Challenge: Get in the Top 500 in Alexa
I’ve made it no secret that I have another blog, JoeTech.com, and that blog has been really picking up in traffic in the last couple months. While Alexa isn’t exactly THE barometer by which your success should be judged, it is important to keep an eye on all traffic and ranking measurements that others (like potential advertisers) may be looking at. Today, I noticed something interesting and figured it would make for a fun little experiment. I’m going to try to get JoeTech.com in the top 500 ranked sites in Alexa for New Zealand this month (and the top 5,000 in the United States - this year).
Here’s where we sit currently
As of this writing, JoeTech.com is currently ranked 616 in New Zealand and 8,177 in the United States.
Looking at the web stats, New Zealand makes up 0.59% of the 17,419 unique visits in January 2008 so far, or 102.7 unique visits.
How do I plan to get in the top 500?
The first thing I need to do in planning for my goal is to realize what that goal entails in regards to numbers I can influence. In this case, I want to try to increase visitors from New Zealand and the United States. The New Zealand goal will be a little easier to manage, since it is on a much smaller scale. The US goal is much more lofty and will involve a lot more effort. As such, I’m shooting for end of the month for my New Zealand goal and end of the year for the U.S. goal. I can only speculate, but I’m guessing that I’ll need to double my NZ traffic and at least triple my US traffic to reach my respective goals.
I am going to focus, for now, on just the New Zealand campaign. I need to get about 200 more visitors per month from New Zealand and I have 2 weeks to do it. I am going to attempt this without any money, so I’m going to attack from three angles:
1. Find New Zealand technology and blog about it.
2. Find New Zealand blogs and link to their posts from my own when possible.
3. Review a couple NZ blogs/sites.
While I have a goal to meet, I also don’t want to sacrifice the integrity of my blog, so I’ll need to be careful about my strategy, but I think it’s possible.
My challenge to you
I have no problem doing this on my own, but I’d love to see you challenge yourself, too. I’m inviting you ALL to join in, but here’s a direct challenge to five of my readers (blog name followed by goal country, current / goal rank in Alexa):
- Stephan Miller (Jamaica 5,793 / 5,000)
- Edge of Sanity (Barbados 14,455 / 12,000)
- Life is Colourful (Brunei 7,942 / 7,000)
- John Cow (Ireland 448 / 350)
- Gorilla Sushi (Netherlands 3,485 / 3,000)
If any of the above mentioned feel want to participate with an alternate country, feel free. I hope some of you do participate, and if you decide to, let me know. I’ll post my results here at the end of the month (or sooner if I succeed before then).
UPDATE: Alexa just updated, and after 5 hours, JoeTech.com moved to 605 already. Interesting.
Popularity: 33% [?]
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January 15th, 2008 at 12:15 pm
Yay, beer. I have some thoughts about Jamaica. At least I didn’t get Brunei. I don’t even know where that is. Pardon my ignorance Bruneiians.
Netherlands would have been cool too.
Stephan Miller’s last blog post..How My Blog Got Hacked
January 15th, 2008 at 12:27 pm
Stephan: You up to the challenge, then? Do I need to send you a sixer of Red Stripe to get you motivated?
Joe’s last blog post..Challenge: Get in the Top 500 in Alexa
January 15th, 2008 at 2:46 pm
I’ll try it out. Guinness is closer to my tastes.
Stephan Miller’s last blog post..How My Blog Got Hacked
January 15th, 2008 at 3:31 pm
I’m puzzled !
Can you tell me how you get so much traffic with only 56 rss subscribers ?
I have more than 900 of them and I am not even able to rank in the top 100K which is, by the way, my goal for 2008 !
January 15th, 2008 at 4:03 pm
Photography Dreamer: There’s a couple possible explanations for this. First of all, I’m apparently not that great at getting people to sign up for my feed, although I’m learning. Hell, I don’t even have to have a feed at all to have good traffic. A lot of my traffic comes from inbound links.
I’m amazed at your subscriber numbers. It’s not that your blog is undeserving of that many subscribers, but I just can’t imagine getting 300 new subscribers in a month. Way to go. You should share your secrets with me. =)
Also, looking at your feed analysis (http://www.blogperfume.com/feed-analysis/index.php?months=6&uri=adidap), it seems that your feed isn’t engaging your subscribers as well as it could be. Then again, I’m kind of RSS dumb, like I said, so I could be wrong there.
Joe’s last blog post..Challenge: Get in the Top 500 in Alexa
January 15th, 2008 at 10:01 pm
Stephan, yes you are lucky and I am stuck with Brunei [I apologize Bruneiians!]
Joe, I already lost my rank in Brunei. It’s now down to 10K+ LOL. Well, the 3rd target country, India, seems little better for me - right now I am at 18693 for India. You set the target, I will take it as challenge.
Life is Colourful’s last blog post..Press Release: Pepperjam Launches Affiliate Network
January 15th, 2008 at 10:09 pm
Life is Colourful: My challenge to you is to shave 3,000 off either India or Brunai. =) Take your pick.
Joe’s last blog post..Challenge: Get in the Top 500 in Alexa
January 16th, 2008 at 7:28 am
Joe I value your reply thank you for that !
and thank you for the blogperfume link too
I wonder how what I could do to get more interaction with my subscribers !
I think getting more subscribers started when I offered full feeds but maybe this reduced the interaction ??
I really want to hit the first 100K this year, so if you can spare any advice please let me know
January 16th, 2008 at 9:12 am
My top is Barbados. I have 3359 in Barbados. I will see if i can crack the 3000 mark there. Isn’t that odd?
Andy’s last blog post..Why Did I Get Hacked?
January 16th, 2008 at 10:04 am
Photography Dreamer: I think the two things that I can most attribute to my rise in visitors for both blogs are Entrecard and contests. Of course, contests cost money, but if you find sponsors, you can get someone else to donate prizes, for which they weill get publicity from you in return. A couple great examples of this are Bloggin-Ads.com’s “One Heck of a Giveaway” contest, and Shoemoney’s RSS contest, which I helped sponsor. Other than that, I think the link-baiting is working pretty well.
Joe’s last blog post..Challenge: Get in the Top 500 in Alexa
January 16th, 2008 at 10:07 am
Andy: Good luck with Barbados. Let us know here if you write a post on your blog about it. I did a “Welcome, New Zealanders” post on JoeTech.com just to get a little closer to my goal, and I’ll do another there at the end to announce the actual goal and the results.
Joe’s last blog post..Challenge: Get in the Top 500 in Alexa
January 16th, 2008 at 11:15 am
The Netherlands?? Psh. Easy. I’ll just blog about fjords for the next few days. Hoe about “Built Fjord Tough”?
January 16th, 2008 at 12:03 pm
when i read the titl i first though: what the hell! is he out of is mind? but then i read it was for new zelaond. lol
Hugo santos’s last blog post..By: Nelson
January 16th, 2008 at 12:18 pm
Jason: You’re one of the funniest guys in the blogosphere. That’s why I have you bookmarked. If you’re up for the challenge, game on! You and me… Netherlands. Let’s see who comes out on top by the end of the month. =)
Joe’s last blog post..IZEA Real Rank Launches in Alpha and Looks Good
January 16th, 2008 at 12:20 pm
Hugo: That’s why I didn’t put “New Zealand” in the title. I wanted people to have to come read the rest to find out if I was completely bonkers. It seems it worked. I’ve lured you in. Now that you’re here, subscribe to my RSS feed.
Joe’s last blog post..IZEA Real Rank Launches in Alpha and Looks Good
January 17th, 2008 at 9:37 am
Last night, I kept trying to think of a way to fit Jamaica into my blog. If anything, it’s good practice, plus it’s not like I stay on topic.
Maybe I could just go there. It’s freaking cold here.
Stephan Miller’s last blog post..Feedburner? Feedblitz? Monetize My Feed?
January 17th, 2008 at 9:54 am
Stephan: That’s what I call dedication. Head out there and hand out business cards. =) If I had the money, I bet I could convince my wife that we should go to New Zealand for a weekend.
Joe’s last blog post..Display Your IZEA Rank with a Badge
January 17th, 2008 at 2:53 pm
Hi Joe….I came across your site through my Google Alerts (key term New Zealand blogs if you’re interested). I set up a website for kiwis called Share My NZ (http://www.sharemynz.co.nz) about a year ago. It’s a place where kiwis can set up their own basic blogs and talk to each other. Anyway I have been monitoring Alexa for a while now and it changes so dramatically. In Oct from memory the site was in the top 200k worldwide and 600ish in NZ but now it’s blown right out. I’d be interested to know how you might suggest I improve my Alexa rankings for Share My NZ and what a good target would be. Improving my SEO and url structure is one thing I am looking at. Of course I’d be more than happy for you to blog about the site in your quest to hit the top 500 and I’d be more than happy to do what I can for you to do the same.
Anyway, good luck and I look forward to your ideas.
January 17th, 2008 at 3:30 pm
Ben: I have some thoughts. Drop me an email at joe {at} joetech [d0t) com
Joe’s last blog post..Display Your IZEA Rank with a Badge
January 18th, 2008 at 9:31 am
Who wait a minute - that’s not the Netherlands, it’s the Netherlands Antilles! They’ve only got a population of 183,000!
It’s still on though. I will own the Netherlands Antilles. Or P0wn. Whatever the kids are saying these days.
January 18th, 2008 at 9:34 pm
Oops. Yeah.. Sorry, Jason. This should be even more interesting now.
Joe’s last blog post..Display Your IZEA Rank with a Badge
January 19th, 2008 at 2:19 pm
[…] be spending a little time researching Jamaican news site. Why Jamaica? I got myself involved in an Alexa challenge. I have to increase my Alexa ranking in Jamaica. It got me thinking and just that is worth taking […]
January 19th, 2008 at 3:20 pm
Found some good news in Jamaica. Muhahahaha.
Stephan Miller’s last blog post..The Jamaican Challenge
January 19th, 2008 at 4:57 pm
Stephan: I saw that. Nice.
Joe’s last blog post..Display Your IZEA Rank with a Badge
January 20th, 2008 at 1:26 am
Oh! I am stuck now. Hehe, achieving India Alexa rank 3000 by month end is little difficult and Brunei, I was already pushed to 10000 by the time you declared the contest. Let me try more for both, what’s the harm
Life is Colourful’s last blog post..Write a quick review and win 500 Entrecard Credits
January 20th, 2008 at 10:55 am
Life is Colorful: I thought the same thing, but then Alexa updated again. Just work towards the goal and don’t let the numbers discourage you.
Joe’s last blog post..Scott Baio is Pregnant
January 22nd, 2008 at 6:25 am
India numbers though show big difference, are relatively easy to achieve for me than Brunei. But right now, I am taking Brunei as challenge and will be working on India ranking as well. At the end, both improvements gonna help my overall ranking
Life is Colourful’s last blog post..Write a quick review and win 500 Entrecard Credits
January 22nd, 2008 at 8:11 am
Life is Colourful: Both should definitely help. Of course, keep your other readers in mind, but if you can reach those goals, that will be great. I’m falling short of my goal, so I need to get to work on it.
Joe’s last blog post..Scott Baio is Pregnant
January 25th, 2008 at 6:08 am
Joe, I think the efforts are working, I could raise the ranking for Brunei from 10000+ to 7142 to be exact that is pretty close to the target and thought India is little unachievable in short time, it got better from 18K to 15K range I guess.
Life is Colourful’s last blog post..Create Wonderful Logos with Logo Design Software
January 25th, 2008 at 8:44 am
Life is Colourful: That rocks. Mine has gone the other way, but there’s still time.
Joe’s last blog post..How to Hit the Blogging Ground Running
January 28th, 2008 at 9:18 pm
Wow, that’s amazing. Couple of days back I was at 6300 for Brunei and I drafted a post as well around it about the challenge given by you and all, and today when I checked I am back to 7900. Painful
Life is Colourful’s last blog post..How to get Free Seasonal Search Engine Traffic
January 28th, 2008 at 9:42 pm
Life is Colourful: At least you’re doing better than at the start of the challenge. I’m failing miserably. I have one more post coming tomorrow to try to drive it home.
Joe’s last blog post..$100, Free Ad Spot, and 1,000 Entrecard Credits Up for Grabs
February 11th, 2008 at 11:38 am
I think I made my rank worse also. We suck. LOL
Stephan Miller’s last blog post..Rabid Patience
February 13th, 2008 at 9:11 am
Yeah… we both do.
Joe’s last blog post..January $100 Contest Winner Chosen!
February 27th, 2008 at 6:00 am
[…] few months ago I got myself involved in a challenge to increase my Alexa ranking for Jamaica from Link Bait Me. So I did some research, checked out Jamaican news sites and found a story that I could barely find […]