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The tale of the tape at alexa.com with Phuketwan (blue) and two other island publications over the past month. The top line represents a 10,000 ranking, the bottom line 100,000

A Few Words About Phuketwan

Saturday, June 23, 2012
PHUKET: Phuketwan looked on this week as events in Australia pointed towards a future without newspapers, a world where readers will use tablets and mobile telephones to keep up with the latest.

Fairfax Media, once home to Australia's best-known quality newspapers, has declared the battle is over. The Internet has won. Newspapers are on the way out.

Yet there was some good news for journalists this week, too.

The reporting team who created the businessspectator.com.au and eureka.com.au sites were bought out for $30 million for their hard work on the online outlets.

So on the one hand, 1900 newspaper staff lost their jobs. On the other, five journalists who built something new online were handsomely rewarded.

It's still our intention that Phuketwan will undergo dramatic changes of one kind or another at the end of this year. We are encouraged to believe that a major Asean region publisher will find us appealing, and invest.

We are also encouraged that a major part of our reason for being - reforming Phuket to make it an honest place to live and a great place to visit - is now underway. So at this stage, we could go in either direction: to continue and flourish, or to call it quits.

Our own statistics show we are viewed by about 6500 unique visitors a day, every day, a very good number for an outlet that doesn't bother putting out wasteful newsprint versions to create awareness.

People who want a guide to the success of online media could do worse than visit alexa.com, where the ''Site Info'' section in the toolbar delivers a worldwide ranking and allows users to compare as many as five sites at once.

On present listings Phuketwan ranks 39,275 while businessspectator.com.au, the site that was part of the $30 million deal, ranks 39,346. In Australia's national capital, canberratimes.com.au fits at 36,677 while Britain's yorkshirepost.co.uk trails a little at 71,794.

Given that Phuketwan relies solely on news and does not have a classifieds section or much in the way of vanity profiles designed to please advertisers, we think we are offering better value to readers than any other English-language product on Phuket.

We clearly mark some of the material we publish as ''Media Releases'' and make no pretence that it is ''news'' or ''journalism'' the way that others do. And when we make mistakes, we tell you.

We're the only Phuket publishers with a code of ethics. We're not timid, self-interested or easily bought. And we do appreciate our readers, even if we don't always show it.

We'll keep you up to date on Phuketwan's progress as the countdown continues over the next six months.

Comments

Comments have been disabled for this article.

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ED,

Good Luck! Phuket needs PW.

Posted by GiantFan on June 23, 2012 16:51

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I have been very concerned since you announced possible changes or closure at the beginning of this year. We really love being kept very much up to date by the Phuketwan and a lot of us refer to it the moment something happens, such as recent earthquakes and Tsunami warnings, before we resort to CNN or Sky News. Keep up the Awesome work and Please don't close.....You will miss us!!

Posted by Gregg Cornell on June 23, 2012 17:39

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Having an Alexa Ranking doesn't actually mean that much and most web professionals look to other statistical data.
While the other media's you mentioned fetch $30m this needs to be put into context that they probably had a far greater reach than PW. I'm not knocking PW but it's maybe a little too localized and most internet investors are looking for numbers and these can only be generated though being able to attract a wider and more diverse audience.

Posted by Graham on June 23, 2012 20:37

Editor Comment:

Nothing you've said really explains your contention that alexa rankings are not important, Graham. Phuketwan probably has a wider and more diverse audience than most sites in the same category levels. Are you able to explain what you mean . . . or not?

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Glad to hear PW will not just survive, but grow. It is much read by those of us who are occasional or regular visitors. We used to love the island & probably still do in our subconscious. But it needs to return to its former glory, if not quite pristine condition. Your articles, campaigns & reader's comments all add pressure on the authorities to act.

Posted by Logic on June 23, 2012 21:21

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" And when we make mistakes, we tell you."' hahahahaha yeh right..hahahaha comedy now...

Posted by davidj949 on June 23, 2012 21:50

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Dear Phuketwan

Congratulations whit your hight visitors score.
I read your site everyday and for me its the best up-to-date site from phuket.

To react about Graham I thinks he mean that you can buy your ranking to manupulate alexa.
When you search by google "improve alexa ranking" you get a lot of products and tricks.
And I can tell you that its real work and its even possible to come in the top 1000.

What is nearly not possible is to push your google pagerank to a higher level.
Phuketwan have a pagerank from PR 4.
Its a rank what google gives you from your inlinks and its nearly not possible to manupulate this.

PR 4 is quit High and that says much more about a site than a alexa rank whitch you can manipulate for small money.

I really beleave Phuketwan don't need that and your alexa is real.

Keep going on with your good work.

Regards adba

Posted by adba on June 23, 2012 22:54

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I have moved back to the USA after living in Thailand for many years. I use PW to keep up with what happens in Phuket and other areas of south Thailand. Your coverage is timely and outstanding. You never run away from telling the facts, good or bad. Your website is so much better than the local Phuket papers. Please, don't go!!!!!

Posted by Richard on June 23, 2012 23:52

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"We're the only Phuket publishers with a code of ethics."

Maybe the only Thailand publisher, too.

Posted by larry on June 24, 2012 04:22

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Good luck and you deserve it to get a good deal in 2012.
Go on in this way.

Posted by happychris on June 24, 2012 10:39

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As Adba pointed out the AR can easily be manipulated. In the past, so could Google's PR as Link Buying was all the rage. Of course Google is now, as they report, able to detect 'unnatural' links and will in fact penalize a site for such activities.

Regarding diversity - I was referring to news other than Phuket or Thailand. Don't get me wrong there are many very successful sites that concentrate on a niche market, however these sites, while they may generate revenue often fail to attract investors because revenues are often restricted due to the interest group.

There are many variables that go into make or breaking a web site and PW is certainly doing well within it's niche, however on that note there is no reason you cannot expand to international news. Before this was quite easy with Syndicated news services however in the light of the Panda Algorithm many smaller news sites use syndicated content with caution, whereas sites such as CNN are too large to be affected by Google.

Does this answer your question? If not feel free to drop me an email with questions you may have. Always happy to help if I can.

Posted by Graham on June 24, 2012 12:16

Editor Comment:

Thanks. It seems to me readers should try alexa.com, put up a few familiar sites for comparison, and draw their own conclusions about its effectiveness. If PW and the other sites we have mentioned have not ''tricked up'' their ratings, then comparisons are legitimate.

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Alexa Rankings are determined by visitors to a webpage that have installed the Alexia tool bar..

The vast majority of people who do this are SEO Consultants or webmasters. Considering a large number of expats living in Phuket do this, its not surprising but does not prove much...

One of my websites has under 1500 visits a day and still rankings in the top 40,000 because Alexia is very easy to manipulate.

Posted by Joel M on June 24, 2012 12:22

Editor Comment:

I would have thought there were more seo consultants and webmasters in Australia than on Phuket, Joel. Not sure what your point is.

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The point is a large number of your readers would have this toolbar installed.

If you believe your site is actually the 39,275 most visited, you are mistaken.

Posted by Joel M on June 25, 2012 07:54

Editor Comment:

If there are many in front of us who cheat by falisfying the numbers, as you admit to doing, why do you think we are mistaken? Aren't you like a swimmer or a cyclist who takes drugs to win an Olympic medal?

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Ten pinatas full of jellybeans doesn't mean your a winner of do a back flip.

Posted by Joe on June 25, 2012 10:35

Editor Comment:

Are you feeling ok, Joe? References that assume people share your ethnicity are lost on most of us.

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"If there are many in front of us who cheat by falisfying the numbers, as you admit to doing, why do you think we are mistaken?"

You explained it in your question - the numbers are falsified.. Whether by choice or by accident.

"Aren't you like a swimmer or a cyclist who takes drugs to win an Olympic medal?"

Having a good Alexia ranking does not improve the SEO of a website, nor does it help you gain higher rankings in a search engine.

Your example implies that by falsifying my Alexia Ranking, I am cheating other webmasters which I am not. Your example makes 0 sense and shows your lack of credibility on this particular topic.

Posted by Joel M on June 26, 2012 10:44

Editor Comment:

Sounds to me as though some sites are on steriods and others are not. Those of us who don't falsely enhance our sites probably have a right to question the ''credibility'' of those who do.

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Don't think ratings mean that much to your readers..keep up the good work...refreshing and unbiased reporting within the "confines" ....

Posted by David on June 28, 2012 16:22


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