking is great.” But I am a researcher and I want to find out why.
Here are my plans to improve my Alexa Ranking:
1. Comment on other blogs. I have been very lazy in the commenting department. But I must set aside time to comment on other blogs. Especially those of my blogging friends.
2. Promote myself more. I am not one to share my articles too much on Twitter and other sharing sites, but I have found that when I have done this in the past, I end up meeting a few new people and getting a slight increase in visitors.
3. Publish more articles. My plan is to post 4-5 times a week, that might increase. I am warning you in advance.
4. Be active in blogging communities and other forums. I am a member of Blog Engage and I hardly ever use this awesome site. Bloggers is also a great place to meet other bloggers. I have actually met Reut from Green Parenthood and Chioma of Nutrition Alert. These fellow bloggers have managed to stay in touch with me and I will do better.
5. Pop over to Yahoo Answers. I use to visit Yahoo Answers and answer questions on topics, but I stopped doing it. I really enjoyed this because I was helping others.
6. Guest post. I am the laziest person when it comes to guest posting. I have a few sites that I promised posts to and I have yet to give them a guest post. I am a person of my word, but I am such a procrastinator. Fellow bloggers, I have not forgotten you.
7. Promote more on YouTube. My current YouTube channel is doing well and I have about 660 plus subscribers. I am getting a little traffic from You Tube and that is great. Working on a strategy for improvement.
8. Write, write, write. I have slacked up on writing. These days, it is hard to do things, but I have a plan. Weekends are better for me to plan for the upcoming week and write many articles. Discipline is the key.
9. Do not give up. I connected with some bloggers and now I cannot find them. They no longer blog for whatever reason. I love what I do and when you love what you are doing, the love of what you do, helps you stick with it. No matter what
10. Focus. Right now I am not very focused. But I know what I need to do. I will do like Nike’s slogan, “Just do it!”
Note: There are other ways you can improve your ranking. I am only sharing a few personal ways I plan to improve my ranking.
What do you think? Tips, suggestions, recommendations, do share!
Image: africa / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Related articles
- Ten Commandments for Top-Notch ALEXA Rankings (globalthoughtz.com)
- Alexa Rank Debate (webandrank.com)
Category: Blogging
Thanks Evelyn, had started posting frequently, but then got the problem of bandwidth and webspace…so posted fewer articles..it’s tricky, you know..
Jasmin recently posted..Happy Guru Nanak birthday
Twitter: evelyn_parham
says:
You have to do what works best for you. Consistency is key!
Hi, Evelyn! Hope your strategy worked. My blog’s alexa ranking is slipping fast and they say that it gets few visitors,but my visitors online plugin shows the opposite…wonder what alexa is about or is the plugin faulty…Anyways, thanks for the wonderful tips..
Twitter: evelyn_parham
says:
Hi Jasmin,
I wouldn’t worry so much about Alexa. Just focus on posting content on your blog.
My Alexa ranking is going down fast right now and I’m still getting pretty good traffic, so just keep doing what you’re doing.
Best wishes,
Evelyn
Twitter: evelyn_parham
says:
That’s great!
My blog’s Alexa rank was affected when I removed the Alexa Sparky extension for Firefox. I did it because I installed another extension that included a PR checker. I didn’t know that it would make my rankings suffer. I’ve reinstalled the Alexa Sparky plugin and I hope that my Alexa ranking would go “down” again.
I guess the visitors of the website are who improve the page rank !! we can’t assume that we can get it better because the visitor must install the Alexa toolbar.
In fact, Alexa wants to count the high quality visitor, as what they see is that people who install there toolbar are the quality ones.
Great Post About Alexa, thanks for it.
Btw, nice blog. Enjoyed reading your posts. I’m adding you to my blogroll if you don’t mind.
Twitter: evelyn_parham
says:
Hey DJ Trinity,
Thanks for sharing this information. I didn’t know about Alexa Sparky.
I’ve come to accept that Alexa numbers will always be up and down. The goal is to keep writing good content, the Alexa ranking will improve over time.
Thank you!
Evelyn
Thanks so much for this! I haven’t been this moved by a blog for a long time! You’ve got it, whatever that means in blogging. Anyway, You are definitely someone that has something to say that people need to hear. Keep up the good work. Keep on inspiring the people!
regards:
trade4target
Trade4Target recently posted..Handy Stock Trading Tips You Need to Become Successful
Twitter: evelyn_parham
says:
Thank you! This is very kind of you!
If you decide to leave a comment in the future, please use a name along with your keywords. This is better, because you get to add your keywords which helps with your ranking. I usually send comments that do not have a proper name to the spam folder.
example: Deepak@trade4target
Thanks again and take care,
Evelyn
Write, write and write more articles is the best way to increase Alexa rank. It is based on my own experience.
Andri recently posted..Mercedes-Benz Mobil Mewah Terbaik Indonesia
Twitter: evelyn_parham
says:
Hi Andri,
Thank you for sharing that. My plan is to publish 4 articles a week. Starting this week. Let’s see if I can do it.
Take care,
Evelyn
Hi Evelyn,
I almost ignored this post because I don’t have mush interest in Alexa Ranking.
Then what! I saw my name. yeh!
I appreciate your friendship Evelyn!
Cheers!
Twitter: evelyn_parham
says:
Hi Chimoa,
Glad you didn’t ignore the post!
I appreciate you connecting.
Good article Evelyn!
Your Alexa ranking is great. Mine is about 730k but admittedly I could do far more to promote my blog.
Great to find out about the blogging communities. Will definitely join. Thanks.
Twitter: evelyn_parham
says:
Hi Catarina,
Thanks! Welcome to my blog.
It takes time. I keep hearing people saying that commenting on other blogs helps too. So, that’s something I’ll be doing more..I’ve gotten very slack in that area.
Great!
My Alexa ranking has started dropping as well, around the time Google put through their Panda update, and this is for all my blogs. Thing is, my traffic has dropped as well, so Alexa seems to be reading things accurately for me. I’ve decided not to worry about it all that much and to just keep pushing forward, which I see you’re going to do as well.
Mitch Mitchell recently posted..Sunday Question – What One Thing Do You Want For The World
Twitter: evelyn_parham
says:
Hi Mitch,
Thanks for sharing the tidbit about Panda. I am not up on this, so that means I’ll be doing a little digging.
Yeah, the best thing is to not worry about it. Pushing forward sounds like a plan to me.
Thanks for stopping by!
“Just do it” – i like it! From all slogans that i here about this one fits better than any other. To improve my alexa rank i commnet on blogs, i’m active on social media websites like facebook and twitter and i write.
Angela recently posted..Frontline Plus FAQ
Twitter: evelyn_parham
says:
Hi Angela,
Gotta love that slogan.
Commenting on blogs really does help. I have to carve out time to do this.
Twitter and Facebook are good social sites and I see you have a very good plan.
I like “write, write, write” and “don’t give up” I am and I’m not, if that makes sense.
AstroGremlin recently posted..To See the Good in People
Twitter: healthvotes
says:
Alexa ranks are just for fun, it is not really important. I used to run a social site in the past whose alexa was under 30k, my article directory is still under 70k but some of my blogs that gets lots more traffic than those, are having poor alexa ranks… but it still is a metric and we love seeing it improving and am sure yours will improve too. Just keep the comments coming,
And on the positive side, your ranking is still better than mine
You have made some excellent plans though, publishing more articles and making more comments will surely help improve your traffic. I have been up and down with my efforts as well, and i can understand how difficult sometimes it gets to keep the consistency, but we all still have to keep trying.
Among the other points you mentioned, Youtube is the only place where i have not been with my blog yet, will cover that one soon. I have made some videos and uploaded them to youtube in the past, but nothing related to health so far…
Traffic is the only stat am worried about, rest is not really important. As long as the organic search traffic keep rising, am happy.
Uttoran Sen recently posted..Review of TRIA Skin Clarifying System
Twitter: evelyn_parham
says:
Hi Uttoran,
You make some really good points. I really appreciate your feedback.
Yeah, it’s hard for me to keep up with commenting, but it is something that I must do. No excuses!
I have a little traffic to trickle in from YouTube, but I would like to see that improve. I know it will.
I am finding that I get a steady flow of traffic from StumbleUpon too.
I’m with you about the organic search traffic rising. I’m seeing an increase in my traffic stats number too and I’m happy about it.
Thanks for sharing and I will focus more on increasing my traffic stats.
Twitter: greenparenthood
says:
Hi Evelyn,
, thank you!
It was really exciting to find my name on your post
I know exactly what are you talking about regarding Alexa, it happens to me few times since I established my site.
I’m glad we met on Blogger, thank you for your friendship!
Twitter: evelyn_parham
says:
Hi Reut,
It was my pleasure!
Don’t worry about Alexa, just keep doing what you’re doing.
Have a great day!
Twitter: Healthyone_org
says:
Yes I experienced the same. My Health Blog had Alexa 120K in the moth of December 2010, but started going down and down and reached 158K in mid March 2011. Fortunately it is improving and at present 144K and still improving.
I followed some you have mentioned in this article such as blog commenting, guest posting and maintained regularity in writing (did not write more but maintained as before).
Thanks and I will follow some more plans you have mentioned here.
Health Blog recently posted..All about Urea Breath Test
Twitter: evelyn_parham
says:
Thanks for sharing the info about your Alexa ranking.
That’s good to know about your blog posting frequency. I’m leaning toward keeping the same frequency 3-4 times a week, because I’d rather spend more time into putting helpful information out here, than to just write something for the sake of it.
P.S. I have keywordluv enabled on this blog. You can benefit by using a name then your key words. Ex. Jupitor@health. I do not usually approve comments with a name like yours. In the future, please honor this request. If not, then I cannot approve your comments on this blog. Even if your comments are good. Thank you!
[...] Don’t give up when your Alexa ranking slips, by Evelyn Parham. EvelynParham.com. “I used to do many things to get traffic to my site. I even tried being everywhere and sometimes this gets overwhelming. When I was doing these things, my Alexa Ranking improved every day. But since I have stopped being everywhere, I see my numbers are plummeting. Some of you would probably say, ‘Stop whining, your Alexa Ranking is great.’ But I am a researcher and I want to find out why.” [...]
@JustinGermino Same question as Evelyn. Which SEO plugin are you using now? Had you switched when you noticed the drop in site visitors?
Twitter: dragonblogger
says:
I am using the All in One SEO Pack and this is the one I recommend, though I hear good things about the YOAST SEO plugin I am too afraid to try it.
Justin Germino recently posted..You ARE Backing Up- But How Do You Store Your Backups
Twitter: evelyn_parham
says:
Thanks, Justin! That’s what I use.
Twitter: evelyn_parham
says:
@JustinGermino Which WordPress SEO plugin are you using now? Glad you mentioned the plugin. I’ll have to check the one I use.
Yeah, I’m testing LiveFyre. We’ll see how it goes.
Twitter: dragonblogger
says:
I agree about Yahoo Answers being mostly a waste
Twitter: dragonblogger
says:
I was very discouraged last year when I saw my site traffic go from 700 unique visitors per month to 250 per month for 2 months. Literally lost 60% of my site traffic for 2 months, I considered throwing in the towel but narrowed the problem down to switching WordPress SEO plugins. Alexa is so unreliable when it comes to ratings, for example my site gets virtually same traffic as other blogs and yet has much worse Alexa rating. I can’t figure out why, but I just don’t care anymore honestly. I just blog to enjoy it and try not to watch the metrics as much. BTW, interesting choice to switch to LiveFyre.
Twitter: evelyn_parham
says:
@Dia_Thabet You are right about google analytics being more accurate. That’s great that you are getting more traffic and visitors. That’s really all that matters. Alexa doesn’t show the whole picture..at least that’s what I’m learning from the other comments received on this post. Thank you for the compliment!
Yes, I changed my commenting plugin! I’m trying out a new commenting system (Livefyre). I mentioned in an earlier post about switching to Disqus, but I saw Livefyre on another blog and liked it. Decided to give it a test run. I will do a post about the change on Monday. I’m testing it out to see how it works for us here. The only thing I don’t like is that CommentLuv doesn’t work with it. They say that’s in the works, though. We’ll see.
Thanks, for stopping by and sharing!
Hi Evelyn,
I feel like I’m in the same boat when it comes to my ranking in alexa. One day they seem to be going down, the next going up. I started to focus more on google analytics as it is more accurate. I’m getting more and more traffic and visitors, yet according to alexa, it is not. If you are getting more traffic, then this is what counts. Of course, some people still place focus on alexa, but don’t let stop you my friend. You are doing an excellent job.
I agree with you commenting on other blogs, using yahoo answers, and guest posts help a lot. I has been a while since I used yahoo answers, I think it is time to get back to it. Thanks for sharing Evelyn
By the way, did you change your commenting plugin?
Twitter: evelyn_parham
says:
@CarolynAkens Hi Ms. Carolyn! I’m glad you’re learning something!
) Glad to see you too!
Twitter: evelyn_parham
says:
@Christie@internetliving Thank you so much! Thanks for the tip about Alexa. I’ll do my best to not worry about it.
I really appreciate your words of encouragement! 
Twitter: CarolynAkens
says:
Evelyn, I love the way you educate us! I had heard of Alexa, but never looked at it. Now I am curious and will take a deep look. Thank you for always sharing.
Evelyn this is a wonderful blog and I’m looking forward to reading all the posts! I wouldn’t look at Alexa at all; you know by all the great comments that people are reading and learning and enjoying. You may even save some of us from dying of cheeseburgers
because your writing is great makes us want to keep reading!
Hmmm…I know I’m in the minority here, (no pun intended).
But, I almost never check my Alexa, so I don’t know enough about it to worry. 
My strategy for success?
Give my best and chill on the rest.
I definitely don’t want to post more than 2-3 times a week, unless it’s breaking news or something crucial.
As they say, “sometimes less is more.”
Though I do admit that numbers do tell a story, and it can be discouraging when they don’t always meet our goals. Now, as for those people you promised posts to…? Cough, cough–I’m one of them. So I hope to see it soon.
!
Jennifer Brown Banks recently posted..7 Fool-Proof Ways to Kick Procrastination in the Pants!
Twitter: evelyn_parham
says:
Hey Jennifer!
LOL…Yes, you will see it soon. I’m guilty as charged.
You know if I didn’t have the Alexa toolbar installed on my Fire Fox web-browser, I wouldn’t know my alexa ranking without physically checking. I won’t be sweating about this number too much. Because from what the other commentators are saying it really isn’t anything to be worried about.
Yeah, I feel you on posting 2-3 times a week. I’m shooting for 4 times a week with a few posts on the weekends. I won’t post every weekend either. I won’t bombard you with too many posts.
Because I also believe that less is more.
Take care,
Evelyn
Twitter: YumYucky
says:
I used to sweat over Alexa something terrible in the past. My Alexa ranking took a hit recently, but I have more readers/traffic than ever before. I can’t explain it, but since my pageviews and readership is growing despite what Alexa says, I don’t worry about it. My primary goal is to foster community and entertain/inform my readers. I don’t think Alexa can quite measure that.
YUm Yucky recently posted..Tasting! Eggo Fruit Pizza huh
Twitter: evelyn_parham
says:
Hey Josie!
Glad to see you here!
Another comment that eases my mind. I won’t worry so much about Alexa. I will continue focusing on community and writing content that’s informative and helpful.
I appreciate you sharing and giving your feedback. It has really helped.
Take care,
Evelyn
Hi Evelyn!
I think it’s great for you to do those things, but I would not worry one bit about Alexa. It says nothing about your traffic level. My Alexa has slowly crept up from 35K to 40K, and a lot of it is that I’m not posting 4 times a day anymore (I would like to) and ALSO that Alexa visitors – meaning those who have the toolbar installed – aren’t visiting as frequently. People who have Alexa installed are usually in the SEO/social media/blogging world.
I had a prospective client whose Alexa is around 214K – way more than yours – and they are getting almost 30,000 visits per month to their site.
Don’t worry AT ALL about your Alexa, please. However, your plan is great for blog growth.
Tia recently posted..Foto Friday- Happiness
Twitter: evelyn_parham
says:
Hey Tia!
Thanks for easing my mind!
Wow..30K visits per month. I’m no where near that at all. I could only wish. You have totally put my mind at ease about Alexa Ranking. It goes to show that Alexa really has no bearings on traffic.
I won’t worry. Blog growth is my goal. I appreciate your feedback.
Have a great weekend!
Evelyn
It sounds like good tips! I have been linking up to link ups and that has increased traffic, even from the search engines. Keep writing often seems to be a good tip, the more frequent posts means more traffic. It can be exhausting though to network and hope people visit you back.
Good luck in increasing your numbers and have a great weekend Evelyn!
Jo’s Health Corner recently posted..Things that Mess With The Hormones and What To Do About It Part 1
Twitter: evelyn_parham
says:
Hi Jo,
Thanks for sharing about link ups! Most of my traffic is coming from search engine traffic. I think that is always good.
I’m guilty of not commenting on your blog. Sorry! I do read your post in my reader. I will do better.
You have a great weekend too!
Evelyn
I think most of the points you mention here are valuable. However I think yahoo answers is a waste of time. I have almost NEVER found quality content at yahoo answers, and google knows this – for that reason yahoo answers does not rank as high as it used to in the SERPs, and its traffic is dwindling.
Twitter: evelyn_parham
says:
Hi Daniel,
Thanks for sharing the info about yahoo answers. I won’t waste too much time on yahoo answers.
I appreciate your feedback!
Evelyn