So this morning we were feeling a bit low due to the massive drop in traffic this site has had. This is mainly for two reasons...

1. We have totally redesigned our site, so at present there is very little content to see.

2. A lot of our hard earned high ranking Google pages have been lost because they simply do not exist anymore!

Obviously a LOT of hard SEO work has been undone because of the site redesign, so we have set ourselves a task to boost our morale.. and that is to hit the ALEXA 100k in the next 6 months...

Wait! Alexa wha...?

If you're unfamiliar with web design then you will probably of not heard of Alexa.

Alexa is a company owned by Amazon and it's purpose is to act as a metric, a ranking system for all of the websites on the net. It does this by tracking it's users who have downloaded the Alexa toolbar. It then aggregates this data and expands it to give a measure of a websites audience. Kind of like the Nielson TV ratings.

Why are we doing this you ask?

Well it's nice to have a target. We will be the first to admit that Alexa is not the most reliable source for web traffic on the net, but it gives us an easily rateable target to hit for. It will also provide us with some metric to measure our progress. Finally we thought that any mediators or conflict resolution professionals out there might want to learn some tips on how to boost traffic to their websites, obviously we don't need to tell you that more traffic = more clients!

Our top 10 tips for hitting for Alexa 100k

If you are looking to improve your web traffic, perhaps you have just started a mediation business, blog or conflict resolution website then we present to you our top tips on improving your Alexa rank..

1. Download the Alexa toolbar

Even if you visit your site once a day with it, it will improve your ranking significantly.

2. But don't fool yourself

Getting all of your mates to download the toolbar and visit your site may be great for your rank, but you're just fooling yourself. Be aware of how many people are ACTUALLY visiting your site.

3. Keep your content fresh

Search engines love fresh content, so keep updating regularly to drive visitors to your site.

4. KEEP YOUR CONTENT FRESH

We thought this one was so important we put it twice, it's not just search engines that love fresh content, it's people as well! and remember it's a lot easier to get a repeat visitor with an Alexa toolbar installed to come to your site regularly than it is to get thousands of new ones.

5. Not all Alexa users are created equal

You have to think logically for a moment here. One of the criticisms of Alexa is that it is heavily skewed in favour of webmaster and IT websites. Why? because the people in those professions are the people most likely to have the Alexa toolbar installed!! So think realistically in terms of your niche. Obviously if you are doing a site aimed a novice computer users they are unlikely to have the toolbar installed and this will be reflected!

6. Self promotion is not shameless

See that Facebook page you have? see that linked in profile you never use? well start being more proactive. Most major search engines have a space to advertise a personal page.. USE IT!

7. Contribute to the web

Let's be clear here... the web does not care about the site and the world does not owe you a favour by putting it at the top of Google. The best way to improve search rankings and Alexa rankings is to create fresh content. Whatever your chosen website is about, write free articles, essays and tips on the main free article websites (e.g. about.com, wikihow & ehow.com). Nearly all of the article sites will let you put a link to your page at the bottom. If you can give good advice away that people are looking for they are FAR more likely to visit your site after they have been impressed. Remember most people on the net are seeking knowledge of some kind.

8. Try new things

The web is full of guides on SEO and improving Alexa rankings.. if it's so easy then surely EVERYONE should be shooting to the top of the list. The truth is, no matter what experts tell you, very few people know 100% how Google and Alexa ranks are determined. so experiment, try new things that other people haven't and see what happens. You never know, it could just give you the competitive advantage!

9. Don't try and cheat

Under NO circumstances try and game the system, cheat or buy any of the mass link submissions you see on the net. No matter what you're told you are throwing your money away and Google and Alexa will spot you a mile off!! You can also be punished on your search rankings. You have been warned!

10. Patience

You're not going to get to the top overnight. You wont even get to the top in a month. We even think six months may be a tad optimistic. You must have patience and not expect results overnight. It will take hard work and persistence, but as long as you develop quality regular content you will get there eventually.

Right time to put our money where our mouth is and get on with it! we will keep you updated on our progress. In the meantime any mediators or conflict resolution people struggling with any aspect of web design we will be glad to help! or why not start a discussion on our forum?

Regards,

The Conflict Gateway team