by David Gikandi
Top Rank, Top Dollar.
Many of the top search engines now accept payment for improved listings or fast appraisal of your site for inclusion in their directories. David Gikandi believes the payments are commercially worthwhile. Here he looks at the options for six top search engines.
February 14, 2001
Google
Google.com is one of the largest and most used engines. It is fast, accurate, and one of the most visited Web sites today. Literally thousands of searches are conducted on Google every day for your keywords related to your site. You can now advertise on Google very affordably using their AdWords program. Your AdWords text ads appear on search result pages for the keywords you buy, and can be targeted by language and country. So, to reach collectors of tin toys you might buy the keywords "toy collector," "tin toys," etc.
Pricing for AdWords is based on the position in which they're shown. Google positions your ad based on how many users click on it over time. Current rates are $15, $12, $10 (per thousand ads shown) for positions 1, 2, and 3 respectively, and $8 per thousand for positions 4 through 8. Accounts are opened with a credit card and no minimum deposit is required.
The trick is to choose very targeted keywords that will trigger your ad (yes, you can do that). Which means that only very targeted buyers will ever see your ad and your conversion ration will be incredibly high. You can set how much you wish to spend. Google takes the money from your credit card after you owe $50, by which time your ad will have been displayed roughly 5,000 times. If your keywords are highly targeted, many of the people who see your ad will become buyers and you will get your return before you even pay Google!
Because there are thousands of searches a day, Google alone can be one of your biggest sales drivers with its great AdWords program. For more details, see the Google AdWords pages - they have plenty of tips. Your listing shows up in about an hour. Remember, it is more effective to target about 20 keywords, specific and related to your site, than it is to use just one.
Goto
Goto.com (http://goto.com/) is another powerful pay-per-listing search engine. The trick is to pay for the top position, or at least a top three position. Depending on your product, how much gross profit you make out of it and what your conversion ratio is, you may be able to profit from the top spot.
Why is the top spot so important? Goto.com is actually a relatively small search engine compared to the others. Its power does not come from people searching the Goto.com site itself. It comes from the Goto.com partners. Their top search results reach 75% of all Internet users through their affiliate partner network, which includes America Online, Microsoft Internet Explorer, EarthLink, Lycos, and AltaVista. But these partner sites only show Goto.com's top one to three results for any search. So look for the top spot if your gross margin can allow it.
The good thing about Goto.com is that they only charge you for a click-through, so you only pay when someone clicks on your link. Top spots can cost you anything from 0.01 cents to over $4 depending on the keyword. Your listing shows up in about 3 days. Again, it is more effective to have about 20 keywords than just one.
DMOZ
Athough strictly speaking it is a directory rather than an engine, DMOZ.org, or the open directory project, powers the search results of several of the top search engines. It is free to get listed and takes about 3 weeks to get indexed once you submit, then a couple of months for your listing to start showing up on the engines that use DMOZ. The most important thing to try to do is to have a domain name that is high on the alphabetic order (starts with a number or an 'a') and also include your primary keyword phrase - the one most people use to find your site - in your Web site name (title) and its description.
Yahoo!
Yahoo! has immense reach. Without doubt, you must be in Yahoo. It can bring you up to 50% of your traffic or more! Fortunately, you can now get listed in Yahoo! in seven days for a cost of just $199 - often worthwhile. You should get back your investment in a matter of days. The most important thing is to have a domain name that is high on the alphabetic order (starts with a number or an 'a') and also to include your primary keyword phrase - the one most people use to find your site - in your Web site name (title) and its description.
Once you get listed, you should also sign up to have your site become a sponsored site within Yahoo! It costs $25 to $300 or more a month at the time of writing, depending on the category. Sponsored sites appear in a separate, clearly demarcated listing box, located on appropriate category pages in the Directory at the top - which means more traffic.
LookSmart
LookSmart may not be used much directly, but its listings reach over 83% of the Internet through its partner network. Its listings actually reach a much wider audience than Yahoo!. LookSmart currently provides its search solutions to leading Internet portals, 370 ISPs and 600,000 Web sites including the Microsoft Network, AltaVista, Excite@Home, iWon, Time Warner, Sony, British Telecom, US West, AltaVista, Netscape Netcenter and NetZero. Now that is power! Again, without doubt, you must be in LookSmart, and being in it can bring up to 50% of your traffic or more.
Fortunately, you can now be listed in LookSmart in 2 days for a cost of $199 - very worthwhile for what LookSmart will give you. Its partner sites will pick your listing up shortly after you are listed, usually within a few days or weeks. Again it's best to have a domain name that is high on the alphabetic order (starts with a number or an 'a') and also to include your primary keyword phrase in your Web site name and its description.
DirectHit/AskJeeves
DirectHit/AskJeeves also has a paid text ads system similar to Google's. Your link appears alongside their search results for every search topic you sponsor, right where Ask Jeeves users are looking for the best link to follow. Your link also appears alongside search results on Web sites that participate in the Jeeves Text Sponsorship Network, including MSN, Searchalot, Bomis.com, SuperCyberSearch, and Direct Hit. Your ads appear in a few days and you just need a minimum deposit of $25 to start.
David Gikandi (support@positionweaver.com)
is CEO at SearchPositioning.com (www.aboutwebmasters.com).
AboutWebmasters.com is a large interactive webmasters portal aimed at e-commerce
professionals. It also features tools and resources that get you top positions
for your Web site on popular search engines.
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