An Important Tool: Website Traffic Ratings

- By Bruce McKinney

On Websearch click on Download the Websearch Toolbar. Click on STAND ALONE INSTALLER.

Internet users are very unforgiving. The rule is "You be good or I be gone". The better site developers understand this and work to resolve user issues systematically. They also understand that perfection is only a theoretical state. So when you don’t see a good rating on a site it can mean many things. Like surfing a wave, it's difficult to stay on top. The more successful sites provide fast, useful information and work across the entire spectrum of operating systems and versions. Everyone is in a constant state of becoming. There are no exceptions and the race never ends. High ratings are earned.

In any event traffic count is a good way for site managers to evaluate at least a portion of their internet business performance. Server speed, scale of connections, the quality of the software code, content and customer service are all elements in a successful web-based business. For those who list books to sell on line these websearch numbers offer a blunt appraisal of relative site strength. But as you now begin to understand, they are only part of the story.

Understandably Sotheby's and Christies are the most visited traditional auction houses on the net. They have both scale and money to develop sophisticated web-strategies. We cover almost 70 auction houses on AE but I'm listing only twenty here. There are many others, many in the previously stated condition of becoming, but compared to these companies and of course to the net's powerhouses they are far down the list of "most visited". Many are still just emerging because, for the world of old and rare books, the internet has been an opportunity that only now is becoming a necessity. In the world of books Amazon at number 3 among all websites is a true giant. eBay, in the eighth position, is huge as well.

Next we'll look at some sites that sell books on the net. Some are listing sites for third parties and some sell only under their own label. They often sell both new and used material and other categories of merchandise as well. These sites are emerging internet superstores and they will sell what their customers will buy. They are reverse engineered businesses built upon customer demand rather than upon management directive.

ABE books, 5th on this list, is the largest used book seller. Others that primarily sell used books are marked in yellow. Alibris is the most effective at marketing themselves on the net and Powell's Books of Portland, Oregon is also very good. The unmarked firms sell primarily, but not necessarily exclusively, new material. Here is how they rank: