Alexa calulates web site ranking according to how much traffic they receive. The lower the rank, the better. For example, Yahoo has an Alexa Rank of 1 which means according to Alexa, it's the #1 website for traffic.Microsoft are #2, Google come 3rd. Alexa receives data from the Alexa Toolbar which monitors the surfing habits of anyone with the toolbar installed on their computer. It calculates a website's ranking based on traffic measured over a 3 month period. The results come from only a small percentage and demographic of the Internet population. Add to this that rankings can be fairly easily skewed (eg - get all your friends/visitors to install the toolbar and visit your site... hmm, maybe I should try that). Consequently, the results should be taken with a grain of salt. I must admit I personally don't have the toolbar installed - it borders on spyware, tracking your surfing and even the data you enter in forms. However, I do visit the Alexa site to check rankings - it is useful for comparing sites attracting similar demographics. Check out our list of Top Directories with Free Web Site Submission for a useful example.
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