Founded in the mid-nineties by Brewster Kahle and Bruce Gilliat, Alexa Internet's purpose was to gather information. This is apparent when you consider it was named after the "The Library of Alexandria", at one time the largest gathering place of information in the civilized world. Now owned by Amazon.com, it serves as an alternative to Google as a way to rank a site for "Search Engine Optimization".
For those businesses not using the internet as a marketing tool, media campaigns and word of mouth are the two most common tools used to generate traffic to a business and increase volume. In the world of Internet marketing, the goal is to drive as much traffic as possible to your site. The most commonly used method is Search Engine Optimization through Google. Many businesses believe traffic can be increased by maintaining a high Alexa ranking.