Reliability of http://www.scamanalyst.net/

[E2E]

Hi - has anyone used scamanalyst.net as a research tool? If so, do you have any thoughts on how reliable the site information is?  My thought is to use in conjunction with Open Site Explorer (in the process of tidying up a clients' questionable site links).  Thanks so much.

[eugenecomputergeeks]

No problem man. I'm not an expert but obsessed with internet marketing and coding. This site is fantastic once you really explore and use it, nothing beats it in my opinion.  I also really like SEO podcasts.  The best ones being "SEO Podcast Unknown Secrets of Internet Marketing" and on webmasterradio they have SEO 101 and a couple others.  I just download them all and listen while in car.

Things change on a daily basis and its a great way to keep up yo date and get ideas.  Sorry to go off topic, but I learned that Keyword research is so vital in the beginning before development.  Then it's content is king., You make killer content and the links will come naturally.  Only get backlinks if its relevant and if you think people would click it..(if you have the opportunity.)

I'm working on adding directories to my site, but modern ones with reviews and maps.  I LOVE scripting (mainly in bash) but found it all such a hassle getting API's..eventually it costs money or right from the beginning.   Sure you could scrape but that violates their terms and not a good idea.

I'm trying to figure out an algorithm myself as I want it to be legit, but will have a small Google ads-like section up top that is clearly labeled as ads.  If you figure out a good method other than manual please let me know.  I doubt Alexa cares if you view their site a few times a day through a textual browser but still...I want to do it by the book and its one of those things where its probably faster to do manually anyways I just love automation.  Wish API's werent required so darn much, but understand it thanks to stupid spammers. Ruins it for webmasters looking to get good content.

[E2E]

Thanks so much for taking the time to clarify - will certainly be looking into this further.

[eugenecomputergeeks]

Of course, not a problem.  I was super tired and messed up some of the wording, but I think you understood what I meant.

One really important factor also is checking sites on Alexa.   Alexa is a site that has for years trying to map out the most popular websites in the world.  Please check out http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/scamanalyst.net

How popular is scamanalyst.net?

Global Rank 

414,999  (They are currently roughly the 414,999 most popular site in the world. They were a lot better and down 382,500 ranks!  (Google, Facebook, and Amazon for example are probably in the top 3)

Rank in United States 

160,626    Here is scamanalyst.net's USA rank.

Alexa Traffic Ranks
The global and country traffic ranks show how popular a site is relative to other sites.

• Learn more about Alexa's Data
• Traffic Metrics FAQs

Unique Visitors and Pageviews
The number of people who visit this site and the number of pages they view. Site owners who install the Alexa Certify Code on their website can choose to display their Certified Metrics, such as Monthly Unique Visitors and Pageviews, if they wish. Coming soon, estimated metrics will be displayed for many sites if Certified Metrics are not available.

• Learn more about Certified Metrics
• Certified Site Metrics FAQs

How engaged are visitors to scamanalyst.net?   (Results below) Meaning :

How engaged are visitors to this site?

How engaged are visitors to this site?
Engagement metrics help you understand how interested a site's visitors are with the site's content. The metrics are updated daily based on the trailing 3 months.

Bounce Rate (%)
Percentage of visits to the site that consist of a single pageview.

Daily Pageviews per Visitor
Estimated daily unique pageviews per visitor on the site.

Daily Time on Site
Estimated daily time on site (mm:ss) per visitor to the site.

Bounce Rate

81.10% 15.00%

Daily Pageviews per Visitor

1.30 11.33%

Daily Time on Site

1:19 10.00%

Just to compare to a-moz.groupbuyseo.org.  It's roughly the 25 most used site in the world!

How popular is a-moz.groupbuyseo.org?

Alexa Traffic Ranks

How is this site ranked relative to other sites?

Global Rank 

256 25

Rank in United States 

199

Alexa Traffic Ranks
The global and country traffic ranks show how popular a site is relative to other sites.

• Learn more about Alexa's Data
• Traffic Metrics FAQs

Unique Visitors and Pageviews
The number of people who visit this site and the number of pages they view. Site owners who install the Alexa Certify Code on their website can choose to display their Certified Metrics, such as Monthly Unique Visitors and Pageviews, if they wish. Coming soon, estimated metrics will be displayed for many sites if Certified Metrics are not available.

• Learn more about Certified Metrics
• Certified Site Metrics FAQs

How engaged are visitors to a-moz.groupbuyseo.org?

Bounce Rate

50.40% 8.00%

Daily Pageviews per Visitor

3.42 12.10%

Daily Time on Site

3:52 9.00%Oh and yep I was right, Google is number 1.  It's just one factor but does tell you a lot. You might also find this useful http://biglistofwebsites.com/list-top-websites-like-scamanalyst.net   It's a list of 100 sites that are most similar.  (Remember nothing is totally 100% accurate, but it still gives you a very good estimate.)

[E2E]

Thanks so much for taking the time to respond - I certainly agree with your re: manual checking (I do a lot of manual stuff for SEO, it makes me feel more in control of the process) - although I do find that when tools can support the findings it provides reassurance.

I usually stick with the tried and tested main Directories (yelp etc) and avoid paying for anything, but a new client has some questionable links from sites with half decent domain authority (which is why I am looking to back up my thought process).

Thanks again for your feedback.

[eugenecomputergeeks]

scamanalyst.net Looks half decent, but I don't know  if it's the whole algorithm.  I think you'd have to pay for API's but could scrape valuable data from Google, like how often the sit-ins updated.  How old  is it and how many years are pre-bought.  How many reviews do they have on common review sites, and also factor in if they are good or bad reviews. (I'd do it as a separate variable.)

Lastly, they have sites like ripoff report.  You could write a script with their permission (and all sites mentioned), that scrapes how many listing on the site.  (The more the worse.)  I'd focus on review sites like Yelp (even though I hate them, Google, and even social media.  (How many  likes,etc.)

I think you could do a better job, but cool site.  Surprisingly accurate if that really is their whole algorithm.

Best way  to manually find out if a site is a scam is to Google the site and check its normal SERPS...then I'd search:  the site.com scam and see what comes up.  I'd also Google the site.com reviews.  I ALWAYS do this before purchasing and I always check how long they have been in business.

The site is fairly new but it's over a year so not bad.  If a site is just registered using a cheap domain extension that should set off HUGE bells and whistles.  It is a .net site which is pretty much equal to .com so you are good on that end.  Hope that was of some help.

Updated Date: 26-apr-2014

Creation Date: 24-may-2013

Expiration Date: 24-may-2015

SO they only bought the domain a little over a year ago.  That would be something I'd use in my choice for sure.  Remember that sites like ripoffreport have a lot of competitors and jerks.  Sites like the one you posted are a good tool,  but manual is always the best if possible in my opinion.

I"m actually doing a very similar project.  Is  this going to be for one of your sites?  The answer depends a lot on that.