Inspired by Kulwant Nagi's interesting post on achieving awesome Alexa rank in 20 days, I thought of penning down few things helping my new freelance writing blog, EsmeeNetwork, getting a better Alexa rank day-by-day.
What is Alexa Rank & Should YOU believe in it?
Alexa is a simple metric to rank your domain based on incoming traffic. Like we use Google Analytics to monitor a blog's progress, Alexa is an important traffic estimator tool. Here is a detailed post on the importance of Alexa rank.
Some people do not believe in Alexa ranking factors as the numbers could be easily waylaid; in fact, I was one of them but after spending 3 years blogging, I have come to believe that Alexa does hold some importance, especially with attracting blog advertisers.
You should not disregard Alexa rank simply because advertisers place importance on it and it is a quick way to find out basic blog stats.
Read: How I got Alexa under 100k in 45daysHow I Achieved 182,801 Alexa Rank in 21 Days?
Before I relate my story, check out the post where this blog's owner, Jitendra, talks about his experience with improving Alexa rank.
Though I purchased the domain in June 2013, I started setting up the blog from December end and made it public only on the first week of January 2014.
On 6 January, I noticed the Alexa rank to be 700,995 globally and when I checked on 27 January, it was 182,801 globally and 9028 in India.
For me, the progress is good, really good, especially if I count the steps taken to reduce bounce rate and the time spent on my blog.
You will find many strategies scattered around the web giving you insights on improving Alexa rank. I would like to add my own thoughts to this -
1. Installation of the Alexa Toolbar:The first step is to install the Alexa toolbar. It helps Alexa to monitor your blog and keep statistics updated. One of the drawbacks is that Alexa records only those visits coming from people with the toolbar installed.
2. Engage in Social Activity:This feature limits the revelation of correct traffic data but it is nonetheless a useful resource. Install the toolbar.
I think the only reason why my blog's Alexa rank improved is due to good social media exposure. Since I was just starting the blog and managing everything single-handedly, from backend activities to writing blog posts to marketing, I focused on social shares for the time being.
How?
JustRetweet is a very powerful source for blog engagement. I promoted the couple of newly published posts first with JustRetweet. Just login with Twitter, set up a tweet for members to retweet, decide a credit number and publish. It helps to maximize blog reach because when members retweet, they do it to their followers and this creates a big ripple network.
3. Verify your Blog on AlexaAfter JustRetweet, the next source was Facebook. I posted the new blog posts on my wall few times and promoted them heavily on Facebook groups. Join similar niche groups that allow sharing of blog links and keep sharing every 1-2 days. I don't recommend taking help of any script or software for mass group sharing. Manual is the best way but if you still want, do it at your own risk.
Third in the list is Pinterest and Google+; I haven't used them much before but they are showing good results. Share blog post images on multiple Pinterest boards. The image should be attractive and informative to spark interest. On Google+, share on your profile and again, join some groups. I would recommend you to avoid link dropping on Google+ because as per my personal experience, they don't show much result. Rather, join 2-3 groups with large number of members, interact with them and share your recent blog post link/s in answer to someone's query.
Claim your blog on Alexa. See the screenshot below.
Do share your thoughts in comments. Dont forget to share this stunning article in social media! You can also Join BloggersIdeas on Facebook & Google+ for getting similar updates. Image Source:FlickrI have claimed and certified the blog. Claiming the blog is free; you are required to create an account with them. Getting certified is a paid membership program. This verification lends authenticity to the blog listing and I guess Alexa places verified blogs on a priority level.
Over to You
Only these three things helped me to improve my blog's Alexa rank. I hope my experience will be helpful to you. Keep promoting your blog optimally. Don't procrastinate.