So, there's been alot of tussle concerning the rank of various websites. Every site owner wants to be seen ranking higher than the competitor or higher than his/her previous rank. It even appears like site ranking has been turned into some sort of sport....with the major focus being on whose no 1. or whose on top of the other (not literary). Frankly speaking, I don't give two hoots about website ranking and anyone seeking to market their brand online shouldn't primarily focus on this.Why? Because no one (including yourself) visits a site based on how it ranks!! Giving undue attention to the rank only shows how primal one's perception of online marketing is.
Obsession with website ranking is a perfect example of how rogue traditional media practitioners (who in effect are wanna-be online marketers) are contaminating the new media scene with their half-baked ideologies. You see, in Print, TV or Radio, it matters where you rank because it directly affects the advertising spend you receive. That's why for example,the Nation Media Group will brag about 9 out of 10 people reading their print publication. Royal media on the other hand will run ads reinforcing the fact that they have the no.1 TV channel. The base theory here is; the more,the merrier.And this works very well for traditional media because of its broadcast nature. However, with the interactive nature of new media,this model is a compete misfit.
Lets step back and recall your last visit online. Did you have a specific website in mind? Or maybe a specific search term/phrase which you googled? Do you have some websites which you term as 'useless' due to the fact that either they didn't have the information or the user-experience was nasty? The point here is that when it comes to online,it's a bit personal. Personal because the online audience is time savvy,and very specific. They don't browse;they are task focused. What matters most to them is whether or not a certain website aids them in achieving various tasks. Of key importance to them is therefore the user experience i.e how fast the site loads, how specific and comprehensive the information is, how good the level of interactivity is etc. That's why we end up book marking sites that give us good user experiences. Marketers should therefore inquire more on the user experience of publishers as opposed to site ranking.
There are various tools that offer insight on website traffic. The free ones are most popular (obviously) and they include Alexa, Google ad planner, Google Analytics. Alot of debate surrounds Alexa ranking and how effective it is. Personally, I wouldn't pay too much focus on Alexa ranking because it relies on a toolbar which is only available for Internet explorer and Mozilla Firefox yet Google Chrome is the most popular browser with 52% of online activity. Also, Alexa doesn't have a mobile plug in and in this 21st century, mobile traffic is increasing by the day. Google ad planner is very helpful for online campaign planners since it gives not only traffic details but also demographic data. Google Analytics is a more sober tool and it can give an indication of user experience. Key data to focus on include the bounce rate (percentage of visitors who leave the homepage without visiting other webpages),average pages per visitor and average time per visit. These are more crucial metrics to focus on as opposed to where a certain site ranks.
In Kenya, most online marketers marketers pitch nation.co.ke against standardmedia.co.ke since they are the two biggest publishers. Articles such as this http://bit.ly/Y8WPaB tend to insinuate a rank war between the two publishers. As I said before, Alexa ranking has serious shortcomings which cannot be ignored therefore it should be taken with a pinch of salt. Google ad planner on the other hand puts a 1 million gap in visitors numbers between nation.co.ke and standardmedia.co.ke with the former taking the lead. However, lets focus on the more critical issue of user experience.Which of these two websites offer you a better user experience?
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