The most important websites related with plastics

We often like to situate ourselves in relation to our competition. Know where we are, in addition to know who we are. It is usually a knowledge needed to know to where we want to go, and why the way. On the basis of this concern, we decided to investigate how www.plastunivers.com, the website associated with the print magazine Plastics universal, in the part of cyberspace that has to do with plastics is positioned. Do it in a sufficiently objective manner has enabled us to find some ways to find and analyze the information available on the network. To some extent, in addition to our position, we have learned to use the compass, and it is possible that the method will also serve to you.

The first step to be able to compare with others is, obviously, know who are the others. What is a priori seems an easy task stops being when the approach is global. Websites related to the plastic there are in all countries, languages, and purposes. Where do I start? We will from some concepts, taking advantage of the technologies developed by the search engines on the web.

• What other sites are "similar" to PlastUnivers.com?
• What other websites visit the hearing of this portal?

To answer the first question, we start from the knowledge of the sector itself, with which we started to draw up a list of sites of magazines, associations, organizations, etc. which will be the basis of departure in our comparisons. We do not restrict to web sites that use only the Spanish language, any language is equally valid. Then comes the technological part, a detail that many of you have noticed if used the Google search engine on occasion: the concept of "similar pages" allows us to identify other web pages with a "similar" to the of a well-known theme. And from here you can start to deshilar a great Hank... The concept of "likeness" of Google is not necessarily theme, and is far from being perfect, which then must be carried out an extensive process of filtering.

For the time being, we already have a list that contains "those who already knew" and "That Google we have suggested as similar (after filter)". To expand the list, we rely on the web sites visited by the audience of those who already know. To this end, we will use the information provided to us by Alexa. This website collects information about which pages and sites visited Internet users who have installed the Alexa toolbar. From this information, establishes a ranking of websites (based on the number of visits it receives each of them and the number of pages visited within a Web site), and also related a few websites with others through the concept "who visit this page also visit...".

The information obtained grows almost exponentially, so it is important to "cut" things that seem irrelevant. At this point the criterion is obviously subjective. We have decided not to include those web sites that we believe that they have little interest to our readers, or are little relevant within the plastic sector. In any case, we have removed well positioned anywhere in the Alexa ranking.

Finally, if you, as the author of this article, is more capable of understanding the graphical information than a simple list of lists, you can use a graphical tool that will draw on the screen of your computer similar to a given pageasking Google. This is the so-calledtouchgraph google browser".

After a bit of exploration, you can get a graph of sites between themselves and with the plastic, similar to figure 1. The tool will allow you to discover relations really surprising, though sometimes the results are not that one expects.

Figure 1: Result of the analysis of the web with TouchGraph GoogleBrowser, on the basis of www.plastunivers.com

Once we have identified all those relevant web sites, the next step is to sort them using an objective criterion. We have considered that the public more objective criterion is the Alexa ranking, cited above. While it may have some bias, we believe that it is not relevant within the plastic sector or, in any case, not over-interpreting Web sites in Spanish (but on the contrary, the sites in the English language that are probably overvalued)(, because the Alexa tool is available only in English).

To discover the Alexa ranking of any website, just visit www.alexa.com and put in the name of the web site search box. At the time of this writing (25/10/2004), www.plastunivers.com is located in the 111.038 position. This position is in relation to all web sites that exist (and whose information is accessible publicly). This number itself has very little value, but allows you to objectively compare the size of the audience of two web sites.

On this premise, we need only fill in the list, and sort it. In this way has managed the information present in the table 1; I have limited to better positioned 200 web sites.

They should be some caveats and commentary: some web pages that speak of plastic, and especially those of large manufacturers of raw materials are part of larger sites. Normally Alexa has not only visitors "plastic-related", not "all". This may be the case, DuPont and Dow, for what will probably be overvalued.

Cold data can always give rise to multiple interpretations, but the truth is that some are absolutely compelling. How is that PlastUnivers.com occupies a position of absolute leadership in the international arena it possible? It seems obvious that the concept that has bet this portal that combines information technology with other useful information for readers, such as the guide which brings together all the suppliers to the industry of plastics in Spain or other, and even the daily publication of news, has hit the nail. PlastUnivers.com is one of the veterans in this internet in the plastics sector. As you can read in this article, here, however, the veteran does not help much to the outside. In other words, not by carrying more than eight years in the network received more visits. However, doors inside, experience and control of movements and "itineraries" that visitors choose to provide a degree of knowledge as to which we are behind PlastUnivers.com, which allows us to guide our content thinking in the visitor.

Surely, the accessibility on-line plastics universal content through the newspaper, and the widest coverage in this portal made of all the products that appear on the market for the plastics industry are reasons enough for many of those who attend internet looking for something to do with this industry.

Other good news, especially for those that they have in PlastUnivers.com with a banner or a button/logo linked to your own web is the high number of visitors that are interested in specific products and brands. So much so that, given the high number of daily visitors, some of the products or companies well presented receives hundreds of interested visitors a month. Are, admittedly, data cold but very encouraging for the industry, given that it's truly interested professional visits. I.e. no one click on a link that are advertised, for example, mills, crushers, if you are not interested in knowing some of these mills, he is, in good logic, as with a next or distant of purchase intent.

Ranking Alexa plastic webs

See also...

• The whys of hearings