So? Is it Working 14?

It’s numbers time! 14 weeks in.

1. 86 (-81) Organic searches over the last 30 days
2. 56 (-1) Percentage derived from organic searches over the last 30 days divided by the same period a year previous
3. 5 (+11) Position of “large cottages devon” in Google search
4. 25 (+6) Position of “stag party houses” in Google search
5. 75 (-3) Position of “40th birthday party ideas” in Google search
6. 54 (-4) Position of “50th birthday party ideas” in Google search
7. 36 (+22) Position of “party house with pool” in Google search
8. Unranked Alexa rank
9. 2.6 (+0.8) Moz rank
10. 19 (+1) Domain Authority
11. 29 (+7) Trust Flow
12. 28 (+10) Citation Flow
13. 175 (+4) External links in Google Search Console
14. 34 (+9) Linking sites in Google Search Console

The values in brackets are the change from the original benchmarks of So? Is it Working 1? Positives are good news and what we are hoping for, negatives are not so good.

So, not too shabby! Still not particularly remarkable though. Trust and Citation Flows are up as are the links. It would be nice to see some correlation with these metrics improving and the search rankings but hey, can’t have everything!

O Alexa, Alexa wherefore art thou?

I’ve been ploughing through all the many, many recent blog comments I’ve received (both of them) and came across one mentioning Alexa. So, in case you’re wondering if we will ever get our Alexa ranking back, here’s what I think:

Alexa gets actual traffic data from sites that pay it money to allow them to install some Alexa code which then reports back to Alexa about who’s been on the site. For other sites Alexa estimates the traffic and it does that by looking at all the data from its subscribers, presumably that have agreed to it, and maybe by other measures. Regardless, unless you pay, lots of traffic won’t necessarily mean a good ranking. Conversely though, poor traffic will definitely mean a poor, or no ranking.

I believe Alexa updates its figures daily, based on the previous three months data. So let’s have a look at ours:

• July 2017 to October 2017: 17,796 users on our site
• July 2018 to October 2018: 15,334 users on our site
• October 2018 to January 2019: 32,357 users on our site

So, back in 2017, when we still had an Alexa ranking (oh, those were the days!) we had nearly 18,000 users visiting www.bicclescombegrange.com. A year later we have 2,500 less users over the same period and our ranking has gone. But look! Over the last three months we have had a majestic 32,357 users! By some margin our highest three month figure ever. How did you do it? I hear you cry, but, that is a most exciting story for another day. What it does mean is that we should be back on Alexa’s radar at some point soon – and hopefully nearer the top!

Date of Activity: 31st December 2018

Looking for large holiday houses with a pool in Devon? Planning a special party or family occasion? Bicclescombe Grange is the perfect venue, sleeping 26 with an amazing indoor pool, hot tub, snooker table and many more fantastic facilities. To find out more visit the Bicclescombe Grange website.