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June 23, 2008
Google Trends for Websites Adds to Comparison Sites Confusion
If you want to see how your site is doing compared to the competition, then the new Google Trends for Websites is yet another option to conduct your research. Following the lead of sites like Compete.com and Alexa, Google Trends for Websites allows you to see a graph of traffic to the sites you designate.
But Google Trends for Websites is only adding to the confusion caused by Compete and Alexa. I used all three to compare SearchEngineWatch.com, SearchEngineLand.com, and SEOmoz.org, three of the leading search blogs. I got three very different graphs. Check out these screenshots.
With all three, there are definite seasonal dips. But these graphs may speak more to the popularity of Google, Alexa and Compete than they do of the websites you may search. Alexa makes the sites look like they've seen traffic decline, and Compete makes the sites look like the traffic has increased, beginning with a big jump last June. Incidentally, almost any site related to internet marketing seems to have a big jump last June on Compete, which was discussed at search marketing conferences and made known to a wider audience.
Furthermore, Google Trends for Websites does not offer numerical values to give you a ballpark figure of how a site is performing. Alexa and Compete do. Still, Google Trends will likely become the most authoritative source for comparison data since Google has access to far more data than Compete or Alexa.
Posted by Nathania Johnson on June 23, 2008 9:14 AM
Comments
wesley June 23, 2008 9:49 AM
Thanks for pointing that out Wesley.
Still, Compete and Alexa do not require people to sign in, in order to view the numbers.
Nathania Johnson June 23, 2008 9:58 AM
And Quantcast allows sites to let it see their direct traffic, so that they aren't working from direct estimates. Not everyone shares this way, however.
Danny Sullivan June 23, 2008 10:13 AM
>>Furthermore, Google Trends for Websites does not offer numerical values
It does, but you must be logged in your Google account in order to see it.
Sergi June 23, 2008 10:31 AM
I guess Google will have the best data, though i'd like to see alexa's date options from google.
the difference in the graphs is because they show different things:
google - number of visits
alexa - % of traffic going to a site, so as the internet grows (more sites and traffic), everybody gets a smaller cut of the traffic, so the graphs tend donwards.
compete - i dont use complete but i guess a lot of sites are 'growing' there becaue compete is still growing and gaining more data sources?
Aim June 23, 2008 10:41 AM
The factors that are determinant in a website’s Alexa rankings apart from the data collected from the users of the Alexa toolbar are no where clearly mentioned. This somehow brings in a question of doubt and credibility issues as far as the Alexa rankings are concerned. However, even today the Alexa toolbar has the largest chunk in determining the ranking of a website.
what are the "other sources" determing Alexa Traffic? March 5, 2009 4:50 AM
Interesting they are useful in that they show that the relative levels of traffic are similar between the sites you are comparing.
I use all services and none correspond to my actual traffic levels, but they are accurate in that there is a strong correlation between actual % changes in traffic and the reported change.
ArticleAlley April 1, 2009 11:59 AM
Google does give numerical data if you log in.