Are Alexa site statistics accurate and reliable?

No, in fact, they are a terrible indicator of how good or bad a sites traffic is. I would even go so far as to say they are made up (that how unreliable they are). Just yesterday I had someone tell me they saw my site stats on Alexa. I had to explain how those stats were not real and should be used for nothing…unless of course your goal is to have rank on Alexa. Most of us in the SEO world would laugh at these stats but there are those that are not familiar with the process so I figured I would explain. So here is why (and this is a direct quote from Alexa):

“The traffic data are based on the set of toolbars that use Alexa data, which may not be a representative sample of the global Internet population. To the extent that our sample of users differs from the set of all Internet users, our traffic estimates may over- or under-estimate the actual traffic to any particular site…Generally, traffic rankings of 100,000 and above should be regarded as not reliable. Conversely, the closer a site gets to #1, the more reliable its traffic ranking becomes.” Source

So what does that mean? It means that Alexa can only track websites data from people who are using the Alexa toolbar on their browser. Do you use the toolbar? I know I never have. You have to manually install it, it does not come with your browser and its just bloatware. Alexa reminds me of the app on facebook that tells me who has viewed my profile. That app can only track people who also have the app installed – making it useless because no one installs those apps just like no one installs the Alexa toolbar. So who does install the Alexa toolbar? Internet marketers, that’s who. They install it and then visit their sites many times from different ip addresses which then increases their rank. And in order to track mobile stats users again need to download/install the toolbar.

So is there a way to get accurate website data? Yes, but it involves having access to your own server and installing software on it. That way you are tracking data directly from your server, usually via CGI, not some toolbar that you hope others have on their web browser. One example is AWstats.

Try to a SEO experts… If your business is searching for a proven, boutique and specialist SMG Melbourne Agency small enough to care, and one that represents growth motivated small to medium businesses

Anyway, thats my rant on these types of stats, for more info visit:

Alexa

wikipedia on Alexa

Here is a test of Alexa vs real stats

An article about why these stats are useless

Global Learning Technology Conference – August 9th and 10th @UNCW

The Global Learning Technology conference which will be held at the Watson College of Education, University of North Carolina, Wilmington is dedicated to connect educators, instructional technologists, instructional designers, E-learning specialists, technology coordinators, administrators, and other learning technology professionals who use and study technology for learning. Conference presentations and exhibits will focus on learning technologies and their impact on teaching and learning. 

GLT will consist of half-day pre-conference workshops. These hands-on presentations are in lab settings and explore various technologies for teaching and learning. They are offered on Thursday morning, prior to the conference opening. The conference keynote, guest speaker and presentations offer those interested in improving the quality of education the opportunity to gain information and exchange ideas on the applications of learning technologies for education and training.

Conference Date:
August 9th and 10th, 2012

Location:
Watson College of Education
University of North Carolina Wilmington
601 South College Road
Wilmington, NC 28403

GLTC 2012 themes

  • Online Learning
  • Mobile Learning
  • Social Media
  • Educational Gaming
  • Simulation and Modeling tools
  • Technology Grants
  • Eportfolio
  • Research on Technology for Learning
  • Role of Technology in STEM
  • Technology for Research

Webpage for information and registration: http://uncw.edu/ed/gltc

Facebook Group

Apple putting ‘eligible’ products back on the green list

Well it looks like Apple realized taking their products off of the green list was a bad idea. So they are putting them (just eligible products) back on. But is it already too late? I highly doubt they will get the same press for putting them back on as they did when they took them off. And what does ‘eligible’ products mean considering all of their products used to be on the list?

Here is what they had to say:

“We’ve recently heard from many loyal Apple customers who were disappointed to learn that we had removed our products from the EPEAT rating system. I recognize that this was a mistake. Starting today, all eligible Apple products are back on EPEAT.”

Full letter from Apple

background of this story

Is your internet going to be shut off on July 8th? What is DNSChanger?

DNSChanger is a trojan horse that might currently be affecting your computers. If your computer is infected (and you will not know if it is unless you check with the site below), your computer will not connect to the internet as of July 8th because the FBI will shut it off. So please check to see if its affected and get rid of it.

To check if your infected: http://www.dns-ok.us/

For more info: http://download.cnet.com/8301-2007_4-57467164-12/what-the-dnschanger-malware-is-and-why-you-should-care-faq/

How has the internet influenced your work habits?

Well it has increased mine. I probably work 60+ hours a week during the school and 40+ hours a week during the summer when I have ‘off’. Here is an article from Good.com:

Their study, shown here, revealed that:

  • 68 percent of people check their work emails before 8 a.m.
  • The average American first checks their phone around 7:09 a.m.
  • 50 percent check their work email while still in bed
  • The work day is growing – 40 percent still do work email after 10 p.m.
  • 69 percent will not go to sleep without checking their work email
  • 57 percent check work emails on family outings
  • 38 percent routinely check work emails while at the dinner table

Edit comments in Facebook

Finally facebook allows you to edit your comments. This is good as so many times I have deleted my comment and had to rewrite the whole thing because of a spelling mistake:( Well now you can edit your comments. To edit, simply click the little pencil icon on the top right corner of the comment and click edit. Simple as that!