The students I teach at Solent University seem to believe that Alexa is a reliable and trustworthy source of traffic figures for sites on the Internet. In reality, the data it provides is reasonably accurate for highly-trafficked consumer websites. But anyone who has tried to use Alexa to estimate traffic levels for B2B technology sites will have realised the limitations of this tool.

The problem with Alexa is the limited sample size (users of the Alexa toolbar). If you’re not familiar with Alexa, or if you think it’s a reliable tool to estimate website traffic in our industry, I’d strongly recommend that you read “Debunking the Myth of Alexa Rankings”, a great article in EE Journal.

Author

  • Mike Maynard

    In 2001 Mike acquired Napier with Suzy Kenyon. Since that time he has directed major PR and marketing programmes for a wide range of technology clients. He is actively involved in developing the PR and marketing industries, and is Chair of the PRCA B2B Group, and lectures in PR at Southampton Solent University. Mike offers a unique blend of technical and marketing expertise, and was awarded a Masters Degree in Electronic and Electrical Engineering from the University of Surrey and an MBA from Kingston University.

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